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The Nature (not Nurture) of Nature


"My thoughts like yours are pictures within pictures, infinitely repeated in time and space." EDB

Walking in any natural place, but especially in places where the scale is grand and somewhat incomprehensible, triggers not only wonder but also bafflement. Why is this place here; and why so magnificent? Exploring Jasper Park, in Alberta, draws forth quiet appreciation of the greatness of life and of its foundation, the earth we live on. But the smallness of myself and even of each spectacle, when compared to the next spectacle down the road, doesn't help bring resolution to the meaning of "nature." Nature and its energy seem both chaotic and aligned in order/pattern at the same time.

Philosophy has tangled with the two faces of "nature" -- its nature and its nurture -- over the centuries, even millennia. Nature is translated into art and dissected by science. It is the fountain of beauty and at the same time the origination of great terror and catastrophe. Is it the hand of God or an instrument of the devil?

So-called purveyors of wisdom propose evidence of both viewpoints. And reality suggests both arguments have merit.

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