ABSTRACT
If the discussion in Chapter 1 seemed rather grand or abstract, let me now bring it a little closer to Earth. I said earlier that our particular beliefs about, and experiences of, nature – even including our own flesh and blood – are highly mediated. We rely on myriad others to form our own ideas, hopes, opinions, values and worries about everything from the major volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010 to the implications of synthetic biology to the strange wonders of black holes. These others both produce and disseminate various representations of nature, which we, whoever ‘we’ happen to be in any given situation, are invited to consume, critically or otherwise. What, though, is representation – both as a process (re-presenting) and as the results of that process (e.g. a photograph, newspaper article, documentary or poem)? Who is doing the representing? And why? These are the questions that preoccupy me in this chapter. My answers to them will directly inform the arguments of the next one. They will get you thinking about who you pay attention to in your own life, and for what reasons.
