Draft 1 An Inquiry Into Values: Nature

This topic submitted by Pablo Bonnin, Garett Koehler, Mike Joseph, Katie Pfau ( Pfaukl@muohio.edu ) on 10/6/05. [Section: Myers]

Natural Systems 1 Syllabus---Western Program---Miami University

INTRODUCTION:

We as humans tend to distance ourselves away from nature. We see ourselves somehow as transcendent, and better than the rest of nature. We view intelligence as dominance. However we are just one part of nature. Human and nature relationships can be viewed in many different ways. Steve Kellert in his book, The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society, explains eight sets of values that humans instill upon nature. These have been found to have significant adaptation ramifications in human development. You can say that these values are both biological as well as experienced. This means that the values are inherent in us from birth as well as being able to be nurtured through experience learning and culture. These values are all based around the idea of biophilia, which means "an appreciation of life and the living
world."

The eight values are Utilitarian, Naturalistic, Ecologistic-scientific, Aesthetic, Humanistic, Moralistic, Doministic, and Negativistic. First of all these value systems are very arbitrary and cannot be measured objectively. There is no absolutism here, meaning no one can be purely based on one value. Also there can be much overlapping between two or more of the values. For example Humanistic, Aesthetic, and Moralistic can seem very similar in some instances. The Utilitarian viewpoint is based around the practical and material exploitation of nature and it functions as physical sustenance or security. An example of this could be a farmer or fisherman, keeping in mind that these people do these activities solely for practical purposes. Naturalistic is next and it is the appreciation of nature through direct experience and exploration. A hiker could possibly be a model for this Naturalistic assessment of the natural world. Ecologistic-scientific oriented people realize nature through the systematic study of structure, function, and relationship. The obvious example of this would be a scientist. The Aesthetic respect for nature is centered around a physical appeal to the innate beauty. A sightseer could be viewing some natural phenomenon or scene in consequence of an Aesthetic tendency inside of them. The Humanistic appreciation is based on a strong emotional attachment to nature. There are many good examples of this, one being a pet owner. A Moralistically based person has a spiritual and ethical concern for nature, such as someone who meditates in nature or a environmental activist. A Doministic person appreciates nature through is/her own mastery and control of it. This could be manifested through a desire to overcome natural barriers such as climbing a mountain or swimming across a river. Negativism is more of a lack of value for nature due to the fact that it is based around fear, aversion, and alienation. Someone suffering from arachnophobia could be an example of this. Now that the value system has been defined what real life application and ramifications can it have? What correlations with other factors can these principles hold? Can people be categorized into specific value groups? Can people be categorized into specific value groups judging them solely on other variables? Can reasonable assumptions be made as to what value group someone will belong to judging on factors such as gender, age, or study focus (major)? We hypothesize that we will find that results similar to those found in the graphs below.

GENDER:
Male Female
Naturalistic Humanistic
Ecologistic-scientific Moralistic
Utilitarian Negativistic
Doministic

MAJOR:
English Architecture Business
Humanistic Doministic Doministic
Moralistic Aesthetic Utilitarian
Aesthetic Negativistic
Naturalistic

We hypothesize that the English and Business majors will be on polar opposite sides of the value system and that Architecture majors will be found in between with attributes of both. This is interesting to compare to our predictions regarding sex. We hypothesize that gender and major will correlate to values of nature. However this could be true with our predictions of the exact patterns of this correlation.

METHODS

We are planning on issuing survey #1 to a total amount of 200 people, equally divided between genders during the week of 10/10. We will go to dining halls and resident halls until we have gained sufficient and detailed data. We will hand out these surveys manually. This is a preliminary survey in order to get a general idea of the campus's values of nature. Survey #2 will be issued to all of the e-mails of the people who filled out the first survey. We expect only about half of the 200 will return the e-mails. If we do not receive enough responses, we may have to resort to handing out the second survey in the dining and residence halls once again.

October 25 is "our day". Using the class as our focus group, we plan on surveying them using the pictures. The survey will lead into the description and any results we may have calculated in our lab. There will be two pictures for each value, one that illustrates the value and the other that does not. The class will be asked which of the two is more preferable. These results will be then divided between the sexes and analyzed. Although we have selected the pictures, we cannot figure out how to display them here.

Once our data is completely collected we will analyze it and try to categorize the results. We are expecting to have further interviews of our peers in time. These interviews will be more personal and useful to develop a better understanding of our general data as a whole. The questions will be determined after we have found our results.

SURVEY #1:
An Inquiry into Values: Nature

Miami Email Address:
Gender:
College Major:
College Year (fr, soph, etc):

Which quality would best describe where you have spent most your life?

a. Rural
b. Urban
c. Suburban

There are eight ways listed below that we feel you may relate to nature. Choose four of the ways you feel you value nature and rate them 1-4; 1 being the most influential on your view of nature and 4 being the fourth most influential.

