Today we discussed Bugbee's article about the wilderness and our "obliviousness" of it. I found this article, although difficult to follow, very interesting. He talked about how society as a whole generally is oblivious to the wilderness around us and is more focused on other things. He stated that the source of this obliviousness is caused by technology. This was even more interesting to me because it is 100% true. Society today is wholly focused on our technologies, such as laptops, cell phones, iPods, iPads, tv, video games etc. We no longer take time to appreciate the natural world around us and honestly have very little knowledge about our natural world. It is very sad how the times have changed from when our parents were young and didn't have to be forced to play outside, they willingly played outside from sun up to sun down when the street lights came on. It is amazing to me how much things have changed in such a short amount of time. I talk to my 90 year old Grandma and she is amazed at how times have changed. She never imagined being able to carry a small telephone around in your pocket and being able to call someone across the world, or send an instantaneous text message and receive an answer in less than a minute.
When I think about how my grandma and my parents grew up I am jealous in a way. I am jealous in the fact that they had so much time to be kids and play outside in the dirt and fall and get hurt. Kids these days don't know what it means to play outside or be told no you can't sit inside all day. Bugbee was right...we are completely oblivious to the wilderness around us and there is not much we can do to change it.
Yes, this is unfortunately so true. While driving through the suburbs during the evening, I always vacant lawns, basketball hoops, and swing sets. I often wonder where in the world the inhabitants of all those houses could possibly be. Could they really all - every single family in the neighborhood - be cooped up inside?
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