I place myself in the company of those "pessimistic ecologists" who mock our mastery over nature. I don't think Bickerton, in Language and Species, is arguing that human transformations of the natural world are necessarily good or bad, but he is noting that more than any other species, we change the world to suit our personal & cultural whims. Now, I'm going to go out in the yard & begin digging the footings for a retaining wall. I have a certain vision of the way my property should look.