Twenty years after coining "nature-deficit disorder," author Richard Louv is still asking a simple question: What happens when we lose our connection to nature?
On a hike through Volcan Mountain Preserve near Julian, Louv shares why he believes "deep noticing" is one of the most important practices we can reclaim in an increasingly screen-centered world. From mountain lion scat and buzzing bees to the latest research on attention, imagination and our senses, he explains how slowing down outdoors changes the way we experience the world.
This episode also revisits how Louv's ideas have shaped a generation of parents and kids, and what those early efforts to get children outside look like years later.
Guest:
- Richard Louv, author of "Lost Child in the Woods" and "Noticing"
Sources:
- Exercising is good for the brain but exercising outside is potentially better (Katherine Boere, Kelsey Lloyd, Gordon Binsted & Olave E. Krigolson, Scientific Reports, 2023)
- Humans could have as many as 33 senses (Barry Smith, The Conversation, 2025)
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