The Forest – our Enemy

We daydream about life in pristine, free, raw nature – where we would only survive for five minutes. Man and nature are not partners.

- It is naturalness we dream about. Untouched, green, wild – that is an environment we are happy to imagine ourselves in as city nomads. We are inundated with advertisements that use an alleged naturalness in their messages; but also in conversations we often hear that someone has found a “completely untouched” or “natural” spot during their vacation. Whoever speaks in such terms wants to earn extra points during a cocktail conversation – and to stress that he or she is an adventurer.

But the truth is: there is no pristine nature. Wherever we go, the immaculate state we are thinking of is long gone. This is not to say that man is unnatural. Nonetheless, humans have developed beyond their naturalness and are cultural beings that have fought for and built their own habitat.

Against Nature

According to the philosopher Arnold Gehlen, man is a “dissociated being” that due the nature of its physique has little room for survival. The animals which threatened him in the savanna were faster on land, in the water, on the trees and in the air. This means that man and nature are not partners. Perhaps, this elucidates man’s desire to destroy nature.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the forest, which we associate with an image of untouched, graceful natural beauty, is an adversary. Only after the hero fells the trees, the dangers exist no more. The forest is full of dark, mythical creatures and robbers that inhabit it; in its tree tops dwell spirits. In short: the forest is an enemy!


If we place someone from the West with fantasies about pristine nature in it – she or he would not survive even five minutes. We have long left the jungle, the forest and the harsh weather. If we had not done it, humans would be no more. When we speak of nature, we mean domesticated nature. Even a wild park complex built in the Romanticism ear cannot obscure the fact that we see ourselves as the creators and designers of nature. And the chaos we still allow it, is something we want to control and manage. Real, untouched nature can be found in fewer and fewer places. We would do it the greatest favor if we did not set foot there.

Read Newest From Column Alexander Görlach: The transforming human

Källa: http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/alexander-goerlach--2/9971-the-illusion-of-unspoiled-nature


- Har själv ansett att kaos är det naturliga tillståndet. Lämna en asfalterad väg utan underhåll, inom några år bryter växter igenom, vatten bidrar, och vägen slukas på sikt, ofarbar, till slut inte ens noterbar. Alla 'trygghetsnarkomaner' borde lära sig detta, som är normaltillståndet. I st f att kroniskt begära att land och stat, skall garantera 'välfärd'. Detta är en social konstruktion, i strid med naturens inneboende dynamik.