As an avid lover of the outdoors, I was super excited to see that there was an entire session at Science Online 2011 dedicated to discussing technology's place in the wilderness.
All of the panelists are well versed in taking tech out of the city. Miriam Goldstein has used technology on multiple expeditions to study the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, taking the internet audience with her across the Pacific in search of trash. Danielle Lee is a passionate outdoor enthusiast, encouraging people in urban areas to experience the wilderness. Karen James is perhaps best known for her work with the Beagle Project, which plans to reconstruct Darwin's Beagle and use it to sail around the world promoting science and education. And last but not least, Jason Robertshaw uses technology to create science experiences for kids and adults through Mote Marine Laboratory's outreach programs.
It's not hard to see why there might be tension between technology and the wilderness. Am I really camping if I have a eight-person super-tent complete with sattelite TV, phone and internet? Or, as I put it in one of my tweets during the session, if I tweet in the woods, am I really experiencing nature? When I walked into this session, I would have said no. No, no, no! A wilderness experience is about immersion, getting away from the sights and sounds of the modern world and truly enveloping yourself in the natural world.
Add to that the moral implications of bringing technology to more and more remote locations. As Zuska pointed out during the session, every piece of tech we carry is made from materials mined from the Earth. To make those mobile devices, we must consume parts of our planet. And where, in the end, do these products end up? In landfills. Or worse: in the once-pristine habitats we carry them into for our own comfort.
I'm not arguing that we should all run around the woods naked without our GPS units and truly 'experience' nature. Far from it - I agree with the panelists that technology can make our experience of our environment richer and more rewarding. Miriam, for example, shared her Audobon app which provides pictures descriptions of birds and even recordings of their calls for those of us who can't tell a warbler from a sparrow. Danielle says she uses technology "in a no excuses kind of way" to inspire people to participate in outdoor activities in urban areas.
I think the line, for me, is when we start using technology in place of experiencing the world around us. When we start checking our e-mail as we hike, or updating our facebook status when we could be admiring the stars - that's where technology starts to detract from the natural experience.
One of Stacy Baker's students (@the_dude_guy), though, brought up an excellent counterpoint. As he tweeted, "What is so wrong about losing the 'traditional' wilderness experience?" So many of the hardened adults seemed to want to say well, duh - but none of us really had a good answer. Jason pointed out that it's a false sense of nostalgia that causes our attachment to the concept of a pure wilderness experience - nostalgia that the new generation doesn't share. To engage today's young naturalists, perhaps we have to put our warm fuzzies aside and give in to the idea that 'the wild' will never be quite as untamed as when we first experienced it.
Being bluntly honest, I have to call BS on myself. After all, I embrace technology a lot of the time I'm 'experiencing nature' simply because I'm a scuba diver. There's nothing natural about suiting up in 5 mm neoprene, carefully setting an exorbitantly expensive dive computer, strapping a heavy aluminum tank to my back full of compressed air, and diving 75 feet down into a world that I could never experience without modern technology. Who am I to judge?
This session has really made me think about my own presumptions, and has opened my mind to some of the potential of using technology to enhance our experience of the natural world. After all, what really matters to me is that people experience the world around them so that they care about protecting it. If that takes an iPhone app, so be it!
PS for more about the session, check out the twitter feed at #techwild!
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My bad memory of nature was Kian's horrific experience in middle school where the "naturalist" teacher ignored my explicit instructions and kept Kian from his inhaler for his asthma, based on the belief that "fresh air" would be better.
So I was surprised you had a "naturalist" bias and a bit amused.
I think whether people choose to immerse themselves in the elements or watch them on TV cause someone else has gone there is not important. As you noted, protecting nature is most important. I think integrating technology use can help and recognizing that those who hike while twittering is odd but fine ... at least they are out there and likely to support nature's protection so they can continue to enjoy it their way
Not everyone will dive with sharks or wish too ... but watching Craig Ferguson was hysterical and put focus on their importance, beauty and conservation.
Loved your write up.
I'm really excited about bringing technology to the wilderness! With the advances in technology starting to look a bit like magic, it's allowing unprecedented science and conservation efforts. I think my favorite is the work that Google is doing with the Surui indian tribes of Brazil.
The Surui hadn't met 'civilization' till 1969, and have a culture and history that needs help in preservation and stopping illegal encroachment of their land. By outfitting the Surui with smart phones and training, they have access to satellite imagery of their lands and can take GPS tagged pictures of illegal logging activites.
Additionally, they are able to explore their lands, and use the phones to geo-tag their communnities. By doing this, they can create datasets of their hunting spots, label locations of trees and plants they use for medicine, and many other exciting uses.
Wooooha!
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-06-19-brazil-indians-google_N.htm
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/278458/306
I'm a bit older now, and have some arthritis in my hip, so I don't do the long wilderness backpacking, high altitude mountaineering, mountain endurance running, etc., that I did in previous decades. Back in the day, though, I did it all without "benefit" of a cell phone (I still don't have one) or GPS device. I seldom even had a map. I guess that I prided myself on meeting nature on it's own terms, on accomplishing outdoor endeavors by "fair means." Also, I dived while relying on dive tables, not "an exorbitantly expensive dive computer."
I think that Aldo Leopold summed things up best:
Mostly I am trying to do more than just visit - I want to belong; to experience flow. It's romantic, yes. Do I want other people to feel what I feel? Yes. If they are so lucky that they are able. Cause those people will fight fiercely for wilderness.
Other can do as they please, but I have my limits.
It is unthinkable for me to want to listen to canned music on my wilderness trips.
It is commonly cautioned by experienced travelers (mostly backpackers perhaps) to not let your camera make you too much of a slave to it, and thereby have less of an experience yourself.
The must-say advice is probably to not get false security from your gadgets. First, all of them can fail. For a canoe example, none of that stuff is going to help if you get careless and are drowning under a sweeper. Or in the mountains, where they might not help with hypothermia or mountain lions. Less gadgets doesn't insure good judgment or skills, but I think it may have helped me be a better operator out there.
Graphite fly rod and fluorocarbon leaders are OK for some reason ;)
Excellent points. Even the whole concept of wilderness has evolved over the centuries where wilderness used to be a scary and even evil place and is now considered tranquil and sacred. The wild still means different things to different people and the "traditional" idea of wilderness is kind of a western one.
I think it just depends on who you are whether or not technology will detract from your wilderness experience. Some people won't/can't access wild areas without technology while others may feel like they can't connect with nature with technology present. Wilderness purists also shouldn't forget that equipment used today is like a form of technology. There were no ultralight canoes, backpacks, or tents 100 years ago.
Wait. What's wrong with running around the woods naked, again? I keep forgetting (much to the chagrin of the local P.D.)
I feel that technology at times can enhance wilderness experience for people that do not have the means to get the same experiences as others. I teach in an inner city school were many student have grown up without being taught the value of spending time in the wilderness. Many of my students have never been camping let alone just taken a walk in the woods. I feel that using technology as a way to show them what they are missing, and what it is like outside of the big city gives them some missing perspective.