The Nature Principle

“Beyond proprioception, that awareness of our body’s position through movement and balance, nature also offers us the opportunity to realize an even larger sense—the position of our body and spirit in the universe and in time.” 

Louv likes to take ideas that he views as limited and extend them to create a wider definition of the term. Here, he introduces nature into proprioception making nature vital in our understanding of how we fit into the universe. This is one example of ideas that may seem difficult to understand by the average reader depending on your personal viewpoints. 

“Here is a third possibility: We may be developing a hybrid mind. The ultimate multitasking will be to live simultaneously in both the digital and physical world, using computers to maximize our powers to process intellectual data and natural environments to ignite all of our senses and accelerate our ability to learn and to feel; in this way, we could combine the “primitive” powers of our ancestors with the digital speed of our teenagers.” 

While many people feel that technology and nature are at odds with one another, Louv envisions a world in which the two worlds work together. He states ways that technology can enhance our experience in nature and to encourage new generations to be nature involved, such as gadgets that inform the user of the type of bird they see. He believes connecting nature and technology is the only way to adapt to our new technological age without letting the natural world slip away. 

“Perhaps these childhood experiences are why, as an adult, I am compelled to believe in the restorative power of nature, in a human/nature reunion. And that because of this reunion, life will be better.”

Personal experience has a large impact on our view of the world (one reason that Louv recommends nature experiences for children). Louv reveals that his own personal experiences, namely the suicide of his father after the death of the family garden, have had an impact on his beliefs and careers goals. When he shares his own experience, he reaches out the reader and brings them closer to his ideas and thoughts. 

“Nonetheless, for Astrove, wilderness has helped create a context for healing—and may have strengthened his immune system and offered protective properties that he, and the rest of us, do not yet fully understand.” 

Louv is not afraid to include research that is not conclusive. While for some readers, this may make them less inclined to believe his argument, for others, this builds a sense of trust between the author and the reader. Louv is not afraid to question and to leave questions for the reader to ponder. By acknowledging that we don’t fully understand how our relationship with nature affects us, it leaves space for future research. 

“[Thomas] has seen the impact of nature on people in her outdoors programs. Some mental health organizations are beginning to agree—to a degree.” 

This quotation discusses Dianne Thomas’s outdoor fitness program in North Carolina and her belief that nature has a positive impact on people. The quote highlights the tension between anecdotal evidence and research-based evidence in the book. Many of the stories Louv includes are full of strong feelings towards the impact of nature on our mental and spiritual health. This medical field is slower to believe, mainly due to the lack of research on the topic. This is why Louv is constantly stating the importance of more research.

“Health isn’t just the absence of illness or pain, it’s also physical, emotional, mental, intellectual, and spiritual fitness—in short it’s about the joy of being alive.”

For Louv, nature is not simply a way of becoming physically healthier individuals. Nature is about connecting with all aspects of our well-being: spiritual, emotional, mental and intellectual. Louv is attempting to stretch the reader’s definition of what it means to be healthy and connected to nature. 

“To transform the health care system will require more than institutional change. It will demand rigorous research and a philosophical evolution that goes beyond what we usually call preventative care. That shift, towards natural fitness, can happen organizationally—as well as at the level of the individual, in our social and family networks, and in the living environments we create for the young and the old.”

Louv makes a call for change at the organizational and the individual level. Believing that it is necessary to have both to have a successful movement, he is not afraid to give recommendations at all levels for how we must change. He is aware of the requirements of such institutional change and isn’t disillusioned that it is an easy task to accomplish. 

“One answer is to stay put, to discover and become fully immersed in our own bioregion, to encourage immediate changes and long-term policies that create nature and encourage higher human density where we live.” 

Being far from our home in a wilderness area can be relaxing for our mind but Louv challenges us to encourage long lasting connection to nature and reestablish nature in urban areas. A major theme throughout the book is creating community and nature in our own backyard, rather than traveling away from our homes. This will help to create communities and generations of people that understand their local flora and fauna and have a deep, lasting connection to nature. 

“Whatever our limitations—cultural, physiological, or both—considering the acute plant sightedness of some cultures, and the neighbor with the green thumb, surely we can overcome some of our plant blindness.” 

Plant blindness is the unawareness that we have in our surrounding environment. Louv describes how he went hiking with a naturalist to counteract his own plant blindness. This story provides a relatable recommendation for the average reader. 

“In related work, researchers at the University of Rochester, in New York, report that exposure to the natural environment leads people to nurture close relationships with fellow human beings, to value community, and to be more generous with money.” 

While nature can help to boost our individual health, Louv explores how our social connections are bolstered by nurturing a connection to the environment. This added dimension, how nature can strengthen our social capital, is a significant theory that Louv adds to the conversation. 

“One of the advantages of living in most cities is human cultural diversity; by applying the Nature Principle, our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities can become more biodiverse, more interesting places to live.” 

One of Louv’s main arguments is that it is not location that matters, but how we create a natural environment in our current location. Living in cities is good because it means we are lowering our footprint by building up instead of urban sprawl. While perhaps controversial, Louv is a proponent of bringing back wildlife and local flora and fauna to urban areas. 

