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Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

npr.org

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Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#11

Post by tjr225 »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #6

This is the sort of thing I think about when the pro-urban/pro-density/anti-car people talk about their vision for the world. I live in a city now, and the lack of substantial nature is suffocating to the extent that I plan to move. The idea that we should all live this way to conserve space—a resource which is only scarce in these urban places—seems excessive to put it mildly. EDIT: A lot of urban folks are rebuttin…

You’re presenting a false dichotomy. There are plenty of dense places with incredible nature within just an hours drive. In the USA, Maybe not so much outside of the West Coast of the USA however.

Personally, living in a city close to nature(seattle area) has been the best thing for me so far in my life; I have spent a stupid amount of money making it happen but wouldn’t trade it for anything. On the flip side it’s not for everybody, so don’t just take my word for it.

On the other hand I will be riding my bike to a ferry, and then riding to a camp site on a beach on an island after work on Friday- weather permitting.

Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#12

Post by 0des »

Nature has an allure, whether it is a window by your desk, or plants in your office.

This year I made a resolution to add more plants to my office and home, and slowly both are filling up with various ferns and mosses and other indoor plants. The relaxing effects of being able to walk over to the garden shelf and have my thoughts to myself while I inspect them is something you don't get to enjoy often.

If you find yourself staying at the desk for long periods and want to get up more, get a few plants, find an area with some light or a lamp and see what you can do. It is pretty cozy!

Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#13

Post by Lutger »

SemanticStrengh wrote: post #3

In the difference in air content between in door air and outdoor/forest air able to have cognitive and health aspects? see e.g. potential unintended cognitive consequences of CO2 emissions: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/026988111141572... Any documentation on the variance of percentage of C02 and oxygen ? Do polyphenols (via pollen?) have relevant effects intranasally ? off-topic but related to title i…

There is a study relating rise of CO2 to loss of IQ in indoor situations. The outdoor concentration of CO2 is never and won't be high enough in the future to have a significant effect, but climate change will raise the base level which will increase indoor levels - this may have the effect of making us a bit dumber.

However, I think improvements in insolation are much more significant in this respect.

Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#15

Post by ahartmetz »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #6

This is the sort of thing I think about when the pro-urban/pro-density/anti-car people talk about their vision for the world. I live in a city now, and the lack of substantial nature is suffocating to the extent that I plan to move. The idea that we should all live this way to conserve space—a resource which is only scarce in these urban places—seems excessive to put it mildly. EDIT: A lot of urban folks are rebuttin…

I live in Berlin, which contains many trees and parks. One of the nicest quarters of Berlin is Gartenstadt (garden city) Frohnau, which feels like houses in the forest - at decent density. So it doesn't have to be either city or nature. But I'm afraid that current cost structures and short-term thinking make another Gartenstadt very unlikely.

Well. It may be that this kind of place only really works as a suburb. It does have a small center (shops, cafes, doctors, church etc) that people can walk to, which in turn has public transport to the actual city.

Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#18

Post by cancelkooks »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #6

This is the sort of thing I think about when the pro-urban/pro-density/anti-car people talk about their vision for the world. I live in a city now, and the lack of substantial nature is suffocating to the extent that I plan to move. The idea that we should all live this way to conserve space—a resource which is only scarce in these urban places—seems excessive to put it mildly. EDIT: A lot of urban folks are rebuttin…

I am very pro-pedestrian / anti-car, but that’s in the context of how to actually get around town most of the time… obviously (to me) you use the car to leave town and see the wonders of our world.

If people that live in cities are to be relegated to never leave, I for one am not interested.

Re: Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people

#19

Post by pell »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #2

Wouldn’t be an NPR blog post without bringing up colonialism, and sure enough, there it is.

Comments like these make it appear as if colonialism was just “forced” into an article where it shouldn’t belong. However, reading the actual segment, it seems that it’s not really that out of place at all. It’s talking about how locations for parks came to be and is also offering some references to native tribes and nature.
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