72 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
72 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Behavioral geography"
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chunk: 2/2
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_geography"
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T15:35:44.981956+00:00"
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instance: "kb-cron"
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---
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That human existence is based on putting labor into the land
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That the idea of owning anything is a conception
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That humans learn from their experiences
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That engagement of the publics is what allows for commitments
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Richard Rorty also associated three characteristics to pragmatism:
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That all theories characterize some form of truth
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That there is not difference between what can and should be done when it comes to the truth
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That knowledge is constrained by the conversations we have
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Being pragmatic is the more accepted school of thought for social construction being a relative concept.
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== Historical Overview ==
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=== Recovery narratives ===
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1500s: Francis Bacon (that human intervention in nature is needed to gain back the Garden of Eden on Earth)
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1600s: René Descartes (that the world is a machine we can control)
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1600s: John Locke (that private property makes humans civilized)
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1700s: Adam Smith (that capitalism will bring progress)
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Present-day: The Christian narrative and the narrative of the Scientific Revolution have merged to become the 'Recovery Narrative of Western Culture'
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=== Transitions in Thought ===
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1500s-1600s: The belief that man is responsible for environmental problems
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1700s-1800s: The idea that progress is attained through controlling nature
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Mid-1800s: The realization that humans are having unintended impacts on the environment
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1800s-1900s: The belief that technology has all the solutions to our problems
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1920s-1930s: The belief that technology is destroying nature
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1950s-1960s: The belief that humans risk being annihilated if they do not control technological impacts
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1960s-1970s: The public awakening of human impacts on the environment with the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
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1980s: The belief that no matter the costs, unrestricted growth is needed for progress
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1987: The spreading of public awareness of impacts with the publication of the Brundtland Commission Report: Our Common Future
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== How Nature becomes Socially Constructed ==
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Nature can be socially constructed by both culturally interpreting and physically shaping the environment. This can happen in three ways:
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Using non-human symbols to represent nature (Totemism)
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Using non-human animals to relate to nature (Animism)
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Viewing nature as an 'Other' (Naturalism)
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Constructions can also be categorized by giving them meaning through the process of embodiment, which has three components:
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The 'habitus' (the individual)
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The practice it originates from (the culture)
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An associated taxonomic group (i.e. homo sapiens)
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No matter how nature becomes socially constructed, though, the process itself is limited by three dimensions:
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The physical dimension
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The mental dimension
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The social dimension
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The physical dimension is limited to the human body, where the brain is responsible for creating and selecting thoughts. The mental dimension is used to understand the physical dimension and is limited to human logic. The social dimension needs moral and social order and is used to give meaning to both what is physically present and what is culturally constructed. All three dimensions must be present and linked to be able to socially construct nature.
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== Criticism on the Social Construction of Nature ==
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The social construction of nature has room for improvement in four main areas:
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By giving more importance to how realities are culturally constructed through social interactions
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By acknowledging that all science should be analyzed by the same standard
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By gaining a better understanding of the role language plays in constructionism
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By giving more importance to how truths exist and how they are justified, using Actor-Network Theory
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== See also ==
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Cognitive geography
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== References == |