Nature’s Values for Humans

Environmental activist Satish Kumar (2013) focuses on the trinity of soil, soul and society to express that we are all ‘related, interconnected and interdependent.’ He stresses that by caring for soil, we are members of ‘the Earth community’ aiming to act with love, compassion and non-violence. This leads us to understand our human role as informed by Nature and her values of nurturing, growing and harvesting in cyclic systems. Facing climate breakdown and the human struggle to live as socially just communities, our behaviours and value systems must undergo cultural and societal change to think and move beyond the status quo to envision the future yet to come. As stakeholders of emerging systems, our responsibilities lies in educating for the new and hospicing the old whilst collectively developing new behaviours, attitudes and values.

Therefore, redefining Milton Rokeach’s discussion of the Nature of Human Values (1973), we adapt his philosophical idea behind the value system classification he describes as the so-called Value Survey to align our values to the most pressing issues of our times such as the climate breakdown and social injustice as Nature’s Values for Humans. Rokeach identifies two lines of values that deploy his value system classification as terminal and instrumental values. His concept facilitates the establishment of fundamental values, beliefs and attitudes through creating a rank order scaling of the overall 36 values (18 each) to arrange an order that matters most to the user, that are ‘of importance to YOU, as guiding principles in YOUR life’ (Rokeach 1973).

According to Rokeach (1973), ‘terminal values refer to desirable end-states of existence. These are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. These values vary among different groups of people in different cultures.’ On the other side, he notes that ‘instrumental values refer to preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving the terminal values.’

Thus, we propose (in no ranking order)

  • post-growth

  • environmental cognition

  • compassion

  • non-violence

  • social justice

  • inner harmony

  • equity and diversity

  • honesty and trust

  • kinship societies

  • hope

  • ecological equilibrium

  • buen vivir

  • pluriverse

  • imagination

By learning from Nature, individuals can define their values that determine their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.