As iconic as “The Lorax” is for educating children about the environment, I would have thought that the word thneed would have become a regular part of environmentalist parlance. After all, it was the market demand for thneeds that drove the destruction of the truffula forest and made the Once-ler a…

I think part of the problem is that many societies are built around consumerism. If there’s a lack of it, it means there’s an economic recession, for example… Moreover, because it’s such an intrinsic part of the culture. It becomes easily overlooked/taken for granted as “the way things are” or “a f…

The vast majority of people will never have this epiphany. I like stuff, all sorts of stuff. Whether it be books, specimens, rollerblade or bike parts, I often feel that I need these things. The simple fact is that some of the “thneeds” I have do not impact my quality of life in a significant way, e…

I get where you’re coming from on this, and agree with the points on consumerism. Our society is centered around buy-buy-buy and we’re thwarted with hundreds of ads a day (regardless if we recognize it or not) that tell us how a product will make us happier, more attractive, or more respected. When …

[image] jasonhernandez74: As iconic as “The Lorax” is for educating children about the environment, I would have thought that the word thneed would have become a regular part of environmentalist parlance Maybe I grew up in a weird place (upstate New York, 1990s), but the Lorax never got that …

[image] tristanmcknight: I’d guess most kids only read the book once and moved on. Which is as much as saying that it was a failure.

In the US at least our society and economy are largely built on the desire for thneeds. One could argue we’re communicating right now using thneeds. It’s a rare person who has access to all this stuff but eschews acquiring it. We are the bacteria in the Petri dish but the difference is we know on …

I grew up in upstate NY also but years earlier than you. The Lorax was never part of my childhood environmental education despite Seuss books being common in my home (his earlier books than that one). I might have to buy that one to get educated.

I think the prose was intentional, and I quite enjoyed it.

As an environmentalist, thneeds are much less of a problem than thwants. Disclaimer: although I’ve read the book and seen the movie, I have no memory of the term “thneed”.

Do you need another thneed?

Nature Talk

anthonywalton June 20, 2022, 4:01pm 7

I honestly thought there was a typo in the heading when I first saw it

Interesting food for thought nonetheless

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Do you need another thneed?

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