“Human Nature” Requires Nature
November 26th, 2008Making a strong argument for spending more time outside, Scott Stevens of the Blunt Perspectives blog wrote:
Chill yourself out, but most importantly get out there for the kids. Let them throw rocks and hurt themselves. Let them go and explore and expend energy. Give their minds and bodies the chance to avoid the terrible effects of Urbanization and a conveniently lazy society.
We live in a city and we love it. And living in a city definitely does not correlate with laziness (I know more than a few lazy people in the small Wisconsin town where I grew up). With that said, I agree with the most of what Scott writes. I think my kids really would benefit form more time outside. I just wish it wasn’t so damn cold out (there I go being lazy again).
Read his full post here: Urban Jungles, Nature, and Society’s Peril. And thanks to Tim O’Reilly’s Twitter feed for pointing me to this post.
November 28th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Thank you for taking note of my posting via @timoreilly…
I want to be clear that cityfolk are not lazy, but rather that our society has created a laziness of convenience (especially abundant in cities) - mcdonalds, applebees, starbucks, movies,apartments/rentals, video games - all items that do not promote anyone to do anything of motion. Not everyone chooses to lazy like that, but it tends to be more easy to do so in a City and sometimes without choice due to a lack of exploratory/creative outdoor activities in a metro (i dont count playing at a park the same as playing in a dirt field, forest, mountain or river).
I have lived in cities like Milwaukee, Denver, Chicago and San Diego and loved it. The access to amenities and education experiences are great and no question simply unavailable in rural areas. As well, it also tends to provide more access to diversity which is something VITALLY IMPORTANT to kids as well, which often rural areas lack terribly (and can lead to intolerance).
And yes, I am from Wisconsin too and it’s just too damn cold and summer is too humid!
Keep doing what you’re doing - this is an important topic that should be advocated!