1.2.1 Human-nature relationship
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems.
Section S.1 Systems thinking, which explains what a system is and why systems thinking is useful. (coming soon)
Learning objectives:
discuss the significance of worldviews on the human-nature relationship
Nature does not exist.
This is what many indigenous communities around the world would tell you. How is it that some of the most sustainable communities do not recognise nature? Consider the Achuar.
Who are the Achuar?
The Achuar community lives in the Amazon Rainforest between Ecuador and Peru. They believe that all organisms have souls and communicate with them. They treat all beings as relatives. For the Achuar, all living and nonliving entities have intrinsic value, value in-and-of themselves like human beings, and should be protected.
While the Achuar hunt animals and cultivate plants, they only take what is essential for their survival and never more than ecosystems can regenerate. The Achuar see themselves as part of the living world, deeply connected with nature with a responsibility to respect, care for and defend other entities. Nature is not separate from the Achuar. The human community is woven into the fabric of ecosystems like all other living organisms.
Figure 1. The Achuar treat all natural entities with respect and nourishing care (Credit: Dan Loir, used with permission)
What is animism?
The Achuar worldview is known as animism. Many indigenous communities like the Achuar hold this worldview, which was the dominant way of thinking for most of human history. This worldview sees no separation between humans and the rest of the living and nonliving world. The worldview acknowledges that we are deeply connected to Earth’s ecosystems, even recognising that human beings are related to other living and nonliving entities. In this worldview, exploiting living and nonliving entities is wrong.
What is human-nature dualism?
Most people today do not share the Achuar’s worldview. Generally, human beings consider themselves superior to and separate from the rest of the living and nonliving world. This worldview is called human-nature dualism.
Most humans value the rest of nature only for its short-term usefulness or instrumental value for energy or material resources like fuels, food, and water. When we mentally separate ourselves from the rest of nature, we treat all non-human entities as objects for human use or exploitation. This way of thinking has made humans the dominant negative influence on Earth’s life-support systems, a period that some scientists call the Anthropocene.
Why does our human-nature worldview matter?
Our economies transfer and transform energy and matter to meet our needs, and are deeply connected to Earth’s ecosystems. Yet, our worldview separates us from nature.
Our worldview shapes human behaviour and affects our ability to see the world as it is. If we view ourselves as dominant over nature, we risk overexploiting it. This worldview also blinds us to how our economic activities cause ecological damage: farming, mining, burning, clearing, and polluting. We do not recognise that ecological destruction threatens all life on Earth, including ours.
Scientists have been sounding the alarm about these threats for decades, for example on biodiversity loss. Since 1970, we have lost about 69% of the Earth’s biodiversity due to our use of land for human settlement, farming and industrial production (Figure 2). Losing biodiversity makes Earth’s life-support systems ecosystems more fragile.
Changing our worldview to recognise our connection to and dependence on nature is an important first step to live in balance with Earth’s ecosystems. We must recognise the impact our economies have on ecosystems, and start caring for Earth as the Achuar do.
Figure 2. Global biodiversity loss since 1970
(Credit: Living Planet Index database)
Why are indigenous communities so important for planetary health?
In the last 500 years, as human-nature dualism spread, powerful governments and businesses have overexploited nature and conquered people who hold a more balanced human-nature relationship. During the period of colonisation, European countries conquered other societies, stole land and enslaved millions of people. While legal slavery has largely ended, economic exploitation of nature and vulnerable people continues today.
The remaining indigenous communities like the Achuar fight to protect the ecosystems on which we all depend. Indigenous communities steward about 80% of the remaining global biodiversity. These communities and their animistic worldviews protect and regenerate Earth’s ecosystems. Their ancient wisdom can teach us how to live in balance with nature.
This short video explains how human-nature dualism developed and the importance of moving to a worldview in which humans are viewed as being a part of nature rather than separate from it.
