Are we observers or participants in this world?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Are we observers or participants in this world? The natural world is defined as everything that we see around us, nature and animals, as well as the people that we live and interact with. Even though, many people see themselves apart from nature and merely as passive observers, others believe that all humans are active participants and are a part of this whole that we call nature.

Many people view nature as being apart from them, a separate organism by itself, with no connection to the whole. The vision of this paradox is what blinds them from seeing that we are as a part of nature as the nature is a part of us. These "observers" define nature as only the natural world and the animals, but it is much more than that. Humans are also considered to be an element of this big whole. For instance, Stephen Jay Gould in his essay "Women's Brains" sees women as not being part of the whole or the nature. He sees the role of women in being beautiful, bearing children and performing any number of "feminine" or "house-work" tasks. He draws a clear line between "masculine" and "feminine," and puts