July 21, 2025 • 8 mins
Can technology play a role in rekindling our relationship with Nature?
Learn more about the Merlin app.
Learn more about the iNaturalist app.
Learn more about Personal Rewilding online at www.rhnaturereconnect.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.
Learn more about the Merlin app.
Learn more about the iNaturalist app.
Learn more about Personal Rewilding online at www.rhnaturereconnect.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Truth Be Told about Going Wild. I'm your host,
Robert Hensley, and this is the podcast inspired by the
principles of personal Rewilding. Today, we'd like to talk a
little bit about the role that technology can play in
reconnecting to the natural world. Now. I know if we
look back at the Transcendentalist movement and the basis of
(00:32):
their philosophy and how that translates today into needing to
be more self reliant and not attached to technology. There
are purists who believe that technology has no role to
play in people getting back to the natural world. However,
(00:54):
we do have to consider the fact that society today
is so connected to their devices, their smartphones, their computers.
It's in the way we work, the way we communicate
personally as well as professionally. And I don't know if
(01:15):
you've ever witnessed a parent trying to take a screen
away from a child. It is the closest thing to
ward that some of us will ever see. And so
for me as a rewilding coach, I have to consider
(01:35):
the balance between technology and the process of rewilding. And
I think that there is a way of utilizing screen
time as a way to build the bridge between society
(01:58):
and getting back to nature, to reconnecting, to rekindling that relationship,
and I think that it happens by the use of
smart apps. Right. So, if we look at Apple Android,
there are a number of apps. Some of them are
education based, some of them are solely just kind of
(02:21):
nature interest based, but all of them are pretty cool
and they give and they're not all just for kids, right,
but they what they do is they give an opportunity
to utilize your phone, your personal device in the wild. Right.
(02:42):
So for those people who are so far removed from
the natural world, who literally live from apartment to car
to work to car to apartment, and who don't ever
go into a green space, there is this possibility of
using apps as a way of reintroducing themselves to the environment. So,
(03:08):
whether that is in the form of a bird identification
app like Merlin, or an insect identification app, plant identification app,
or something a little more involved like Eye Naturalists, which
allows you to observe plants and insects and things, identify them,
(03:31):
and map where they were located so that you can
communicate with other amateur and some professional scientists about what
you've observed. Very cool stuff. But what it does is
that when we know the names of things, we are
more likely to find that we have a connection to them.
(03:53):
Right And once we feel that we know the things
in the environment, maybe we don't need to take our
phones with us into the wild anymore. Once we start
to identify for ourselves write what we've learned through the app,
and we know that information, then we can start observing
(04:13):
from a place that is less technology based. Right now,
I'm not saying that people should have their cell phones
and be turning to text in the wild, or taking
phone calls and speaking loudly on speakerphone while they're hiking
and ruining it for everyone else. But I'm saying that
there is a balance, There is a way of using
(04:36):
this as a tool to start to become comfortable with
to be become more knowledgeable about your surroundings, and again
create that bridge between society of people and the natural world. Again,
(04:59):
I know that they are purists out there who are
going to hate me for saying it right, because technology
is the enemy and it is part of the whole
reason why people are so disconnected from the environment and
so disengaged from nature. But I also kind of in
my pragmatic brain know that it's a much bigger fight
(05:22):
to get people to give up their technology called turkey,
then to find ways of utilizing that technology to start
the process of rewilding right again. If you have people
who've never observed nature, who have no idea of what
(05:42):
to look for when they sit at the base of
a tree in the forest, and that it seems completely
foreign to them. If they had something that made them
feel comfortable, right, like their phone, and they were able
to use an app right to take a picture of
the plant next them, and they can learn the name
of that plant and learn more about it, then that's
(06:05):
already one relationship now that they have in the natural world. Right.
If they can take a picture of the leads on
the tree above them, right, they can learn about that tree.
That's a second relationship. If they see an insect or
an animal and they can take a picture of that
(06:26):
and put it in the app and identify it and
learn more about it, again, that's another relationship built and
over time, once you start to know that, Okay, these
are my local green spaces, and I've already identified this tree,
this plant, these animals, and you know that you see
(06:46):
them all the time. That's you know, those are your locals, right,
Those become the things that you relate to, and then
you don't need your phone anymore to know what they are,
and you're able then to just go and observe the
things that you know and potentially find out more. So
that's my spiel on how I feel that technology can
(07:09):
be a part of the rewilding process. Thanks so much
for listening. Remember there are three opportunities every week for
new content from the Truth Be Told family of podcasts
on the Club Paranormal channel on YouTube, Tony Sweet with
your Original Truth be Told on Fridays at three pm
Pacific six eastern. Bonnie Burker with Truth be Told Transformation
(07:31):
every Wednesday three pm Pacific six eastern, and of course
Truth be Told about Going Wild every Monday, same time,
three pm Pacific six eastern. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns,
or you want to learn more about what I do
and personal rewilding, please feel free to visit my website
at www dot rh Nature reconnect dot com. Again that's
our h Nature Reconnect Altogether dot com and you can
(07:55):
contact me there through the contact form. I'd love to
hear from you until next time,
Welcome to Truth Be Told about Going Wild. I'm your host,
Robert Hensley, and this is the podcast inspired by the
principles of personal Rewilding. Today, we'd like to talk a
little bit about the role that technology can play in
reconnecting to the natural world. Now. I know if we
look back at the Transcendentalist movement and the basis of
(00:32):
their philosophy and how that translates today into needing to
be more self reliant and not attached to technology. There
are purists who believe that technology has no role to
play in people getting back to the natural world. However,
(00:54):
we do have to consider the fact that society today
is so connected to their devices, their smartphones, their computers.
