Oh! For the natural world
I've been privy to an interesting debate over the last couple days in light of the Tiger incident on Christmas Night in San Francisco. The major proponent of this debate argues that all zoos, circuses and rodeos should be closed out of respect for the safety and respect of animals we keep imprisoned therein.
Furthermore, so this argument goes, the only way we should be able to learn about our natural world is through the intrepid explorers who dared to commit that world to video. If we want to know about a Siberian tiger, then we should pop a dvd into our player and watch the animal on our television.
The consequence of that particular philosophy is that the common man would only be able to directly interact with the natural world incidentally and accidentally as they travel about through their day. The birds would fly by, squirrels would scold one as they hide in trees, and a rare dear, lizard, or raccoon would flash by as their paths cross ours.
I have argued before that society has enough problems with interaction as people drive by buttoned up in their automobiles. They keep their windows rolled up so tight that the world is out there, just beyond the reach of the senses of those within that automobile. If we were to further follow this argument I cite above, then we would forever isolate ourselves from any opportunity to directly interact with Nature.
The zoo, as we may recall, is a direct descendant of what the ancient traveler and trader brought back from their travels to other lands. While in olden days, seeing tigers, elephants and other fantastic animals were the primary province of the rich, the zoos and circuses democratized that experience, and brought the natural world to the common man.
Technology may have democratized that experience to the point where where the original institution may have outlived its usefulness. However if the only opportunity that I might have to experience nature is through electrified silicon, then the only animals I will have to interact with are my two dogs, my cat, and a few Daddy Longlegs spiders.
Since we already isolate ourselves in our cars, imagine what life would be like when Nature is as close as our local video store. No wonder society is all messed up, we are forgetting what it is like to be human, and soon we may forget what being natural is like as well.