“There was a time when developing a spiritual, psychological, physical attachment to place came naturally; today, awareness of our surroundings and our role in this larger life must be developed purposefully, not only by each of us, but by government and business.” 

The emotional and spiritual attachment to nature is one that Louv argues used to be a natural part of humans. As we become more technologically advanced, our society is losing touch with this basic connection. Purposeful action toward change is a main theme throughout the novel, and this change needs to come from all levels: the individual to government. 

“Just as the re-naturing of everyday life can be an important component of strengthening physical, psychological, and intellectual fitness, a sense of purpose in a bioregion can also strengthen relationships between parents, children, and grandparents; and between extended families, couples without children, and just plain friends.” 

Social capital is a vital part of the human connection and society, but Louv presents the theory that nature is important in connecting individuals to each other and to creating a healthy community as well. 

“For my family, the restorative home and garden remains a work in progress. But we’re moving in the right direction.” 

Honesty is important in seeming trustworthy. Louv does not make lofty claims about his own steps towards restorative home practices; he is honest that it is hard to make these changes when life gets in the way. This sincerity provides relatability. 

“Some of the barriers separating people from the rest of nature are self—imposed, others created by media or the commercial world. That will continue, but we can resist; we can tune down the decibels, turn down the lights, and turn on the senses. A few businesses may even join the resistance.” 

Resistance is a strong word that Louv employs, which evokes a fight against the status quo, a fight to find our true selves in nature. While we sometimes separate ourselves from nature, the media has also contributed by creating a sense of fear around being alone in the wilderness. By deciding to not follow fear or the status quo, we can spend more time becoming in tune with nature and therefore with ourselves. 

“An extended universal design philosophy would further broaden the concept of community, suggesting that the design of human products and environment should be about not just the effect on the individual human, but also the effect on other species, and could even incorporate things we have learned from observing other species. Such design takes into consideration all members—thus the emergence of what might be called universe design.” 

Louv is constantly taking our limited view and working to expand it. Instead of thinking simply about incorporating a diverse population into our planning, we should be incorporating all species into our planning. Humans have been behaving as if we live alone on this planet, which has created a separation that is hurting humans and animals. Universe design is about working to incorporate all species into our concept of community.

“When businesses engage nature as a partner, the benefits do not stop at the workplace, or with employee retreats, or even design, but extend directly to the marketplace, the service economy, and retail trade, which can in turn reshape cities and commercial areas.” 

Environmental conservation has long been stigmatized as being against business and the marketplace economy. This is far from the truth, as we see that there is a market for ecofriendly products and an economic benefit to companies in creating nature—based workplaces (an increase in productivity, workplace happiness, money saving eco building practices, etc.). 

“If a business with nature adds more to the natural world than it subtracts, if it strengthens human care for nature, while enhancing human intelligence, health, and well-being, then that relationship—that business—is not only moral, but truly nature smart.” 

While many of the recommendations for decreasing the nature deficit are focused on what individuals and communities can do, Louv also includes many recommendations for businesses and government policy. He envisions a world where businesses work with nature and continue to make monetary profit because this is what communities are looking for. For change to occur, it needs to happen at all levels. 

“The Nature Principle is not anti-urban. In fact, it’s pro-city—it’s about growing the seeds of nature and authenticity that have already been planted and planting new ones.” 

Cities are generally thought of as being opposed to nature. When we think about nature, we think about the wilderness. Louv hopes to shift the reader’s perception of what and where nature is. This shift in thinking, that urban areas can cohabitate with nature, is a key to creating a sustainable relationship with nature. 

“This high tech/high-nature configuration is arguably more economically sustainable than the current rural American landscape, which is emptying out as farming consolidates and rural tax bases deteriorate.”

Combining the realities of technology with nature are a way that Louv provides realistic restoration recommendations. He focuses on the changes that can be made higher up, as well as from the bottom-up. 

“The natural world is one of our most reliable windows into wonder and, at least to some, into a spiritual intelligence.”

Nature as a sense of wonder is one of Louv’s main tenets in The Nature Principle. According to him, nature evokes a sense of wonder among people, and this wonder is the basis of a spiritual connection. This spirituality may be a controversial topic among readers, especially those that follow a traditional religion. Louv admits that this is an area that people might not agree with him on. 

“Social networking, online and in person, has transformed the political world. Online tools are used to raise funds, to organize face-to-face house parties, and turn out voters.” 

This is an example of technology being used to promote nature awareness and get people outside. The use of social networking does not have to work against our relationship with nature but can enhance it. Louv is a promoter of family nature clubs, and social media is an excellent way of recruiting and getting the word out about family hikes. 

“Speaking in absolutes may make us uncomfortable, but surely this is true: As a society, we need to give nature back to our children and ourselves. To not do so is immoral. It is unethical.” 

As Louv concludes his book, his tone switches to a more immediate vocabulary that is a call to action for the reader. He makes bold claims with the understanding that his writing and research has convinced the reader that change, and action is necessary.