It's in the way we work, the way we communicate
personally as well as professionally. And I don't know if
(01:15):
you've ever witnessed a parent trying to take a screen
away from a child. It is the closest thing to
ward that some of us will ever see. And so
for me as a rewilding coach, I have to consider
(01:35):
the balance between technology and the process of rewilding. And
I think that there is a way of utilizing screen
time as a way to build the bridge between society
(01:58):
and getting back to nature, to reconnecting, to rekindling that relationship,
and I think that it happens by the use of
smart apps. Right. So, if we look at Apple Android,
there are a number of apps. Some of them are
education based, some of them are solely just kind of
(02:21):
nature interest based, but all of them are pretty cool
and they give and they're not all just for kids, right,
but they what they do is they give an opportunity
to utilize your phone, your personal device in the wild. Right.
(02:42):
So for those people who are so far removed from
the natural world, who literally live from apartment to car
to work to car to apartment, and who don't ever
go into a green space, there is this possibility of
using apps as a way of reintroducing themselves to the environment. So,
(03:08):
whether that is in the form of a bird identification
app like Merlin, or an insect identification app, plant identification app,
or something a little more involved like Eye Naturalists, which
allows you to observe plants and insects and things, identify them,
(03:31):
and map where they were located so that you can
communicate with other amateur and some professional scientists about what
you've observed. Very cool stuff. But what it does is
that when we know the names of things, we are
more likely to find that we have a connection to them.
(03:53):
Right And once we feel that we know the things
in the environment, maybe we don't need to take our
phones with us into the wild anymore. Once we start
to identify for ourselves write what we've learned through the app,
and we know that information, then we can start observing
(04:13):
from a place that is less technology based. Right now,
I'm not saying that people should have their cell phones
and be turning to text in the wild, or taking
phone calls and speaking loudly on speakerphone while they're hiking
and ruining it for everyone else. But I'm saying that
there is a balance, There is a way of using
(04:36):
this as a tool to start to become comfortable with
to be become more knowledgeable about your surroundings, and again
create that bridge between society of people and the natural world. Again,
(04:59):
I know that they are purists out there who are
going to hate me for saying it right, because technology
is the enemy and it is part of the whole
reason why people are so disconnected from the environment and
so disengaged from nature. But I also kind of in
my pragmatic brain know that it's a much bigger fight
(05:22):
to get people to give up their technology called turkey,
then to find ways of utilizing that technology to start
the process of rewilding right again. If you have people
who've never observed nature, who have no idea of what
(05:42):
to look for when they sit at the base of
a tree in the forest, and that it seems completely
foreign to them. If they had something that made them
feel comfortable, right, like their phone, and they were able
to use an app right to take a picture of
the plant next them, and they can learn the name
of that plant and learn more about it, then that's
(06:05):
already one relationship now that they have in the natural world. Right.
If they can take a picture of the leads on
the tree above them, right, they can learn about that tree.
That's a second relationship. If they see an insect or
an animal and they can take a picture of that
(06:26):
and put it in the app and identify it and
learn more about it, again, that's another relationship built and
over time, once you start to know that, Okay, these
are my local green spaces, and I've already identified this tree,
this plant, these animals, and you know that you see
(06:46):
them all the time. That's you know, those are your locals, right,
Those become the things that you relate to, and then
you don't need your phone anymore to know what they are,
and you're able then to just go and observe the
things that you know and potentially find out more. So
that's my spiel on how I feel that technology can
(07:09):
be a part of the rewilding process. Thanks so much
for listening. Remember there are three opportunities every week for
new content from the Truth Be Told family of podcasts
on the Club Paranormal channel on YouTube, Tony Sweet with
your Original Truth be Told on Fridays at three pm
Pacific six eastern. Bonnie Burker with Truth be Told Transformation
(07:31):
every Wednesday three pm Pacific six eastern, and of course
Truth be Told about Going Wild every Monday, same time,
three pm Pacific six eastern. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns,
or you want to learn more about what I do
and personal rewilding, please feel free to visit my website
at www dot rh Nature reconnect dot com. Again that's
our h Nature Reconnect Altogether dot com and you can
(07:55):
contact me there through the contact form. I'd love to
hear from you until next time,
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