Without using these exact words, editor Sarah Gilman refers to the changing baseline (“Knowledge, a wrecking ball,” HCN, 4/27/15). Each generation thinks that life began when its awareness began. The children of the generation before Sarah roved an empty mesa near Boulder and perhaps mourned its loss. As a young adult, I roamed the side canyons of Lake Powell and thought I was in heaven. Years later, I attended Katie Lee’s talk and slideshow about Glen Canyon, and I cried the entire time, mourning what had been taken from me before I could experience it. Is it better to not know? Is the changing baseline a blessing rather than a curse?
Jeanmarie Haney
Cottonwood, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Changing baseline.
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