Our ancestors were able to navigate long distances, find water, and even predict the weather simply by looking at their environment. My guest today says we still have this nature instinct inside of us and with a little practice, we can revive it.
His name is Tristan Gooley, he’s an outdoorsman and author, and his latest book is The Nature Instinct: Learn to Find Direction, Sense Danger, and Even Guess Nature’s Next Move—Faster Than Thought. Today on the show we discuss how humans have the ability to simply look at something in nature and immediately see direction, time, or weather conditions. While modern humans have lost this ability, Tristan makes the case that with some practice, anyone can re-learn it. We then discuss how learning how to read nature intuitively makes us more engaged with our surroundings and able to see more significance in our environment. Tristan then shares signs to look for in nature to anticipate animal behavior, find water, and predict the weather. After listening to this show, you’ll never look at squirrels the same way.
Show Highlights
- Developing your intuition in the outdoors
- How pattern recognition plays a part in our relationship to nature
- How long does it take to re-learn this “nature instinct”?
- What hunting and animal observation can tell you about nature
- What’s the benefit of learning these skills?
- How using the nature instinct can help you inject more meaning into the world
- What is umwelt?
- Recognizing various animal “highways” and what they can tell us
- Predicting the weather
- Finding water in the wild
Resources/People/Articles Mentioned in Podcast
- How to Read Nature — my first interview with Tristan
- 15 Constellations Every Man Should Know (And How to Find Them)
- Thinking, Fast and Slow
- How to Get Your Kids to Love Nature
- How to Track Animals
- 4 Ways Nature Restores Your Vigor
- Umwelt
- 7 Ways to Love the Place You Live
- How to Find Water in the Wild
- 22 Old Weather Proverbs That Are Actually True
- Fair or Foul? How to Use a Barometer to Forecast the Weather
Connect With Tristan
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