Originally Posted by
Greenlight
I have a different perspective, which sort of lines up with yours. Civilization isn't bad, it is good when it is done right. Problem is, we don't do it right most of the time. I digress on that point to continue with this... You are right, man is not an outsider when he is in nature, he is truly home. The built environment is an extension of the natural environment. The problem is that it is now possible to almost completely separate oneself from nature and believe that it is normal or even good. It isn't. We suffer profoundly when we separate ourselves from nature (aka nature deficit disorder).
When I'm "in the woods" I feel more at home than I do when I'm at "home" and that is partly because I'm in the environment which produced our race, with it's increased level of negative ions, tree phytoncides, pinenes and other turpenes, natural light, cleaner air, etc. Even if one didn't want to, those things would contribute to a profuoundly higher level of feelings of well-being. A shelter doesn't equate one to one with civilization in my estimation. It is a structure normally built with natural materials by other humans who realize that it is a good thing to have adequate shelter (a basic human need) every few miles out in the boonies. Manfred Max-Neef did a good job pegging the truly essential human needs a few decades ago. He trumped (don't anyone get triggered) Maslow in that regard, because he focused not only on needs, but broke them down into categories of being, having, and doing, and also identified human needs satisfiers and violaters. A lot of what modern "society" offers is really violating our human needs.
Isolation is a tricky term. How broadly or narrowly should one define it? It has a negative connotation at this point in time. But I know what you're getting at. Maybe you mean solitude. Most people who gravitate to trails are looking for something that resembles solitude more than isolation, and I can get solitude in the woods with a few others who are out there seeking the same things. Who suffered through the ascent with me to enjoy the views at the summit. It's still solitude to me because I'm with kindred souls. Walking itself reduces rumination and increases creativity and problem solving, and walking in nature elevates that to an n'th degree.
"In town" we do get wrapped up in pursuit of more than needs. We are susceptible to satisfying a lot of wants. That isn't bad in moderation, but we take it too far.I think that a long hike or other nature immersion tamps those things down and shows us what is truly needful. I can carry everything I need for my survival and relative comfort in a pack that weighs less than 35 pounds, including several days worth of food. If I was a better forager and hunter, I could extend that without going back into the built environment.
Solitude (isolation) has a profound effect on me. While there are some who have phobias about being out in nature, for a given amount of time, there are historically explainable reasons for that, too. Back in the day, to go out very far into nature meant you were entering the domain of large predators, and if you didn't know how to deal with that, there may not even have been a carcass to find. My forebear Christly Garlits was one of the guys you used to call in Western Maryland if you needed a mountain lion or bear tracked and killed. On paper he was a farmer, but he spent most of his time in the woods, and had plenty of hearth fire stories to tell about his exploits tracking and taking vengeance on the large critters that took a child or some livestock. Nowdays most of the large predators are few and far between and we can get out and enjoy our trails without too much thought given to being tracked and eaten.
I have friends who refuse to leave their comfortable surroundings, including their spas and manicurists, and the thought of a mosquito makes them ill, but I don't spend too much time with them. I'd rather be out there hiking, even if I do cross paths with the occasional black bear. If I ever ran across a catamount or grizzly, I may well leave a couple of Hershey kisses in my boxers, but the chances of that happening in my neck of the woods are astronomically low.