Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncc!myrias!dbf
From: dbf@myrias.UUCP (David Ferrier)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Why People Like Lawns, etc.
Summary: lawns versus meadows
Keywords: lawn, meadow
Message-ID: <761@myrias.UUCP>
Date: 12 Jan 89 17:09:53 GMT
References: <23468@mordor.s1.gov> <3057@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Distribution: na
Organization: Myrias Research Corporation
Lines: 36

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). 

In article <3057@cbnews.ATT.COM> wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) writes:
>Grass ... 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.
>
>The theory presented [by Feldman] is interesting, 
>but I don't see it as a better explanation.

What you get around your house if you do nothing at all
(except maybe pull weeds and saplings), is "meadow", what
occurs in nature where larger plants are unable to thrive. 

Meadow is comfortable to lie or walk on (if you are into walking
around your house), easy to care for because it requires no
care at all, and much cheaper than trying to maintain a velvety
evenly-trimmed greensward (no mower, no chemical fertilizer).

The two disadvantages to meadow are 
[1] it is clear to your neighbors you have done nothing to your lawn, and 
[2] it is not orderly. 

If these are the only ways grass is superior to meadow,
I suggest the decision by people to have lawns around their houses 
instead of meadow (or swamp etc.) is not rational, i.e.
related to the relative objective merits of grass [Thacker], 
nor the result of some primordeal urge [Feldman],
but due to psychological needs, i.e. to appear hardworking and orderly 
[Ferrier].
-- 
David Ferrier                            Edmonton, Alberta
alberta!myrias!dbf                       (403) 428 1616