"The world as first seen by the child becomes his lifelong standard of excellence, mindless of the fact that he is admiring the ruins of his parents." [...]

"Generation to Generation, the natural world decays, the ratchet of perception tightens. Gradually, imperceptibly, big sharks give way to small sharks, small sharks to baitfish, baitfish to jellyfish to slime (algae and cyanobacteria). On land, the big cats and wolves becomes feral cats and coyotes. The wild standard sinks ever lower and becomes ever heavier to raise. Few notice, few care. Eventually nobody remembers that wolves not long ago freely roamed the Adirondacks, and hence there is mad howling over the suggestion of returning them to their homeland. Southern Californians panic on learning that a cougar track has been discovered on the fringes of their neighborhood- mindless that cougars roamed these hills and canyons long before gated communities drew their lines in the chaparral. 'Shifting baselines' help explain why the Pennsylvania deer hunter sees everything right and nothing wrong in a forest that's swarming with deer yet as barren of biodiversity as a city park."

~ William Stolzenburg, Where the Wild Things Were