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Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

bbc.com

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Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#81

Post by StreamBright »

ixtli wrote: post #46
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #33

“The relatively new trouble with mass society is perhaps even more serious, but not because of the masses themselves, but because this society is essentially a consumers’ society where leisure time is used no longer for self-perfection or acquisition of more social status, but for more and more consumption and more and more entertainment… To believe that such a society will become more “cultured” as time goes on and…

I find that the root issue is individualism. There are immaculately clean cities in east asia whos parent societies would definitely qualify as highly "consumerist." It's not consumption that's the problem but the parameters within which that consumption is allowed to proceed. As well, in individualist societies we seem far more comfortable to discard our trash wherever and just forget about it. A more collectivist a…

How would you explain Singapore then?

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#82

Post by jsonne »

ixtli wrote: post #46
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #33

“The relatively new trouble with mass society is perhaps even more serious, but not because of the masses themselves, but because this society is essentially a consumers’ society where leisure time is used no longer for self-perfection or acquisition of more social status, but for more and more consumption and more and more entertainment… To believe that such a society will become more “cultured” as time goes on and…

I find that the root issue is individualism. There are immaculately clean cities in east asia whos parent societies would definitely qualify as highly "consumerist." It's not consumption that's the problem but the parameters within which that consumption is allowed to proceed. As well, in individualist societies we seem far more comfortable to discard our trash wherever and just forget about it. A more collectivist a…

8 of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world are in East Asia. Of the top polluted cities in the world 8 of 10 are in Asia. Your analysis falls apart with even a cursory search.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#83

Post by merpnderp »

qwsxyh wrote: post #44
marapuru wrote: post #27

This quote from the article baffles me: > The good instagrammers try to show different ways of enjoying nature. We don't tag places that are off the beaten path that we want to protect as long as possible. Some places have become "insta-famous" without ever mentioning where they are but eventually they become known to everyone. Wait, what? So you take a picture. Put it on instagram (because you are an 'instagrammer')…

> Let's hope the future learns people that most of these instagram shots are basically digital waste. That's very condescending of you. Lots of people like having real visual memories of places they've been.

This is a good point. I often forget I've even been to a place until I look at a map of picture locations, then zoom in and remember that time. I'm not sure I'd put much stock in photos of a place leading to its destruction until there is real evidence. My friend telling me about his visit to Scotland did a lot more to make me want to visit than his pictures.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#84

Post by gwbas1c »

CptFribble wrote: post #67

After the volcano erupted in 2010, the government launched a PR campaign in winter 2011 to counter the projected tourism drop. It specifically targeted "inspired" and "enlightened" travelers to come see the "unique" landscape. Also in 2011, WOWair debuted with it's $99 flights to Iceland. Instagram launched in 2010. Maybe it's less "people are garbage" and more "we should make it more expensive to come here."

It seems that social media is the scapegoat of the day for whatever social problem the media discusses.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#85

Post by justaguyhere »

tomxor wrote: post #24
justaguyhere wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same everywhere. I still remember going to the NY ball drop new year's eve - all I could see was camera flashes, hundreds of them every second. It was disgusting. I was one of the very few people who wanted to see stuff with naked eye :( Do these super talented artistic photographers see the photos they take, even once, after they have taken it?

> Do these super talented artistic photographers see the photos they take, even once, after they have taken it? Nope, similarly the affect of using cameras in museums has been studied before. In real life it's pretty blatantly obvious that 99% of people don't go to museums and galleries for their interest any more, it's all about being pretentious and shoving as many pictures on facebook as possible so their friends…

Many tourists have zero respect for local culture, people, environment etc - no wonder cities around the world are getting annoyed. We live in wonderful times, with travel being so accessible. If we are a bit responsible and respectful, travel can be a fantastic experience - but no, we have to abuse it, as with every nice thing in life. This might come off as bitter but it is also true, so I understand when you say this thread isn't helping your (our) attitude towards people.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#86

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

jsonne wrote: post #82
ixtli wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that the root issue is individualism. There are immaculately clean cities in east asia whos parent societies would definitely qualify as highly "consumerist." It's not consumption that's the problem but the parameters within which that consumption is allowed to proceed. As well, in individualist societies we seem far more comfortable to discard our trash wherever and just forget about it. A more collectivist a…

8 of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world are in East Asia. Of the top polluted cities in the world 8 of 10 are in Asia. Your analysis falls apart with even a cursory search.

