There are certain people within our society who believe that we are losing touch with nature. They’ve made it their duty to inform us about the importance of experiencing nature, the negative implications technology has on our view of nature and the quality of life nature can provide. Two noteworthy advocates for the nature movement are authors Richard Louv and Bill McKibben. Their written works A Life of the Senses and From the End of Nature discuss the impact nature has on our lives. In his essay A Life of the Senses, author Richard Louv discusses the importance of experiencing nature and “what happens to the senses of the young when they lose connection with nature” (664). He believes that “children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and, therefore, for learning and creativity” (664). The importance of nature is that it stimulates curiosity, creativity and a sense of freedom. In Louv’s opinion, lack of “primary experience – that which we can see, feel, taste, hear or smell for ourselves” (672) has had negative implications on our society. He believes that our primary experience of nature is being replaced by secondary, vicarious, often distorted, dual sensory (vision and sound only), one-way experience of television and other electronic media (672). Unfortunately, adults are guilty of not encouraging children to experience nature. Louv writes, “there is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see” (671). Instead of spending more time with their family and friends, many adults choose to communicate via the internet, stay at work late or watch television. The result is children that follow by example and choose to stay inside and watch television or play video games, instead of going outside to play.
There are negative implications that may occur because of this trend. It is