David Abram

David Abram's take on nature, humans, and animals was very interesting to read. The very beginning - the introduction - to the pages sums it all up when he basically states we must tune our "animal sense to the sensible terrain" and then goes on to discuss nature in relation to humans. It seems as if all throughout the readin, Abram focuses on humans taking a better grasp on our "animal self". The species barrier is called to attention which I think poses a very important viewpoint both of Midgley and Abram.

Overall, we must change the way we think about the species barrier. It is not such a strict barrier as once thought to be. Rather, it is stressed how animals and humans are similar and, in relation to birds, they both adapt to different circumstances so there should be no hierarchy of order. I thought it was interesting when the comment was made in class - "we are contituted by our relationships with other species". The more I thought about this, it is nothing but the truth. Whether we want to aknowledge it or not, humans are related to all species. I feel that on a daily basis we relate to animals whether it is through hearing the birds sing in our shared environemnt or interacting with out pets. Abram's work made some very good points which reveals the fact that although humans tend to try to shut themselves off from the world of nature, we are, in fact, never fully removed form it.