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>> JOINING ME IS DR. JUDITH HENDRY.
LET'S JUST GET RIGHT INTO THIS.
WHY IS IT THAT THERE'S A PERCEPTION THAT THE HUMAN
RACE AND THE NATURAL WORLD ARE ON THIS COLLISION COURSE
OF SORTS? >> WELL, THERE'S ALL KINDS
OF REASONS FOR IT, BUT I DON'T THINK IT COMES AS A
SURPRISE TO ANYONE THAT WE ARE FACING SOME VERY SERIOUS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS. AND THE ANTECEDENTS THAT
HAVE LED UP TO HUMANS' RELATIONSHIP TO THE NATURAL
WORLD ARE HISTORICAL, THEY'RE POLITICAL, THERE'S
VERY MANY OF THEM. BUT I THINK IN THE BOOK, I
TALK ABOUT THREE MAIN INFLUENCES THAT HAVE LED TO
OUR CURRENT SITUATION, AND THE FIRST OF THESE IS KIND
OF CONTROVERSIAL AND QUITE SURPRISING WHEN IT CAME OUT
IN THE 1970s. AN AUTHOR BY THE NAME OF
LYNN WHITE, JR. LEVELED A SCATHING INDICTMENT AGAINST
CHRISTIANITY AS ONE OF THE CAUSES OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL
PROBLEMS. >> INTERESTING.
>> BACK THEN IN THE 1970s WHEN THIS WAS FIRST
PUBLISHED, THAT WENT THE EQUIVALENT OF TODAY'S VIRAL,
AND IT REALLY STARTED A WHOLE NEW DIALOGUE ABOUT THE
ROLE OF JUDEO-CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND OUR
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS. CERTAINLY CHRISTIANITY HAS
LED TO WHAT WHITE TERMS THE ARROGANCE OF HUMANS TOWARDS
NATURE IN THIS DOMINIUM PARADIGM, WHERE WE ARE HERE
AND NATURE IS BELOW US, AND THAT IS ACCORDING TO GOD'S
WORD, GOD'S PLAN. AND NOW THERE'S A WHOLE AREA
OF RESEARCH AND THINKING CALLED ECO-THEOLOGY THAT
JUST LOOKS AT THE ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN DETERMINING
HUMAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE NATURAL WORLD.
ANOTHER VERY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN THE WAY THAT WE
VIEW AND TREAT THE NATURAL WORLD WAS THE ENLIGHTENMENT.
PRIOR TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT, YOU KNOW, WITH JOHN LOCKE
AND FRANCIS BACON, IN ROUGHLY THE 16th AND
17th CENTURIES, PRIOR TO THAT THE NATURAL WORLD WAS
SEEN AS ORGANIC, AND NATURE WAS THIS LOVING, GIVING
MOTHER EARTH CHARACTER WHO OBVIOUSLY WAS SOMETIMES
CAPRICIOUS AND NOT QUITE SO LOVING.
BUT ONCE THE ENLIGHTENMENT HAPPENED, ONCE WE STARTED
VIEWING NATURE NOT AS THIS ORGANIC MOTHER WHOLE, BUT WE
STARTED VIEWING NATURE AS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE
OBSERVED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC MEANS, IT COULD BE DISSECTED
AND WE COULD UNDERSTAND IT AND, THEREFORE, CONTROL IT.
A THIRD INFLUENCE ON THE WAY THAT WE VIEW AND TREAT THE
NATURAL WORLD IS THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
IN THE 19th CENTURY, WE REALLY STARTED USING NATURAL
RESOURCES WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO PUT INTO EFFECT MASS
MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES, WHEN WE WERE REALLY ABLE TO
HAVE THE MACHINERY TO ACTUALLY CONTROL AND REALLY
DESTROY THE NATURAL WORLD. >> WHICH UNDERSCORED THE
CONTROL THAT WE'D GOTTEN AFTER THE ENLIGHTENMENT.
>> ABSOLUTELY. WE FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO IT,
AND NOW WE'VE PUT ALL THESE FACTORS INTO PLACE.
PEOPLE MOVE FROM RURAL AMERICA INTO THE URBAN
CENTERS, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THAT
PERFECTLY PACKAGED TOMATO AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES
WHERE THAT TOMATO CAME FROM ARE NOW VERY DISTANT, VERY
SEPARATE. WE HAVE VERY LITTLE CONCERN
AT THIS POINT FROM WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM, OR WHERE
THE RESOURCES COME FROM THAT ARE USED TO PRODUCE
EVERYTHING WE PURCHASE, WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
>> WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION, AND WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE PRODUCTS THAT WE'RE
CONSUMING ARE FROM NATURE? >> ENVIRONMENTAL
COMMUNICATION IS A RELATIVELY NEW AREA OF
RESEARCH AND INQUIRY WITHIN THE COMMUNICATION
DISCIPLINE, AND IT'S BASED ON THE FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE
THAT THE WAY THAT WE COMMUNICATE ABOUT THE
NATURAL WORLD PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCES, AND TO SOME
EXTENT, TO A LARGE EXTENT, IN FACT, DETERMINES HOW WE
VIEW AND TREAT THE NATURAL WORLD.
