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What’s the difference between natural and man made? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by IanAtCambio@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Just something I was talking about with the wife this evening. She says that our house is not natural and used the phrase “out in nature”. But lots of animals build nests. And are we not animals just doing the same?

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[–] lwuy9v5@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Maybe a degree of refinement?

dust accumulates and becomes dirt. Natural
a beaver builds a dam out of nearby fallen logs, natural
we create ovens and break down rocks to create bricks and get specific metal alloys to create wires and and you have the hoover damn. Part of the natural world? Sure. Organic? Mostly (carbon based, sans the metals). Refined? Unquestionably. Natural? Maybe not

[–] KaiReeve@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Definitely refinement.

Man used to build 'natural' tools and shelters and some still do in the most remote parts of the planet. Mud huts and arrowheads are man-made yet also natural. I think we left the 'natural' path when we started smelting, domesticating, tanning, irrigating, etc. We took naturally formed materials and refined or processed them into something you can't just stunble upon in nature. A billion planets in a billion years will not naturally produce an internal combustion engine without some sort of intelligent intervention.