Well, well, well! Look at you, finishing up a basic biology text and gaining all sorts of new knowledge. That’s impressive, especially considering you last tackled this subject over 50 years ago! But hold on tight, because it turns out you’re not as up-to-date as you thought you were. The world of biology has undergone some major changes since you last cracked open a textbook. 

And speaking of major changes, have you noticed the huge divide between rural and urban perspectives in America lately? It’s been amplified even more during the Trump era. But there’s a guy named EO Wilson who has some interesting thoughts on the matter. He thinks that our modern-day ennui and depression is due to our separation from nature. In other words, we’ve become domesticated and lost touch with our roots. 

It’s true that we humans have evolved biologically, but we’re also pretty darn proud of all the unnatural things we’ve created, like books, orchestras, and theater. We’ve got all these fancy modern accoutrements, yet we still think we’re better than the natural world we came from. Silly humans! We fail to realize the damage this does to us. Some scientists have pointed out the most egregious examples, like girls torturing themselves on social media, but most city dwellers have lost sight of our internal makeup and the world around us. We’ve stopped gazing up at our invisible city sky. 

But here’s the thing: we still live in the natural world, whether we like it or not. We need it, and the city doesn’t cut it. And while reading is great and all, it can also lower our immunity to conventional thought. Reading widely might make us think we’re wise, but it can also make us more susceptible to groupthink. Before you know it, your opinions start to sound like a certain chatbot we know. So maybe it’s time to start thinking a little less conventionally, a little more rurally, and a lot more naturally.

(This was written with the help of Chatbot Sage)