The Belief System
In the book, Communicating Nature by Julia B. Corbett, specifically the first chapter, pages 12–25 discussed about a complex, evolving system of beliefs about the natural world called an ‘Environmental Belief System’ it is your childhood and adult experiences along with the belief of parents and significant others play an important role in developing your environmental beliefs. It begins with your children with a direct experience with nature causing a broad connection to physical places forming a base for your ideological foundation.
As you are going through adulthood experiencing already made and through life as an adult you be about to shape the foundation from those experiences shaping your beliefs and attitude towards the natural world. As Corbett says in her book, “All environmental messages are crafted from a perspective, informed by a worldview, reference personal relationships and experiences, and are used to just words and actions”
The books also mention ways of developments on three main factors that impact an individual to create how they see it and treat the environment. The mains factors are childhood experience, sense of place, and Historical and Cultural Context. Lets head into a little more in each detail:
1) Childhood Experience
Experience with nature in your childhood is one of the most impactful experiences that get embedded and stick with them for life. Due to this special experience from being outdoors that we carry knowledge and reinterpretations made to adulthood. These experiences are crucial for physical, cognitive, and emotions developments.
2) A Sense of Place
In the book, Corbett’s defines it as “Rich and often powerfully emotional sentiments that influence how people perceive, experience and value the environment.” Meaning that individuals that are associated with that place may have purely involves or utilitarian values as well as intangible one like belonging, beauty, and spiritually. A place that you call “home”.
3) Historical and Cultural Context
That the Environmental Belief System that Americans has been significantly influencing by colonization and religious traditions brought by the settlers. As the settlers arrived in the new land they came across Indian tribes that have not corrupted the land encouraging the settlers to form a relationship with the natural world. Wanting to become an Natural Ecosystem limits.
Reading Corbett’s book, it answered questions that have floating in my head for years, Environmental Belief System. I always knew that my parents had a strong influence on my belief of the environment always reminding me to take care of what we take for granted because one day it would not be there anymore. As I continue to grow into adulthood I had friend taught me how important having environment is and how it can just make you breathless, these events and experience showed myself the way to act towards the environment. These events instructed me to establish a relationship and comfort with the natural world. . Corbett showed in the book that natural plays a important role in your life helping one grows into adulthood being about to face challenges.
From what you have just read would you believe in the “Environmental Belief System”?
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