Roots Forgotten: The Myth of Man’s Separation from Nature
- Madhukar Dama
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
Here’s an exhaustive list of examples from all walks of life that depict man’s illusions of being separate from nature—while in truth, he remains completely dependent on and part of it. Each example reveals a form of arrogance, denial, or ignorance of our natural roots.
1. Urban Life
Skyscrapers replacing forests, as if steel and glass can replace the air trees give.
Living in air-conditioned boxes, pretending we’ve conquered temperature.
Paved roads over rivers, believing concrete means control.
Noise-canceling headphones, trying to mute birds, wind, and water.
2. Technology
Virtual reality as escape from natural reality, ignoring the real world falling apart.
Space tourism, as if we’re done with Earth.
Using GPS to navigate, forgetting we once followed stars and moss.
Smart home sensors for “climate control”, pretending to manage nature indoors.
3. Agriculture & Food
Factory farming, separating animals from ecosystems.
Genetically modified monocrops, ignoring biodiversity.
Plastic-wrapped fruit, detaching food from soil.
Lab-grown meat, celebrating separation from the food chain.
4. Medicine & Health
Pills for everything, ignoring the healing power of sunlight, plants, rest.
Hospitals as sterile boxes, disconnected from natural healing spaces.
Fear of dirt, though exposure builds immunity.
Obsessing over aging, denying we follow nature’s cycle.
5. Fashion & Beauty
Cosmetic surgery to defy aging, as if decay is unnatural.
Wearing synthetic clothes, forgetting our skin breathes.
“Anti-tan” creams, to hide any mark of the sun.
Plastic nails, lashes, hair, simulating life while nature does it better.
6. Economy & Consumerism
Treating forests as “resources”, not living beings.
Worshiping GDP, ignoring ecosystems collapsing.
Mining Earth as if it's infinite, acting like owners, not guests.
Throwaway culture, ignoring the eternal cycles of renewal.
7. Religion & Philosophy
Belief that humans are “above” animals, rather than part of the same family.
Heaven is not on Earth, reinforcing escape over integration.
Anthropocentric worldviews, making man the center of all meaning.
Souls are eternal, bodies are weak, ignoring body’s sacred nature.
8. Education
Classrooms with no windows, teaching kids about Earth without showing it.
Overemphasis on abstract knowledge, undervaluing nature-based wisdom.
Children drawing square houses and stick trees, not real wild landscapes.
Science without ethics, experimenting on nature like it's separate matter.
9. Politics & Law
Nature treated as property, instead of a living system.
Zoning laws banning trees, to make room for “development”.
Climate change denied or delayed, pretending the planet will wait.
Licenses to pollute, as if nature signs contracts.
10. Architecture & Design
Buildings that block sunlight and wind, rejecting natural flow.
Artificial landscapes, where grass is dyed and flowers are fake.
Sealed environments, rejecting open air and sky.
Skylines replacing horizons, divorcing us from the Earth’s shape.
11. Entertainment & Media
Post-apocalyptic fantasies, romanticizing Earth’s destruction.
Green screens instead of green fields, faking nature for the camera.
Social media filters, editing away nature’s marks on the face.
Nature shown as “dangerous”, instead of “home”.
12. Lifestyle & Culture
Holidays in malls instead of mountains, worshiping consumption over connection.
Using perfume to mask body odor, denying our animal nature.
Working 24/7, ignoring natural rhythms of rest and renewal.
Indoor gyms to “simulate” nature, instead of walking in the park.
13. War & Conflict
Bombs dropped on forests, oceans, deserts, as if nature has no value.
Terraforming fantasies in sci-fi, ignoring we can’t even care for one planet.
Chemical warfare, poisoning soil and water as collateral damage.
Militarizing space, before learning to live on Earth in peace.
14. Language & Thought
“Man vs. Nature” phrase, implying separation.
Calling nature “it”, stripping personality and spirit.
Saying we “protect” nature, as if we’re separate saviors.
“Going into nature”, like it’s somewhere outside of us.
15. Death & Afterlife
Embalming bodies, denying natural decay and return to soil.
Concrete tombs, separating the body from the Earth.
Fearing death, while every leaf does it gracefully.
Cremation as “clean”, forgetting fire is nature too.
----
god forgot the return policy
(a Charles Bukowski-style poem)
they told me I was
the crown of creation
while I sat
on a plastic chair
eating food wrapped in oil
watching pigeons
peck at cigarette butts.
the trees don’t
care about my résumé.
the river never
asked for my password.
and that sun up there?
burns me
without reading my tweets.
we built cities to
block the wind,
made noise to
kill silence,
and named everything
just to feel important—
as if the stars give a damn
what we call them.
I watched a dog
piss on a luxury car.
nature knows value
better than we do.
we spend our lives
trying not to look
like animals
while dying
like confused ones.
and still
we think we’ve evolved.
hell,
even mushrooms
know when to stop growing.
we don’t.
we just
keep
consuming
until we disappear—
proudly.
like a matchstick
laughing
while it burns.