Probably neither. Intent suggests sentience, intelligence or judgement. I would suggest nature is indifferent, random.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 15, 2017 3:20 PM MST
Thank you for your reply Z and Happy Sunday to thee. So you don't believe in MOTHER Nature then? I see. Different strokes. I just hope she isn't eavesdropping and hears you. The wrath of Mother Nature when unleashed is well known and I would feel very sad and bad if you were Her target just because of a question I asked. Here's hoping she is otherwise occupied! :)
Definitely malevolent; evil and psychpathic; ice ages nearly wiped out the evolving human population just about like an asteroid totally wiped out the dinosaurs, forest fires caused by lightning burns to death millions of various species. Floods, droughts, disease, famines, killing other species for food. It never ends.. Well almost seems that way anyway. Actually I fully agree with Z.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply Kg. Well there is the beneficent side. There is air and water and sun. There are plants we use for nourishment. She isn't one-sided though I agree that the dark side seems to be the bigger side. You believe Mother Nature is not sentient? I hope for your sake you and Z are correct. Happy Sunday! :)
Well nature 'knows' how to make some extremely painful and toxic venoms for some various species to make use of but seems not so much available in natural remedies to provide relief for us.
Can be a cruel world and we do not come here by choice neither.
This post was edited by Kittigate at January 15, 2017 9:13 AM MST
Food for thought here, Rosie: Think of the beauty and magnificence we can find on an atoll in the South Pacific. Palm trees, rare flowers, warm breezes, pristine beaches,and clear turquiose waters. A magnificent reef. All products of nature. Now consider how these aspects we consider the beneficence of nature could be, and occasionally are, destroyed callously by a volcano or powerful storm, tsunami, or by a harsh change in climate. Sometimes these things return to previous glory and sometimes not. I suggest nature in its randomness, is entirely indifferent to consequences and our opinions of them, or of it. There exists no mechanism of decision making to be kind or cruel, as well no point of cognition for nature to consider the effects of its acts.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 15, 2017 11:09 AM MST
Nature just is, without intent. Intent is required to be good or evil. The way aspects of nature impact us causes us to see nature as either good or evil.
Robert Heinlein once said that we should not ruin our children's lives by making things too easy for them. Mother Nature espouses that theory. She is neither benevolent nor harsh, but oblivious. She allows us to sort out any problems we may have and we grow in strength and capability as a result.
The natural world is in a state of constant change. Some changes are through a series of relatively small but individually violent steps, others by slow, more benign modifications; but Nature is not sentient and has no "will".
For example, a cyclone or a volcanic eruption may kill people, but that's not its "purpose". They are simply events resulting from natural processes. The processes themselves are not intrinsically "harmful" - if anything they are more constructive than destructive in overall purpose and effects - but the individual events are powerful enough to endanger us.
It is for us to be wise to the hazards and consequent risks and take appropriate precautions to protect ourselves, not to blame Nature for doing what it's always done!
Benedict Arnold 