Humans are self-aware creatures. We think we are apart from everything that is around us — not an integral and inseparable part of it. As a result, we are naturally self-centered. This poses a hidden but fundamental threat to our wilderness areas, and our relationship with nature in general.

In part one of this series identifying threats to wilderness we talked about the threats posed by climate change. In part two, we talked about the threats posed by overuse and the harmful effects of cumulative impacts of actions that seem harmless when viewed individually. Part three will discuss an even more fundamental and insidious threat — our false sense of separateness from nature.

In the Bible, Adam and Eve initially lived in the Garden of Eden, a paradise of extraordinary beauty and harmony. They were naked but were not ashamed. It was only after they ate from the Tree of Life that “their eyes were opened” and they became aware they were naked – they became self-aware. As a result, God drove them out of the Garden.

This story – true or symbolic – indicates that human self-awareness was what led to our being driven out of the Garden of Eden, our alienation from nature. Indeed, no other creature perceives itself as separate from nature as mankind.

How is this a threat to nature and wilderness? For at least two fundamental reasons. First, we do not feel intimately connected with nature. We feel separate. This is even more true in modern society. We live in self-constructed artificial bubbles. We build homes from lumber and steel to keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer, drink water from faucets rather than streams, buy our food in plastic wrap from stores rather than killing or growing it ourselves and turn on lights whenever we want to. We rarely actually experience the elements except for a few moments at a time or at our own choice. So, we have little knowledge, let alone empathy, for all other creatures’ struggles to survive. And without empathy or connection, we simply don’t care about them.

Second, our self-awareness means we are also self-interested and self-absorbed. We want what we want. At most, we care about our close family. Beyond that it is largely a hard intellectual and moral exercise to care about what is good for other human beings, let alone what is good and just for the rest of creation. So, when we are deciding on what to do, doing something that immediately benefits us almost always prevails over what is good for others, including the rest of creation.

We are slowing learning that all living things are connected, and what is good for nature is almost always good for mankind – at least in the long run. But since we are individually self-aware and self-centered, denying ourselves immediate pleasure for the long term good of mankind or nature is also an intellectual rather than intuitive exercise.

So, we continue to pump carbon dioxide into the air, spew poisons into the waters, turn critical wildlife habitat into parking lots, fail to protect life enhancing ecosystems, and ignore Wilderness regulations designed to protect wildlife like keeping our dogs on leash. We remain conveniently ignorant of the cumulative effect of our individual actions, and give priority to our own desires and convenience regardless of the cost to others, especially wildlife.

We can’t help being self-aware, but we can try harder not to be so self-absorbed. Treat all living things with respect and love as though they were all part of your own family — because they are.

“Get Wild” publishes weekly in the Summit Daily News. Mike Browning is a volunteer wilderness ranger for the U.S. Forest Service and the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance.