Experience and appreciation

Abstract

A young child has keen senses, but his world is not thereby more filled with sensory values than that of an adult. To enjoy the physical environment fully the mere capacity to experience stimuli is not enough; it must be complemented by appreciation, which is an intellectual activity. A young child's experiences of nature are often more intense than those of an adult. Among the reasons for this are synesthesia and the child's ability to isolate experience from its distracting social, theoretical, and practical contexts. However, the isolation also causes impoverishment. Remembrance, which broadens the context, is an important component of appreciation. In remembered pleasure the adult is far richer than the child.

Parent Publication

• Children, nature, and the urban environment: proceedings of a symposium-fair

Citation

Tuan, Yi-Fu. 1977. Experience and appreciation. In: Children, Nature, and the Urban Environment: Proceedings of a Symposium-Fair; Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-30. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 1-5