Evolution

The next in my continuing series of posts, is a look at how evolution has changed how we interact with our environment.

I have a 2009 Jeep Wrangler and it has allowed me to escape to some places that would be hard to reach otherwise. It was on one such escape, that I decided to kill the engine and observe nature at work. I watched a hawk circling above a clearing before it dived to try to catch a small furry creature (A field mouse I think).

I closed my eyes and focused on some of my other senses like Hearing & Smell.

I heard frogs, crickets, birds and insects, but I didn’t hear cars, people and planes. I realized that the direction the sounds were coming from, was not always obvious and that the level of the sounds could indicate the distance they were from where I was standing.

I smelt the wet earth, flowers, grass and some of the trees. I wondered what it was like to live as a human before civilization. I would bet that smell, sight and hearing would have played a much more significant role in my day to day survival.

I had previously read, that as humans, we are limited by our senses and that there are creatures like singing mice and bats that communicate at frequencies outside of our hearing range. I wondered what it would be like to hear supersonic and subsonic sounds. Turns out, there’s an app for that. The iPhone app does frequency shifting so you can listen to things outside of your hearing range. I haven’t tried it yet, maybe next time.

I remembered that at several times in my life, I had experienced a lack of sound. I remembered being in the forest when everything suddenly went quiet. My sub-conscience raised my anxiety level and put me on high alert. It was like the animals of the forest were telling me something bad was about to happen, so I should prepare for the worst. The silence was followed by a crack of thunder and a torrential down pour.

All of this reflection made me realize the important role that sound and smell play in nature and that mosquito repellant is something I should carry in the jeep at all times. 🙂

I realized that modern humans have allowed ourselves to neglect the importance of some senses that animals still rely on. I was surprised to remember that those animals still communicate with me on some level and that the wind plays a pivotal role in the distribution of natural’s information.

“The Wind” is track number 15 on the album “Wind & Fire”.

http://northof60.hearnow.com

..FG..

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