Nature Versus Future

Comments (0) By Colin Bane Thursday, Jun 2 2011

Richard Louv first coined the term Nature Deficit Disorder — “an atrophied awareness, a diminished ability to find meaning in the life that surrounds us” — in his 2005 book Last Child In the Woods, diagnosing a root cause of the degeneration of our bodies and brains (and our planet) as we increasingly isolate ourselves and our children from nature.

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Richard Louv

After sounding the alarm and seeing unexpected response to his work from a new generation of parents, he turned, with all the optimism he could muster, to writing a more forward-looking book for NDD sufferers of all ages. In The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature Deficit Disorder, Louv takes stock of exactly what we’ve lost in leaving the natural world behind and how we might get it back.

“Optimism doesn’t come easily to most people and it doesn’t come easily to me, but it’s a choice we have to make,” Louv says. “What’s the alternative? There is no practical alternative to hope.”

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Louv will speak at the Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street, sharing his conclusions from a broad body of correlative research suggesting that increased exposure to nature and outdoor activity measurably improves not just our psychological and physical health, but also our mental acuity, our creativity and our ability to solve real-world problems. The future, Louv argues, belongs to the nature-smart and the hybrid mind, able to restore “the primitive powers of our ancestors” and jibe them with “the digital speed of our teenagers.”

The event is free, but tickets will be handed out beginning at 6:30 p.m. to those in line. For more information, visit www.tatteredcover.com.
Wed., June 8, 7:30 p.m., 2011