Ditch The "Nature vs Technology" Dichotomy

There is a legitimate issue with being "Chronically Online". That being said: This entire idea that you can't be on the internet and connected to nature at the same time; that you can't enjoy popular technology or media in particular in any responsible way and natural local connectivity simultaneously; that you must pick one or the other- and there is only one correct answer: Nature (and if you participate in the other, you must "go outside and touch grass" because you are "doing life wrong") ... Is absolutely wild to me. And completely baffles me on every level.

Especially as someone who spends 99% of their time online literally doing Nature and Gardening Education, and attending various naturally focused Seminars and Workshop- or investigating naturally focused Academic Works- to further their own education; used to be a Civilian Conservationist before having to retire because of disability; is a Lay Herbalist; is studying to be a natural Perfumer and Incenser, as well as a Rosarian; routinely reads and collects books on various naturally oriented topics; and spends roughly 50% of my time outdoors (when I can get outdoors for prolonged periods of time that allow for activity, because again: I am disabled) doing various nature related activities like Nature Photography, Gardening, Wild and Urban Foraging, Volunteering as a Master Gardener, visiting Botanical Gardens, and more.

It's not people on TikTok who ultimately need to "go outside and touch grass" just because they're on TikTok ... It's Luditic individuals who seem to believe in this ridiculously solid, binaric dichotomy of nature, and absolutely refuse to allow for the truly complex, multifaceted nature of our existence in the modern world- especially as it pertains to nature and / "vs" technology.

And as a related aside: Nature Blindness is a real, learned phenomenon that has to be actively deconditioned in a technologically focused society. Especially if we hope to have any impact on Global Warming and other areas of rapid ecological destruction ... But that deconditioning is not actually as simple as, and cannot therefore be merely boiled down to, "just getting off TikTok, going outside, and touching grass".

You can surprisingly have both. And surprisingly, in the modern age, you need both; the internet itself- including TikTok- has become an absolutely invaluable tool for disseminating Natural Education, and even facilitating a connection with nature in the first place. Especially for people who may otherwise never even have any exposure to resources that would spark such an interest in or connectivity with nature to begin with.