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The Importance Of The Natural World

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In order to fully understand our current environmental worldview, we must look back to the roots of our perspective. Specifically, the influence of ancient Greeks and Romans. Traditionally, the Greeks and Romans regarded the world as a sacred place where the gods of nature, who shared some human qualities, were present. Most Gods were understood and depicted as having specific connections to natural elements. One goddess, Artemis, is now understood as the “goddess of conservation” as she was often blamed for the difficulties that neglectful hunters went through. Due to the strong connection between the environment and the Gods, the Greeks and Romans viewed the natural world as places where humanity could directly feel and experience the power and presence of gods in the real world. This resulted in extreme reverence for the natural world which is reflected in the art, literature, and architecture of the time. Furthermore, over a period of time this early reverence and appreciation for the natural world launched many early philosophers to produce scientific inquiries …show more content…
However, as attempts to understand the natural world increased, people began to develop different approaches to discovering the natural world. This allowed for certain scientific generalizations to occur which are now known as hypotheses, theories, and laws. Specifically, the balance of earth theory, which was extremely influential, focused on the idea that all of the earth is in balance and harmony with each other. This theory, however, was never clearly defined and instead developed from various clusters of information. The Pythagoreans, a group in Ancient Greece, used this theory to develop philosophy directed towards conservation. Their belief of the balance in nature lead to the development of mathematical proportions, that they believed, demonstrated the harmony of the

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