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Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

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connection to those surroundings. <strong>The</strong>y see the surroundings as a<br />

part <strong>of</strong> themselves and, thereby, have a natural predisposition to<br />

take care <strong>of</strong> them.<br />

<br />

<br />

This sense that evolution is not simply a matter <strong>of</strong> individuals<br />

looking out for themselves but <strong>of</strong> seeing all <strong>of</strong> nature as an<br />

interconnected web is a holistic perspective not uncommon among<br />

some ecologists. Where ecologists see evolution as a foundational<br />

principle, they see it in a systemic sense: <strong>The</strong> group, as well as the<br />

individual organism, evolved and adapted.<br />

<strong>The</strong> extension <strong>of</strong> this approach to evolutionary psychology has<br />

become known as ecopsychology. <strong>The</strong> idea is that the human brain is<br />

indeed a product <strong>of</strong> an evolutionary process, but it is not one guided<br />

<br />

code. Rather, the human brain evolved as part <strong>of</strong> an ecosystem—a<br />

complex web <strong>of</strong> interconnected species at home on the Earth.<br />

<br />

<br />

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© Andrew Zarivny/iStock/Thinkstock.<br />

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