Vita's Meaning of Nature

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The word nature has many connotations. 

However, for Vita, it is used in a specific context. 

This page seeks to illuminate how what Vita means when it uses the term 'nature'.

If a chimpanzee modifies a stick to use it to get insects out of a hole, we could say that the chimp’s technology was as natural as the chimp itself. 

As humans are as natural as chimps, one might say that a thermonuclear bomb is as natural as the chimp’s stick given that this a human technology.

The formation of black holes is also a natural event, using this broad definition of ‘natural’. 

When Vita uses the term ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ in the context of nature-based spirituality, it clearly isn’t seeking for people to see black holes and nuclear weapons as sacred.  

Instead, the word nature is used to denote the natural processes that take place within Earth’s biosphere, and those factors that influence the biosphere, such as the Sun, Moon and tectonic processes. 

Vita's view of nature does not end at the nice aspects of nature that we experience, such as the sound of songbirds and interactions with wild animals. The Five Sees seeks to broaden the scope of nature. The word 'see' is used as a metaphor for experiencing, such as hearing, feeling, etc.

• That which you see that you like ( e.g. wildflowers)   
• That which you see that you don’t like (e.g. cockroaches)   
• That which is visible but you don’t see (deep sea fish)   
• That which is cannot be seen except by it’s influence ( e.g. the wind)   
• That which cannot be seen because it is conceptual ( e.g. global average temperatures)