Clarke
We use the words ‘Nature’ and ‘Natural’ in so many contradictory ways that their meaning is obscure, and their use is obfuscatory.
Words like ‘Natural’ and ‘Unnatural’ reveal our attitudes towards aspects of our world, but they are so ill-defined that it is best to avoid them when we need to make policy decisions, especially those relating to Ecological Sustainability, the Biosphere and Biodiversity. This presentation will examine the ways in which our confused understanding of ‘Nature’ creates problems for us, it will present some important facts that we need to take into account in our treatment of the Biosphere, and it will examine the reasons why the Western World has in many erroneous and harmful ways presented Humanity as separate from the Biosphere.