Leaving paradise? How we have lost connection to nature

There are likely multiple drivers of human disconnection from nature, both historical/initial and ongoing/maintaining and both psychological and physical. Different drivers may have caused disconnection in multiple ways and have likely influenced each other. Zylstra and colleagues (2014) have compiled an extensive number of studies in order to distil the most likely drivers of our disconnection from nature, of which many are presented here. In this article we do not aim for an exhaustive analysis, but to propose a more holistic and solution oriented perspective on what is likely keeping us from profound fulfilment, well-being, and sustainability.

This enquiry is not meant to look for something to blame, to judge or to give a final explanation, but to investigate likely drivers of our disconnection which in turn will allow for an increased awareness which in turn is fundamental for change. It is not meant to be a denial of progress, but an enquiry of unreflected progress, allowing us to take what is beneficial and leave what is not.

Historical drivers

Our disconnection from nature has not happened from one day to another, but as a gradual process. As people desensitize and/or adapt to the social and environmental changes, the extent of our disconnection from nature increased from generation to generation. As a result, a spiral of each other negatively reinforcing effects arose.

To be fair, nature is not always swell and nice. Diseases, fires, earthquakes, droughts, and dangerous animals are all not always particularly pleasant. And it would not seem surprising if humans had developed a slight disfavour of potentially dangerous aspects of nature and wanted to protect themselves. The question is, however, why did some cultures develop a deep respect, appreciation, and acceptance for these phenomena while we have come to the point where we are exploiting and destroying the basis of our life. What made us follow such different paths?

As a first step we might want to look at the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic revolution, which has lead to an initial disconnection form nature with the abandonment of  ‘the wild’, the first domestication of plants and animals, as well as the need to store and protect what has been harvested. If we look closely, however, we see that many cultures have practised agriculture while being strongly immersed into the natural world, indicating the need for further drivers of disconnection.

Some of the most influential drivers of our modern way of thinking have been ancient Greek philosophies, some of which are likely to have contributed to a decreased connectedness. Rationalism and with its later extension in Cartesian dualism and deductive reasoning, for example, have lead to an omnipresence of deductive and divisive thinking and thereby to a decreased ability/attentiveness to see connectedness between what is present as well as a denial of other ways of knowing. As a result, with modern day thinking we are now very good at understanding complicated systems, but less good at understanding complex systems, one of them being the natural world. In addition, we have become so absorbed in thinking that we have lost touch with the reality that is surrounding us, with tangible wealth, our gut feelings, and many other things.

A different driver of our disconnection can be found in the Roman system of divide and rule that may have laid the groundwork for/augmented a logic of domination, which in turn has found further amplifications in the course of time, such as European colonialism, slavery, patriarchy as well as the unreflected approval of Darwin’s evolutionary biology, which states life primarily as competitive and selfish, rather than primarily cooperative and mutually beneficial.

Another major driver is likely the adoption of selected interpretations of the old testament. Different authors, such as Metzner (1995) and White (1967) state that by establishing a dualism between humans and nature and by replacing pagan animism with a dogma of human mastery over nature, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature while being indifferent to its well-being and unaware of possible consequences. While this psychological disconnection has not lead to the ecological destructions itself, it may have laid the motivational groundwork for science and technology to be used so destructively, which in many ways seems to persist in these fields despite their dissociation from religion. Moreover, the dogma of human sinfulness and selfishness likely lead to collective self-fulfilling prophecies (that is, by behaving according to one’s assumptions on the world, one behaves in a way that forces other people to act according to one’s assumptions) and thereby a climate of distrust and selfishness.

Closely related to this is the development of an unreflected doctrine of progress, still persisting today. While progress made life easier in many ways, we were blinded to the negative consequences that came with it (nuclear and chemical pollution, droughts, mass extinctions of species, to name only a few).

Ongoing drivers

In addition, a number of ongoing drivers are now maintaining and amplifying the historical separation. The empowering fact is, however, that this is already changing in many ways. Awareness and willingness to find beneficial and regenerative ways of living are spreading all over the world so many of the drivers we mention here are already losing force.

Let us take a look nonetheless. One of the drivers is our modern urban lifestyle, that comes with a decrease of meaningful exposure to nature and massive psychological distractions, due to its plethora of potent stimuli and creation of artificial desires. In the process, people desensitize and/or adapt to the social and environmental changes, resulting in the extinction of experience and knowledge. This devolution towards a largely unnoticed loss of regular, direct, and meaningful contact with nature enlarged our unawareness concerning our dependency on nature and more often than not evokes fear and intolerance towards nature, further amplified by modern, predominantly indoor sedentary lifestyle.

With our increasing focus on the individual endeavour and competition, likely another result of unreflected Darwinian theory, we have swapped our holistic, interconnected concept of self for a limited self-concept, focused on oneself almost in isolation. This has seen an even further decrease due to social networks, tempting us to focus solely on our appearance.

Another maintaining factor is the continued appreciation of mechanistic achievements as human triumphs over nature, facilitated by a rejection of non-western ways of knowing. Somewhat connected to this is also the disconnection of modern day values from the natural world (e.g. our thinking of scarcity rather than abundance, as well as our current economy model, which works separately from the natural constraints). And finally, the continuation of the unreflected doctrine of progress, amplified by unreflected economic dynamics. Taking away the monetary benefits, we see that in a way progress has actually become equivalent to the degree to which we have polluted and destroyed the fundament of our existence, while the increase of happiness seems to be lagging behind. In addition, artificial economic forces keep most of us so busy, that we are missing life all the way along.

Taken together, it is unawareness that produces an environment which produces unawareness. Understanding the human disconnection from nature as a matter of consciousness will most likely help us reconnect and, in turn, discover profound well-being, fulfilment, and a life of abundance.