Naturalisation of humans

People interact with nature through technology. And technology grows from understanding nature: once humans understood friction and heat, they could make fire; once they understood DNA and genes, they could fight diseases.

In the earliest stages of human history, technology was very simple. People could do little to change their surroundings, so they adapted to whatever nature dictated. They heard nature's fury, saw its power, and worshipped and feared it. Their survival depended directly on the resources around them.

This view of the relationship, in which nature controls human life, is called environmental determinism. Humans in such societies are 'naturalised': shaped by nature.

The book gives an example from India: Benda, who lives in the wild forests of Abujh Maad in central India. His tribe practises shifting cultivation: they clear a small patch of forest, grow crops for a few years, then move on and let the forest grow back. When Benda and his friends go to the forest, they ask permission from Loi-Lugi, the spirit of the forest, and thank it for what they take. Their needs are few, and they live by the forest's rules.

For such societies, the physical environment is 'Mother Nature': the giver of everything, to be respected.