The grandparent is probably pointing to Singapore. That is a state that is infamous for being extremely clean and tidy. At the same time, it is highly consumerist, with so much of its traditional community infrastructure demolished and replaced with shopping malls.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#87

Post by arethuza »

jschwartzi wrote: post #73
randogogogo wrote: post #14

I was just there a couple weeks ago. The only incident I saw of this was a recently married couple taking photo's on a cliff, they went out over the ropes, a misstep probably would have killed them. Also when you rent a car there, they inform you that going off road is prohibited. I guess some people choose not to listen.

Yeah, people die taking selfies pretty much every year on one of our local hikes here in Washington. It's the easiest trail with a spectacular view(~1200ft of gain) in the entire metro area, so people flock to it in droves. It's a hike out to a cliff that looks down on a valley floor. Every single "outdoorsy" girl on Tinder has a picture of themselves there, standing in front of the precipice. There's also the easies…

Happens all the time in Scotland - I assume people look at the height of the mountains and assume they are safe for a quick stroll if the weather is nice.

e.g.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-457...

"Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team said the walkers' attire had included shorts and leggings, but no jackets."

I've never actually said to people I've passed that I thought they were inappropriately dressed (though maybe I should do) - but I have given people maps and directions when they admitted they had no idea where they were or their phone batteries had died (I take backup printouts of maps so not a big deal to give a copy to someone).

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#88

Post by asnack »

shiven wrote: post #57
close04 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That escalated quickly. In law there is a principle of proportionality [0]. It's the reason why jaywalking isn't punished by 60 days in prison or by getting sent back to your country and banned from ever travelling to any country that has pedestrian crossings. Also laws should apply equally to everybody. How would such a law apply to locals? Withdraw citizenship? I think hitting them with fines or paying damages is a…

I don’t know which country you live in, but in the United States of America, all this talk of “fairness of law” is a fairytale at best. And no, you can’t convince me otherwise.

No needs to. You can live your life in ignorance all you want

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#89

Post by pbhjpbhj »

qwsxyh wrote: post #44
marapuru wrote: post #27

This quote from the article baffles me: > The good instagrammers try to show different ways of enjoying nature. We don't tag places that are off the beaten path that we want to protect as long as possible. Some places have become "insta-famous" without ever mentioning where they are but eventually they become known to everyone. Wait, what? So you take a picture. Put it on instagram (because you are an 'instagrammer')…

> Let's hope the future learns people that most of these instagram shots are basically digital waste. That's very condescending of you. Lots of people like having real visual memories of places they've been.

There was a paper a little while back saying that if you took a photo of something you remember it less well. This was troubling to me as the designated photographer in my family, but not particularly surprising. Definitely made me consider sometimes to leave the camera in the backpack and just soak in the moment.

Re: Iceland tire of tourists trashing their nature

#90

Post by ansgri »

nostalgk wrote: post #69
ridewinter wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot tip: enjoy the moment, then find a similar scene on google images and share that if you need to. No one ever knows or cares the difference.

On the contrary, my circles would probably reverse image search it and then call me a fraud. My circles probably wouldn't care if I went to Iceland, though.

Do you really want to be part of such circles then? Especially if you clearly state that it's an illustration, not a picture report made by yourself.

For a long time I've shared the same view that all the good pictures have been photographed, but with all this commercialization of the information it becomes nontrivial to find a good free hi-res image even of relatively known places without watermarks and outside of walled gardens.

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