____ Practical and material exploitation of nature (mining, farming, drilling, etc)

____ Direct experience and exploration of nature based on curiosity, discovery, and recreational value (skiing, hiking, water sports, fishing, etc)

____ Systematic study of structure, function, and relationships in nature (knowledge understanding, observational skills, etc)

____ Physical appearance and beauty of nature

____ Strong emotional attachment and love for aspects of nature (bonding, sharing, cooperation, companionship, etc)

____ Spiritual reverence and ethical concern for nature (conservation, religious or spiritual signification, etc)

____ Mastery, physical control, dominance of nature

____ Fear, aversion, alienation, general dislike of nature (would rather be inside and disconnected from nature)

Thank you for your participation in this student generated lab. Below is space for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. Please include your Miami email address at the top.

SURVEY #2:

Please Complete the Following Survey to the Best of Your Ability:

Gender:
College Major:
College Year (fr, soph, etc):

True or False I support opening up the oil reserves in Alaska
True or False I enjoy spending time outdoors
True or False The systematic study of nature interests me
True or False Nature is beautiful
True or False I can see the man in the moon
True or False I support bullfighting
True or False I have some sort of phobia of other species

Hypothetically, would you rather . . .

Farm or Perform an Experiment
Go to a Park or Paint / View a Scene from Nature
Join a Conservation Team or Read Aesop's Fables
Watch the Sun Set or Go to a Circus
Watch the Cartoon ÔTom and Jerry' or Go Shopping for Clothes
Train a Puppy or Plant a Garden
Watch TV or Take a Hike / Walk
See a Shopping Mall Built or A New Park Open
Go Bird Watching or Study the Anatomy of the Bird
Make a Compost Pile or Hang a Wind Chime
Press / Preserve Leaves or Put a Sweater on Your Dog
Talk to Your Pets or Go to the Zoo
Go Hunting or Kill a Bug
Throw Trash on the Sidewalk or Turn an Old Landfill into a Ski Lodge

Rate Each Activity on the Scale 1-5. 1, you can relate to it the most and 5, the least:

City Planning 1 2 3 4 5
Picnics 1 2 3 4 5
Recycling 1 2 3 4 5
Viewing Nature Art 1 2 3 4 5
Finding Pictures in Clouds 1 2 3 4 5
Putting Two Fighter Fish in the Same Tank 1 2 3 4 5
Maybe Opening Windows, 1 2 3 4 5
but NEVER the Screens

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

RESULTS:

Survey #1 is pretty self explanatory. The first questions are just to give an idea of where each individual is coming from. Once the data has been collected, we will separate the surveys between boys and girls and tally up their preferences. The results might be most easily read in a line or bar graph. We may even divide the data between majors and see if there is any correlation there too. In Survey #2 there are 10pts. possible for each value. We will score each survey and compare the results of each sex and perhaps majors as well. The focus group pictures are set up in an either or basis. Either they like the picture with the value or they like the picture without the value. Distinguishing the boy's from the girl's responses will again be another way to test our hypothesis. A t-test and p-test may even be applicable in analyzing our data.

SCORING FOR SURVEY #2:

1pt. for each true question in its value 0pt. for false
1pt. for each Ôwould you rather' in its respective category
1-5pts. Based on rating for each respective category

Utilitarian
1. True or False I support opening up the oil reserves in Alaska
2. Would you rather: Farm
3. Would you rather: See a Shopping Mall Built
4. Would you rather: Plant a Garden
5. Would you rather: Turn an Old Landfill into a Ski Lodge
6. Rate Activity 1-5: City Planning

Naturalistic
1. True or False I enjoy spending time outdoors
2. Would you rather: Go to a Park
3. Would you rather: Go Bird Watching
4. Would you rather: A New Park Open
5. Would you rather: Take a Hike / Walk
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Picnics

Ecologistic-Scientific
1. True or False The systematic study of nature interests me
2. Would you rather: Join a Conservation Team
3. Would you rather: Make a Compost Pile
4. Would you rather: Perform an Experiment
5. Would you rather: Study the Anatomy of the Bird
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Recycling

Aesthetic
1. True or False Nature is beautiful
2. Would you rather: Watch the Sun Set
3. Would you rather: Press / Preserve Leaves
4. Would you rather: Paint / View a Scene from Nature
5. Would you rather: Hang a Wind Chime
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Viewing Nature Art

Humanistic
1. True or False I can see the man in the moon
2. Would you rather: Watch the Cartoon ÔTom and Jerry'
3. Would you rather: Talk to Your Pets
4. Would you rather: Read Aesop's Fables
5. Would you rather: Put a Sweater on Your Dog
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Finding Pictures in Clouds

Doministic
1. True or False I support bullfighting
2. Would you rather: Train a Puppy
3. Would you rather: Go Hunting
4. Would you rather: Go to a Circus
5. Would you rather: Go to the Zoo
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Putting Two Fighter Fish in the Same Tank

Negativistic
1. True or False I have some sort of phobia of other species
2. Would you rather: Watch TV
3. Would you rather: Throw Trash on the Sidewalk
4. Would you rather: Go Shopping for Clothes
5. Would you rather: Kill a Bug
6. Rate Activity 1-5: Maybe Opening Windows but NEVER the Screens

DISCUSSION:

We are aware that the surveys could be interpreted differently by each individual's values. The human mind is so complex; it is difficult to make a survey that reflects everyone as a whole.

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