Lack of contact with nature 'increasing allergies'

[thucythucy]

11. Loss of contact with reality

seems to me more and more of a problem, whether or not this particular link (less contact with nature=more allergies) turns out to be true.

It amazes me as I walk or drive down the street (especially when walking) to see how few people are actually connected to the reality they walk through. They're either texting, talking on a cell, or listening to an ear plug. At the same time it also seems to me that over the years much of our environment--especially urban and suburban--is becoming more and more ugly. More trash, more unretrieved roadkill, more advertising clutter, more development, more noise--it's no wonder people would prefer to be in their own heads. It's a self-reinforcing spiral--the uglier our environment gets, the more we turn off, the more we turn off, the less likely people are to care about what the real world looks like, and to seek escape in whatever way they can.

I wonder what this means in terms of how we relate to each other, our society, our politics. I wonder too how ugly our world has to become before more of us start paying attention.