The individual, the group and nature: An introduction to Issue 7 of Funzione Gamma

The connections between the Individual, the Group and Nature [1] are complex and deserve careful exploration. Splitting at a psychological level of any one element from either of the others creates difficulty or even danger. For example, splitting of individual from nature can result both in alienation of the individual and in destructive projections onto and destructive actions towards nature. Conversely, this splitting can lead to idealization of nature and consequent unrealistic actions towards the natural environment. In this issue many such splits are examined and in this paper I explore aspects of the overall issue of these splits and what they might mean. I begin by first examining the complexity of the issues that are raised when we have the courage to attempt to include the role of nature in our understanding of conversations with individuals and groups.