Ton Maas wrote:
> ......
>
>
> I think Bart was referring to the notion that in the Netherlands even
> "nature" is man-made. In fact, most of the landscapes that the Dutch
> cherish and love, such as heaths and evergreen forests, are actually
> cultural artefacts. Heaths were created by grazing sheep and require
> a lot of effort in maintaining without herds. We now have a few
> "official" shepherds that are employed by the government to fulfill
> both a touristic and a landscape conserving function.
>
I've mentioned this before, but it's been a while. In The Phenomenon of
Life, the first book in his monumental series, The Nature of Order,
architect/philosopher Christopher Alexander takes the position that
Southern England is the largest structure ever made by man, including
many features, flora and fauna of nature, but designed and created by
humans.
The Dutch are not alone in this.
Moose
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|