Xref: utzoo sci.misc:3052 sci.bio:1730 talk.origins:4105
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!cbnews!wbt
From: wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker)
Newsgroups: sci.misc,sci.bio,talk.origins
Subject: Re: Why People Like Lawns, etc.
Message-ID: <3057@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 12 Jan 89 04:21:56 GMT
References: <23468@mordor.s1.gov>
Reply-To: wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 49

In article <23468@mordor.s1.gov> lip@s1-amid.UUCP () writes:
>
>	In the book _Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise, and Other Imponderables_
>(by David Feldman, Harper & Row), we find an interesting proposed
>explanation of why people like lawns (pp. 47-50). One theory is that
>lawns represent a sort of indulgence, but why one indulgence and not
>some other, like a swamp? Picture people surrounding their houses not
>with lawns, but with swamps. Or dense forests. Or sand. John Falk of
>the Smithsonian Institution believes that this taste for lawns
>reflects the habitat of our hominid ancestors, which lived in the
>grasslands of East Africa. 


You're quite right; it's a very interesting theory.

Personally, though, I think it's bunk.

I believe more recent, and common-sense, reasons explain our grass
fetish.  

First, except in urban areas, some territory surrounding your house is
necessary. In the 1700's, you needed it for outbuildings, a garden, etc.
Now, some of that land will be "unused"; but you have to cover it with
something, or it'll erode from rain and wind.

Swamp is out; breeds mosquitos and other pests, with accompanying diseases.
Dense forests are impractical, as they block too much sunlight and are
generally unattractive. Sand isn't native to much of the area, is subject
to erosion, and is hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

Grass, on the other hand, prevents erosion, is comfortable to walk on,
easy to care for, and cheap; if you do nothing at all, you'll get some
sort of wild grass.

Now, naturally, you'll want some trees, too; they provide shade in
the summer, and windbreaks.


The theory presented is interesting, but I don't see it as a better
explanation.



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