Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
If the discussion in
Chapter 1
seemed rather grand or abstract, let me now
bring it a little closer to Earth. I said earlier that our particular beliefs about,
and experiences of, nature - even including our own flesh and blood -
are highly mediated. We rely on myriad others to form our own ideas,
hopes, opinions, values and worries about everything from the major vol-
canic eruption in Iceland in 2010 to the implications of synthetic biology
to the strange wonders of black holes. These others both produce and dis-
seminate various representations of nature, which we, whoever 'we' happen
to be in any given situation, are invited to consume, critically or other-
wise. What, though, is
representation
- both as a process (
re
-presenting)
and as the results of that process (e.g. a photograph, newspaper article,
documentary or poem)? Who is doing the representing? And why? These
are the questions that preoccupy me in this chapter. My answers to them
will directly inform the arguments of the next one. They will get you
thinking about who you pay attention to in your own life, and for what
reasons.
Before I begin, let me make one thing clear. Our reliance on others for
our understandings of 'nature' (and not just this) is hardly unique to our
time. It was ever thus. However, I believe that this reliance is just as pro-
nounced today as it was, say, four centuries ago. In the period prior to the
so-called Enlightenment in Europe, a cadre of clerics, merchants and nobles
exerted considerable influence on the minds of the citizenry in countries
like Britain. In my view, we are today no less subject to the claims and con-
tentions made by others than our supposedly less 'enlightened' forebears.
What's arguably different is that we find ourselves influenced by a greater
number and diversity of spokespersons for 'nature' (and everything else)
than perhaps ever before. Today we're positioned as consumers in a
very
busy
marketplace of information, ideas, incitements and experiences. As Andrew
Barry notes, 'One of the characteristic features of contemporary . . . life is
the extraordinary range and quantity of information that citizens
are
expected to process' (Barry, 2001: 153). What's also different today is that
most of the spokespersons presenting this information belong to communi-
ties and institutions whose inner workings are hidden from view and elude
our everyday understanding - this despite us living in an age of supposed
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