Activity 1.2.1
Concept: Systems
Skills: Thinking skills (transfer)
Time: Options 1 and 2 - ca. 30 minutes, Option 3 varies
Type: Individual, pairs or small group with sharing if possible
Option 1 - Energy and matter in your life
On a large piece of paper, draw a cake or some other food that requires multiple ingredients and tools to make.
Draw a dotted line down the middle from top to bottom. To one side of the dotted line, whichever seems natural, write/draw all the material and energy inputs needed to make the cake (foods, energy, tools, etc.) with arrows pointing into the cake.
For each of those inputs, identify what it took to create them (go upstream in the supply chain). For example, if you identified a wooden spoon, you might write “tree” or draw a picture of a tree. Go back as far as you can for each item - get creative!
Now go downstream. Draw/write all the materials or energy that is wasted, worn out, used up or destroyed in the process. Where are these waste materials likely to end up? Draw their destinations at the end of the waste stream.
Share your diagrams with other students and discuss similarities or differences between them. What big idea do your diagrams show about our relationship to the rest of nature?
Option 2 - Energy and matter in your life II
Choose one object that you use frequently.
Alone or in a pair or small group, consider the materials and energy that went into producing that item.
Where did the energy likely come from?
What plant, animal, mineral, water or other resources were used to create it?
You may need to do some quick research to find out more.
Make a list of everything you can think of and share your ideas with a larger group.
You can make an exhibition of your objects and their materials and energy, to help raise awareness about how deeply we are connected to the rest of nature (See the project idea in Section 1.2.10).
Option 3 - Deep-time walk
This mobile app takes listeners on a 4.6 billion year journey through Earth’s history to help people understand deep time, put human existence into perspective, and encourage regenerative action. The app creators suggest that listeners walk 4.6 kilometres while listening, so this is an activity that takes time and a walking opportunity.
Ideas for longer activities, deeper engagement, and projects are listed in Subtopic 1.5 Taking action
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Nature: Our Most Precious Asset - short video by Cambridge Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta explaining the importance of nature for our economies and societies
The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review - the abridged version of a detailed report related to the video above
Living Planet Index - Extensive data on the state of global biodiversity.
United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
TribalQuest website - learn more about the Achuar and several other indigenous communities.
Sources
BBC. (2020). Is it time to reassess our relationship with nature? | BBC Ideas [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/5gWGP34-4tY
Hickel, Jason (2020). Less is more: How degrowth will save the world. London: Willian Heinemann
HM Treasury (2021). The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review Abridged Version. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957292/Dasgupta_Review_-_Abridged_Version.pdf
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. London: Penguin Random House
Tribal Quest (2020). Myheritage - Tribal quest: The Achuar. www.tribalquest.org/achuar.html.
World Wildlife Fund. Living Planet Index. https://www.livingplanetindex.org/latest_results.
Terminology (in order of appearance)
indigenous community: the original settlers of an area (pre-invasion/colonialism) who have retained their culture apart from colonisers
sustainability: meeting people’s needs within the means of the planet
intrinsic value: when something has value simply for what it is
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
regenerate: the process of restoring and revitalising something
worldview: an all-inclusive outlook on the world held by an individual or group, and through which they make sense of reality and gain knowledge
animism: the worldview that sees no fundamental divide between human beings and nature
human-nature dualism: the worldview that human society is fundamentally separate from and superior to the rest of the living world
instrumental value: when something has value for its use for human beings
exploitation: making use of and benefiting from resources; the term is often used negatively to imply use of power to take advantage of a situation
Anthropocene: a period in which human influence is the dominant source of change on Earth
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
transfer: to move something from one place to another
transform: a change in the state, energy or chemical nature of something
energy: the ability to do work or cause change
matter: anything that takes up space and has mass
biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth
colonisation: a process of establishing foreign control over a land area and/or peoples for the purpose of resource use and extraction
steward: to manage or look after something
upstream: something that happens earlier in a process or series of events