THAT MOST OF MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURAL
WORLD COMES TO ME FROM SOMEBODY ELSE, OR SOMETHING
ELSE, NOT FROM MY OWN PERSONAL UNDERSTANDING OR
EXPERIENCES. OUR PERCEPTIONS OF THE
NATURAL WORLD AND HOW WE ARE TREATED ARE LARGELY MASS
MEDIATED. NOT ENTIRELY, BUT THEY'RE
LARGELY MASS MEDIATED. WE ARE BOMBARDED DAILY WITH
MESSAGES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT.
SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT ALL OF THESE
MESSAGES, WHERE THEY'RE COMING FROM, WHO'S PRODUCING
THEM. >> THE MOTIVATION BEHIND
THEM. >> EXACTLY.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE MESSAGES.
SO AS A FIELD OF STUDY, WE LOOK AT THINGS LIKE
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVERTISING, WE LOOK AT NEWS REPORTING,
WE LOOK AT THINGS LIKE THE MESSAGES THAT ARE SENT VIA
THINGS THAT WE WOULDN'T REALLY EVEN THINK ABOUT TOO
MUCH. FOR EXAMPLE, GREETING CARDS,
OR CHILDREN'S BOOKS, OR POPULAR CULTURAL MESSAGES
LIKE TELEVISION SHOWS, AND ON AND ON.
THE LIST IS ENDLESS. >> YOU WRITE IN YOUR BOOK
ABOUT HOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NATURAL WORLD
AND THE HUMAN WORLD IS BROKEN.
>> ANOTHER, OR THE SECOND MESSAGE THAT IS IN ALMOST
ALL OF THESE MESSAGES THAT WE RECEIVE IS ONE OF
ANTHROPOCENTRISM, WHICH IS A VERY HUMAN CENTERED WAY OF
VIEWING THE WORLD, AND IT FUNDAMENTALLY MEANS THAT THE
ONLY REAL VALUE OF NATURE IS AS A RESOURCE FOR HUMANS.
THAT IF NATURE ISN'T USEFUL TO HUMANS IN ONE FORM OR THE
OTHER, EITHER TO CHOP DOWN AND MAKE A PRODUCT OUT OF,
OR FOR US TO GO CAMPING AND HIKING IN, IF IT ISN'T
USEFUL TO US IN SOME WAY, THERE IS NO INHERENT VALUE.
IT'S VERY MUCH A HUMAN CENTERED PERSPECTIVE, AS
OPPOSED TO AN ECO CENTERED PERSPECTIVE WHICH VIEWS --
>> MUCH BROADER. >> YEAH, MUCH BROADER.
NATURE HAS INTRINSIC VALUE IN AND OF ITSELF, REGARDLESS
OF WHETHER OR NOT IT IS OF ANY USE TO HUMANS.
>> IS THE PERCEPTION THAT THE WORLD MIGHT END MAYBE
PART OF THAT DISCONNECT? >> APOCALYPTIC RHETORIC
IS SOMETHING THAT ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE USED
OVER THE MANY DECADES TO TRY TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT, TO
TRY AND INSTILL A LITTLE FEAR.
IN APOCALYPTIC RHETORIC, IT'S HUMANS WHO ARE
DESTROYED AND NATURE IS FINE.
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF IMPLICATIONS FOR USING THIS
KIND OF EXTREME RHETORIC, AND ONE IS THE CHICKEN
LITTLE EFFECT, THAT ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE BEEN
SCREAMING, THE SKY IS FALLING, FOR SO LONG, AND
YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S STILL THERE.
SO YOU'VE GOT THE THEORETICAL RHETORIC OF THE
ENVIRONMENTALISTS, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THE SKEPTICS
SAYING, OH, BUT GLOBAL WARMING ISN'T REAL, IT'S ALL
A HOAX. SO WHAT IT TENDS TO DO FOR
THOSE OF US, FOR THE LAY PEOPLE WHO AREN'T
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS, IT TENDS TO THROW US IN THE
MIDDLE, TO SAY, WELL, IT'S PROBABLY NOT THIS FAR, AND
IT'S PROBABLY NOT THIS FAR OVER HERE, IT'S SOMEWHERE IN
THE MIDDLE. THE HEGEMONY OF THE CENTER.
AND THE HEGEMONY OF THE CENTER IS NOT WHERE THINGS
GET DONE, IT'S NOT WHERE POLICY IS MADE.
>> STAYING IN THAT GRAY AREA.
>> EXACTLY. >> BUT IN SOME WAYS, I
THINK THAT'S WHY THE EXTREMES EXIST, SO YOU CAN
GET TO THE MIDDLE. >> IT'S A VERY COMFORTABLE
PLACE TO BE, AUGUSTA. >> YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE A
DECISION. >> YES, IT IS.
BUT I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU THAT WITH ISSUES LIKE GLOBAL
WARMING, WE JUST SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO REMAIN IN
THAT COMFORTABLE LET'S-WAIT-AND-SEE.
THAT COMFORTABLE MIDDLE JUST ISN'T GOING TO WORK FOR US.
WE NEED TO ACT. >> OR THINK ABOUT IT,
CONSIDER IT, ABSOLUTELY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
SHARING. THIS HAS BEEN A FASCINATING
TOPIC, REALLY GREAT. >> EXCELLENT.
I HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT.
>> ME, TOO.