Children, Youth and Environments Vol 13, No.1 (Spring 2003) ISSN 1546-2250 Author's Response to Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations Children and Nature – and Technology Peter H. Kahn, Jr. Department of Psychology University of Washington I'd like to respond briefly to this thoughtful review of Children and Nature by developing one point of import. As the contributors to Children and Nature show, there is scientific merit to the proposition that children (and adults) need rich interactions with nature for their physical and psychological well-being. In addition, I believe there are two large societal trends that are powerfully and quickly reshaping our world. First, as most readers of this journal recognize, we are degrading and destroying nature at an astonishing rate. Second, our technologies are booming, increasing in their sophistication and pervasiveness at a rate unprecedented in the history of our species. Indeed, it is partly because of our technological capabilities that we are able to destroy nature so readily. In this vein, I would agree with some of the contributors to Children and Nature that as a species we are partly out of control with our technological artifacts and infrastructure. Yet from an evolutionary perspective, just as we are drawn to nature, and need it for our physical and psychological wellbeing, so are we drawn to technologies. We always have been- from digging sticks to stone axes to the printing press, technologies have conferred advantages to people that create and use them; and our minds are predisposed toward them. Thus an important area for future research lies at this intersection of children, nature, and technology. As a case in point, in my research laboratory at the University of Washington we have been investigating the psychological effects (benefits and harms) when technology mediates or augments the human experience of nature. We are currently involved in about a dozen projects that involve three cutting-edge technologies: robotic animals, plasma displays of HDTV realtime images of local nature in inside office environments, and computer simulations of land use and transportation modeling (with Alan Borning and Paul Waddell). In turn, we seek to use our psychological research to address two questions. First, as consumers, how can we make wise choices about which technologies to let into our lives? Secondly, as designers, how can we help shape the technological infrastructure wisely, from an ethical perspective, to better support enduring human values? Interested readers can find out more about these studies at: http://faculty.washington.edu/pkahn/. See also Friedman and Kahn 2003; and Friedman, Kahn, and Hagman 2003.) 241 Several future issues of Children, Youth and Environment will likely focus on this area of children, nature, and technology. I very much look forward to the emerging discourse. Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a research associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. He is the author of the book, The Human Relationship with Nature: Development and Culture (1999, MIT Press). He recently co-edited the book (with Steve Kellert), Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations (2002, MIT Press). Dr. Kahn’s current research, funded by the National Science Foundation, examines what happens when technology mediates the human experience of nature. Project areas include the human-robotic relationship (e.g., children’s relationships with robotic pets), plasma displays of real-time local nature (e.g., inside offices), and a computer simulation model (“UrbanSim”) for integrated land use and transportation planning of urban development. References Friedman, B., and Peter H. Kahn, Jr. (2003). “Human Values, Ethics, and Design.” In J. A. Jacko and A. Sears (eds.) The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1177-1201. Friedman, B., Peter H. Kahn, Jr., and J. Hagman (2003). Hardware Companions?: What Online AIBO Discussion Forums Reveal about the Human-Robotic Relationship. Conference Proceedings of CHI 2003 New York, NY: ACM Press, 273–280. ...
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Feb 1, 2009
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