The Degree of Appreciation of Nature

       Question

              How does one measure the degree of appreciation of nature?

         

              

            Appreciation is not a substance that can be measured in liters or gallons. There is not a balance put into place where a person stands as their appreciation for nature is measured. Ultimately, you cannot legitimately measure the degree of appreciation. In addition, you cannot determine how much appreciation a person may have because everyone has different ways of showing appreciation. Some may appreciate and not show it. Maybe the degree of appreciation can be measured by how much knowledge one goes after about their appreciation. But we could not calculate all the knowledge this person has regarding their appreciation. Tests are not always accurate and half the time they are pointless like in this case. A test cannot prove how much information one has resting in their preconscious that didn’t surface onto the test. Furthermore, there would be no motivation for people to take such a test. Students take SATs to get into college and AP exams to earn college credit. Will the person who achieved a high score on this “test” receive an appreciation certificate? Even with that, it would hold little value. We can assume that if people are going after more knowledge about their appreciation then they have more appreciation since they are using their own time and effort to learn more than what is on the surface. This would be independent learning; researching, gathering data, doing experiments to know more about their appreciation and share it with other people. Another example is taking action when nature is in danger. Examples include, not littering, recycling, cleaning up trash, getting others involved and taking care of nature in general. Everyone has their own way of apprenticing nature. If we were to appreciate more, maybe this world would be a little better.