Steven Pinker -- How the Mind Works - Hampshire High Italian ...

Hotheads 377The land itself must be legible, too. Anyone who has lost a trail in adense forest or seen footage of sand dunes or snow drifts in all directionsknows the terror of an environment lacking a frame of reference. A landscapeis just a very big object, and we recognize complex objects by locatingtheir parts in a reference frame belonging to the object (see Chapter 4).The reference frames in a mental map are big landmarks, like trees, rocks,and ponds, and long paths or boundaries, like rivers and mountain ranges.A vista without these guideposts is unsettling. Kaplan and Kaplan foundanother key to natural beauty, which they call mystery. Paths bendingaround hills, meandering streams, gaps in foliage, undulating land, andpartly blocked views grab our interest by hinting that the land may haveimportant features that could be discovered by further exploration.People also love to look at animals and plants, especially flowers. Ifyou are reading this book at home or in other pleasant but artificial surroundings,chances are you can look up and find animal, plant, or flowermotifs in the decorations. Our fascination with animals is obvious. Weeat them, they eat us. But our love of flowers, which we don't eat exceptin salads in overpriced restaurants, needs an explanation. We ran into itin Chapters 3 and 5. People are intuitive botanists, and a flower is a richsource of data. Plants blend into a sea of green and often can be identifiedonly by their flowers. Flowers are harbingers of growth, marking thesite of future fruit, nuts, or tubers for creatures smart enough to rememberthem.Some natural happenings are deeply evocative, like sunsets, thunder,gathering clouds, and fire. Orians and Heerwagen note that they tell ofan imminent and consequential change: darkness, a storm, a blaze. Theemotions evoked are arresting, forcing one to stop, take notice, and preparefor what's to come.Environmental aesthetics is a major factor in our lives. Mood dependson surroundings: think of being in a bus terminal waiting room or a lakesidecottage. People's biggest purchase is their home, and the three rulesof home buying—location, location, and location—pertain, apart fromnearness to amenities, to grassland, trees, bodies of water, and prospect(views). The value of the house itself depends on its refuge (cozy spaces)and mystery (nooks, bends, windows, multiple levels). And people in theunlikeliest of ecosystems strive for a patch of savanna to call their own.In New England, any land that is left alone quickly turns into a scruffydeciduous forest. During my interlude in suburbia, every weekend myfellow burghers and I would drag out our lawn mowers, leaf blowers,