Techno Naturalists

In his article Techno-Naturalists, author and nature advocate Richard Louv reminds readers that technology isn’t just a computer, a software program, or a wireless gadget. He points out that we have been using technology long before the advent of the digital age. “A fishing rod is technology” (Louv). He continues the discussion by suggesting that rather than necessarily being the antithesis of nature, technology can also be used as an entry tool into nature. Examples he gives are “geo-caching, or wildlife photographing with…digital cameras, or collecting pond samples” (Louv, 2010, para 1).

He does include a caution. “Any gadget can distract from nature. A person can become so transfixed by the camera screen that they never look past it to see the stream” (para 6). In effect, what we are doing, is watching the gadget rather than the world around us. Yet the digital world and our fascination with technology are here to stay. Louv suggests this be used to increase children’s fascination with nature at the same time. Rather than using technology to focus their attention on virtual worlds, he suggests using technology as a way of encouraging children to study and become fascinated with the natural world. Children can use technological tools to document their exploration of natural life, catalog what they have seen, and use this for further study.

I am a big fan of Richard Louv, and love his book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. He has been documenting children’s waning relationship with the natural world and the resulting consequences for many decades. I felt that this article was important because of his approach to technology. He is not against it. He can see that it is a strong presence in our lives and always has been. Suggesting we use it to rekindle some of our broken connections to the natural world makes good sense. The natural world gives rise to all that we need in order to survive, and has given rise to us. There is an immediacy of experience that we can be conscious of. This experience arises out of the relationship between our senses and that from which we have arisen from. When all of our attention is attuned to that which is digital or mechanical we run the risk of losing this awareness. Yet technology does not need to be the antithesis of nature. It can be another way we explore the world we live in.

Louv, R. (May, 2010). Techno-Naturalists. Field Notes from the Future: Tracking the Movement to Connect People and Nature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/