The actions and beliefs leading to the modern environmental crisis can be traced to a commonly held misunderstanding of human nature. Ignorance of the Absolute, as well as the "Self which resides at the Centre of man's being," has led to the development of materialistic ideals and the degradation of the humanities in the West. Worse still, civilizations in the East have begun to adopt the modern Western notion of progress, furthering man's isolation from the Centre. Nasr urges modern societies to shift their focus inward, challenge their conceptions of scientific "objectivity," and recall Centre which is the origin of all things.

Lord Northbourne responds to a fear that has developed among the general public that due to factors such as increasingly dangerous military technology, population growth and scarcity of natural resources, the human civilization as we know it may not be able to survive. His solution involves shifting attention away from the common goals of material wealth and individual prosperity and working towards the establishment of a society founded upon values such as humility, compassion, and renunciation of “worldly superfluities”. The development of these virtues is dependent upon awareness and love of God.

Lord Northbourne summarizes the “nature of the… changes brought about in agriculture by the rise to dominance of the modern outlook.” His concerns for the future of agriculture include the use of chemical methods, the loss of economic independence for farmers, and the standardization of products using preservatives and substitutes. This agricultural revolution has brought about “a divorce between man and nature” and furthermore a loss of the view that all natural things are interrelated, moving “together toward the fulfillment of the plan of [God].” Lord Northbourne asserts that the man who uses his “God-given dominion over nature” for his own “aggrandizement” might soon find himself struggling against the forces of Nature.