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What is 'Natural'?

GodandLove

GodandLove

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What do you consider to be natural?

I've been thinking... Some people don't believe cars to be natural... But everything used to make the car came from the earth... So how is that not natural?

Do you believe human imagination to be natural? I do... It's our natural ability... Humans are found in nature... So everything we create must be natural.. Correct? How could it not be? Is a birds nest not natural? If there were no birds... you wouldn't find any nests in nature.

So what do you consider to be natural? Planets orbiting stars in outer space?


Look at the google definition for the word natural

"existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind."

Humankind? What is that supposed to mean? What about antkind? Those unnatural creatures are infesting my natural human house. And those damn birdkind... always shitting on my natural human car.
 
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I think it's a bad question. As you said in your last sentence humans are a part of nature, what we do is natural. The better question is "what is nature?".
 
-=SS=- said:
I think it's a bad question. As you said in your last sentence humans are a part of nature, what we do is natural. The better question is "what is nature?".
Click to expand...

+! I think if the topic is about nature it will generate more discussions as this is a broad topic. Op, I believe you have answered your own question on the last sentence on your thread.
 
I also consider this topic to be confusing. What is natural? If we take natural things and put them together...why are they not natural? Like cars, as you mentioned, or synthetic drugs. If it is unaltered by humanity...it is considered natural. But it is natural for us to create...and alter things to create new things. I think that things are considered natural when they are not technologically advanced by humans, but the act of humanity...advancing technologically...is natural. So its very confusing to me. Everything is natural, in a sense... Therefore, why does the word "natural" exist, if everything is natural? I guess it just comes down to whether or not we have altered it. Ohhh... I'm confusing myself. I think this might be a never-ending chain of questions, answers and questioning of answers...and answering the questioning of previous answers...and then the questioning of that... ahhh... I guess the term "natural" is humanities attempt to separate itself from the rest of the world.
We are definitely natural...so products of humanity would have to be considered natural on some level.... I'm talking I'm circles.

Basically, I repeated what you said in my own words, but I came to the conclusion that the word natural is an attempt to separate ourselves from the rest of the world and existence. Similar to how some people don't consider themselves to be animals...or at least talk as if they don't.

Thank you for sparking some thought :)

A question that I now have is this: Why do some humans feel the need to separate themselves from other life forms and the rest of the world, existence, etcetera?
 
Eh, I shouldn't have rambled so much... my contribution of new thoughts is now buried in my repeating babble of what you already said... :( No, I don't feel like editing it, I will post this instead :)
 
Now that I think about it... This question is to hard to answer to many variables.

No such thing as natural.
 
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^I agree with that. Everything is natural.

I'm still confused by this topic though. Perhaps I'm just over analyzing it...
 
Natural is anything that is untouched by human hands. This definition may limit some things you may have in your mind as being natural, (bottled water, chicken schnitzel, coconut bikinis) but you will get over it eventually.
 
rickolasnice said:
Everything is natural.
Click to expand...

psychonautical420 said:
^I agree with that. Everything is natural.
Click to expand...

No?

Since this a drug forum I would think most here would know about SYNTHETIC drugs, and would agree they are not a natural occurrence at all. Can we all agree on that? Unless you're tripping that hard :p

Synthetic: (of a substance) made by chemical synthesis, esp. to imitate a natural product
Synonyms: artificial, manufactured, unnatural
Antonyms: genuine, real, natural
http://thesaurus.com/

The trees in my backyard are a natural occurrence, the car in my driveway is not. That's the difference. Yes it was made with natural products and materials in the earth, but it didn't happen without us, let's be real. ;)
 
it's a relative distinction which serves a specific purpose: as a gauge of how much balance there is between us and our environment.

"natural" infers non-destructive, and as such it is measured in degrees, rather than absolutes. otherwise, the distinction is meaningless.
 
Tromps said:
No?

Since this a drug forum I would think most here would know about SYNTHETIC drugs, and would agree they are not a natural occurrence at all. Can we all agree on that? Unless you're tripping that hard :p

Synthetic: (of a substance) made by chemical synthesis, esp. to imitate a natural product
Synonyms: artificial, manufactured, unnatural
Antonyms: genuine, real, natural
http://thesaurus.com/

The trees in my backyard are a natural occurrence, the car in my driveway is not. That's the difference. Yes it was made with natural products and materials in the earth, but it didn't happen without us, let's be real. ;)
Click to expand...

So is a birds nest unnatural?

Everything that happens in nature (ie the universe) is natural. Humans are a product of nature, everything we produce is natural.

na·ture (nchr)
n.
1. The material world and its phenomena.
Click to expand...

ie.. everything.
 
I think the best direction to go in for an answer to this is to think about when something is 'natural' it is 'going with the flow', not in opposition to, certain forces or principles that drive the systems of the biological world. Saying absolutely everything that we've created is natural because we're a part of nature seems logically to be correct, but to me at least I can't help but feel it is incorrect.

Taking the most extreme example, nuclear weapons. Doesn't occur on its own in nature and it's purpose is to destroy all life within a defined area (which to me seems to go against nature). I think that qualifies as something that is not natural, not part of nature. Lot's of other things we've created destroy, but also allow us to continue moving forward.. such as automobiles (pollution, resources etc), but nuclear weapons seem a wholly backwards process.
 
Everything that the universe contains/is is within it's rule(s), to exist, and is, therefore, natural.

Still, there are levels to navigate, and ways of relation, within.
 
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Saying that anything in the universe is natural is an extremely macrocosmic view. The question of what is natural speaks to human behavior vs. other behaviors within the biosphere. Humans are not separate from the natural world and never will be. Only the most deluded people believe that. If the biosphere collapses, we die. No technology or superiority complexes will change that fact. Therefore, any of our behaviors that run contrary to our mutual dependence on the biosphere are indeed unnatural.

Seven billion humans, mostly living in urban environments, consuming processed food, destroying the environment and irrevocably altering the planet in ways that is threatening to our species and the web of life, is unnatural. Choices we make which create net detriment to our personal biology, or our surroundings, are unnatural.

Thanks to Judeochristian preaching of natural dominance, which has seeped even into our modern scientific culture, too many humans think that nature is here to service us and will always provide. Nothing could be further from the truth.
 
'Human behavior vs other behaviors within the biosphere'.... What about disease? Our behavior replicates that of 'naturally' found viruses within the biosphere. So that logistic wouldn't work.
 
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