Friend: I don’t know… I mean, I’m afraid of nature now… I think all people are more afraid of nature now… I don’t think that is a good thing.

Me: I do. We are where we are because people lost their respect for nature. People forgot that nature is something to be feared. Of all the possible threats in the world, nature is the only one we cannot get away from, control, or defeat.

Friend: So we should live the rest of our lives in fear?

Me: Yes. Just like every other living creature on this planet. Just like all people up to two hundred years ago. Maybe then we will see ourselves as part of the environment again, and not just visitors.