Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild

People were more ethical, kind and generous after feeling awe

a connection with nature in childhood leads to a connection with nature in adulthood.

people were more likely to congregate around areas with trees than not.

Women, low-income groups and members of ethnic communities tend to report more instances of feeling unsafe in urban parks. Different groups report finding spaces threatening, amid fears of persecution and discrimination.

Schmapped,

(My own personal kickback is to spell out and thank exactly what food is on my daughter’s plate.

contact with natural environments during pregnancy or the neonatal period results in a lower prevalence of allergic disorder, which is connected with regulation of the immune system.

Awe, then, can shift us away from pure self-interest to be interested in others. It can help us bond and relate to each other. It can turn off the self, the day-to-day concerns, to propel us into focusing on something bigger and hard to comprehend.

Jung’s solution was that every person should have their own plot of land to allow the primitive instinct to come to life again.

We must move away from an extractive mindset, towards kindness, care and respect for other species.