My dear friend David Valerio has started a podcast and Substack called Discern Earth. I was thrilled to be invited on as his first guest, after his opening monologue.
In this episode, which I post here, we discuss what nature is. Here’s David’s description:
We discuss the etymology of nature and related terms, whether there is a hard distinction between man and nature, hypostatization and reification, the Christian roots of theories about the inherent value of nature, and the role of embodied experience in facilitating ecological regeneration.
You can listen here on Substack, click here to listen on other podcast apps, or read the transcript David made.
Where is nature?
Last week, I was in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. This was for Liminal Learning’s first Quest.
Below is a photo I took, from the most remote place in nature I’ve ever been. To reach this island from the research station required crossing three lakes and carrying our canoes between two intervening stretches of hilly, wooded land like you see here. I did this with a group of eleven incredible young people, a guide, and seven of us leading the Quest.
Our guide estimated that only a few dozen people had ever seen this view, at least since the station opened in 1944.
You can learn more at The Liminal Post.
As always, I’d love to hear from you!
Bryan
What is Nature?