Let Us Not Abandon the Earth
Sep. 9th, 2021 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryI was recently reading something that featured a science fiction trope that I've seen a background detail in a bunch of things and that I really dislike: humans have abandoned the earth to let nature heal.
This feels like fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between humans and nature. Most ecosystems on Earth are fundamentally shaped by human actions. People set controlled fires, harvested wild plants, grazed animals, copiced woods, ect. Are modern humans doing a good job of maintaining these types of relationships? For the most part no. But that doesn't mean that I think the earth would be better off without us.
And we would certainly not be better off without the earth. Every time I read something where the earth has been destroyed or abandoned I feel deep sense of grief, even thought these works generally treat it like no big deal.
I'm frequently frustrated by by the careless way the concept of wilderness is propagated in popular culture. While the concept of wilderness is appealing it generally rests on false understanding of history. I want more fiction to engage with the idea that we can be good members of the community of nature, and that we don't have to either destroy or leave.
This feels like fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between humans and nature. Most ecosystems on Earth are fundamentally shaped by human actions. People set controlled fires, harvested wild plants, grazed animals, copiced woods, ect. Are modern humans doing a good job of maintaining these types of relationships? For the most part no. But that doesn't mean that I think the earth would be better off without us.
And we would certainly not be better off without the earth. Every time I read something where the earth has been destroyed or abandoned I feel deep sense of grief, even thought these works generally treat it like no big deal.
I'm frequently frustrated by by the careless way the concept of wilderness is propagated in popular culture. While the concept of wilderness is appealing it generally rests on false understanding of history. I want more fiction to engage with the idea that we can be good members of the community of nature, and that we don't have to either destroy or leave.
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Date: 2021-09-09 07:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-10 03:46 pm (UTC)