John: There is a VERY TINY part of the "environment" that we are
NOT alienated from. Billions of cubic feet are under the oceans;
it's a VERY good thing we are alienated from such places. And we
cannot live in much of the polar regions, or above certain
elevations; we are also "alienated" from those environments.
Eric: But is there such a thing as "the" environment? If you
think of environment in terms of habitat for a creature, then our
habitat is cities and towns and farms, mountains, fields, and
forests, the inside of mines, submarines, and jets.
The biosphere in the other hand--that part of life which is not
our habitat--includes ocean-floor volcanic spouts, stratospheric
realms of bacteria, and stretches of polar ice. To call that
"the" environment is to postulate a home without a common
inhabitant, as John indicates. It's an environment for some kinds
of life, but not us.
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