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The Nature Principle
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The Nature Principle (2011) (edit title/settings)

Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder

by Richard Louv (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

The immediacy of Richard Louv’s message in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder galvanized an international movement to reconnect children with nature. Now, in The Nature Principle, Louv reaches even further with a powerful call to action for the rest... read more

Summary edit see section history

In a continuation of themes from his earlier book "Last Child in the Woods" Richard Louv further explores the concepts of Nature-Deficit Disorder and how this problem can be overcome in our world. The book begins with a introduction (for some a reintroduction) of the importance of nature in... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

In a continuation of themes from his earlier book "Last Child in the Woods" Richard Louv further explores the concepts of Nature-Deficit Disorder and how this problem can be overcome in our world. The book begins with a introduction (for some a reintroduction) of the importance of nature in our lives and the scientific basis behind it. He then discusses how to find nature in our lives and immediate communities, how to apply more nature when it is needed, and various movements dedicated toward the Nature Principle. He describes cities and careers focuses on this and just what the Nature Principle means for our futures.

People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “If you plant seeds in the wrong place, the plants will tell you right away that something is wrong. Just learn as you go, but start now."”
    Alan Chadwick
  • “You can't know who you are until you know where you are.”
    Wendell Berry
  • “... the Nature Principle is about conservation, but also about restorating nature while we restore ourselves; about creating new natural habitats where they once were or never were, in our homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, cities, suburbs, and farms. It's about the power of living in nature--not with it, but in it.”
  • “The natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts withing which we can more fully realize our dreams.”
    Paul Shepard
  • “The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other.”
    Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Nature reminds me how simple and achievable life really is. When I start sweating the small stuff, I get back outdoors and remind myself about what really matters.”
    Nancy Herron
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. Or hear. Or sense.
    Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers
  • “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement, to look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; to be spiritual is to be constantly amazed.”
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers
  • Creative genius is not the accumulation of knowledge; it is the ability to see patterns in the universe, to detect hidden links between what is and what could be.
    Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers
  • Here’s my definition of nature: Human beings exist in nature anywhere they experience meaningful kinship with other species.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • This principle holds that a reconnection to the natural world is fundamental to human health, well-being, spirit, and survival.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • When truly present in nature, we do use all our senses at the same time, which is the optimum state of learning.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”)
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology? How can each of us help create that life-enhancing world, not only in a hypothetical future, but right now, for our families and for ourselves?
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature, a book he coauthored with Ellen Haas and Evan McGown.
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

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Organizations edit see section history

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First Sentence edit see section history

We traveled down a dirt road through the melting adobe village of Puerto de Luna, New Mexico, crossed a low bridge over the shallow Pecos River and entered a valley of green chili fields held by red-rimmed sandstone bluffs.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Nature-Deficit Disorder for Adults

PART ONE
Nature Neurons: Intelligence, Creativity, and the Hybrid Mind
1. Singing for Bears
2. The Hybrid Mind

PART TWO
Vitamin N: Tapping the Power of the Natural World for Our Physical, Emotional, and Family Fitness
3. The Garden
4. Fountains of Life
5. Re-naturing the Psyche
6. The Deep Green High
7. The Nature Prescription

PART THREE
Near is the New Far: Knowing Who You Are by Knowing Where You Are
8. Searching for Your One True Place
9. The Incredible Experience of Being Where You Are
10. Welcome to the Neighborhood
11. The Purposeful Place
12. The Bonding

PART FOUR
Creating Everyday Eden: High-Tech/High-Nature Design Where We Live, Work, and Play
13. The Nature Principle at Home
14. Stop, Look Up, and Listen
15. Nature Neurons Go to Work
16. Living in a Restorative City
17. Little Suburb on the Prairie

PART FIVE
The High-Performance Human: Making a Living, a Life, and a Future
18. Vitamin N for the Soul
19. All Rivers Run to the Future
20. The Right to a Walk in the Woods
21. Where Mountains Once Were and Rivers Will Be

Epilogue
Suggested Reading
Notes
Index

Glossary edit see section history

  • Plant Blindness: The inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment. Coined by James Wandersee.
  • Nature-Deficit Disorder: Negative mental and physical results stemmed from lack of nature. Coined by Richard Louv.
  • Gaia Hypothesis: Holds that the biosphere and all the physical elements of the Earth and all the life on and within and above it are integrated into a complex, self-correcting system; a superorganism.
  • Vitamin N: Mind/body/nature connection
  • Hybrid Mind: Result of utilizing both technology and nature experience to increase intelligence, creative thinking, and productivity.
  • Human/nature social capital: Principle of how well a community looks out for each other based on nieghbors as well as natural factors.
  • Purposeful place: Sense of identity with location.
  • Biophilic design: Architecture and human design with nature and conversation in mind.
  • High-performance human: People able to exist in an environment that recognizes both nature and human need.
  • Superbirder: Birder with the ability to identify birds by sound.
  • Mindsight: Term coined by Ron Rensink. A "first strike" system where vision is a collection of abilities and that the brain can receive, through light, a kind of pre-image vision.
  • ragged edge sports: Sports involving sensory immersion in nature rather than spectatorism, doing outdoor sports in unusual ways and unexpected locales; doing more than one outdoor activity at the same time; combining recreation with conservation; preferring handmade or restored equipment;
  • Ecotherapy: Use of nature to heal.
  • Happy Planet Index: Human/Nature report card system created by the New Economics Foundation.
  • Human/Nature Report Card: A system for evaluating communities for measures of profit, revenue, outdoor recreation, positive economic impact on public mental health, physical health, education, and jobs.
  • Transition Town movement: Movement to a postpetroleum age.
  • Citizen Naturalist: One who takes personal action to protect and participate in nature.
  • Vastu Shastra: "energy" rules of design.
  • Living walls: Walls of plants.
  • reconcilliation ecology: The science of inventing, establishing, and maintaining new habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work, and play.
  • Biomimicry: Respectful imitation of the environment.
  • Ecocities: Cities zoned for density and diversity.
  • Land Ethic: By Aldo Leopold. His argument that humans should treat nature as they would another human being.
  • Three Rings Theory: Cultural change movement based on three rings. The First Ring is traditionally funded, direct service programs. The Second Ring is made up of volunteers. The Third Ring is the potentially vast orbit of networked associations, individuals, and families.
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977: Requires coal companies to reclaim land by replacing topsoil.
  • The Great Work: Term by Thomas Berry--re-naturing life.
Show all 26 glossary entries

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Nature-Deficit Disorder: A concept coined by Richard Louv referring to the effect a lack of nature has on our minds.
  • Nature: Richard Louv seeks to apply an increase of nature to our lives.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Richard Louv (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: May 10 2011
ISBN: 978-1565125810
Page Count: 288

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Focuses on the Nature-Deficit Disorder for adults and what they can do for nature in our communities and lives and workplaces.

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Last Child in the Woods
  • Biophilia
  • The Biophilia Hypothesis
  • The Future of Life

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