The reading was a whole new look at what people think about nature. Growing up in downtown Cleveland the only nature I experienced was the tree in the back yard with the broken branches from being climbed to much. Of course, there was Edgewater park, but, as I look back on it now, the debri ridden sand and murky brown water wasn't much to enjoy either. I have never witnessed these majestic places like Niagra falls or the Grand Canyon in person, so I don't know what it feels like to be awed by nature. The wilderness around Athens is like a jungle to me.
I believe that Cronin is right that nature and civilization are one. However, I feel that the human conquest and consumption of nature is inevitable. The other day, I was watching this show on the travel channel about a guy who "roughed it" in the wild. So this man, left is high rise in Brooklyn, flew to this "remote" spot in Alaska and began his triumph over nature. I expected his dwelling to be a tiny log cabin with a few supplies to make it. When this guy got there, he had a compound, complete with four-wheelers, a butcher shop, and even a fuel station. to get my point across, I guess where ever humans can place and use technology, that piece of land or nature will be consumed.
I don't believe that humans will "discover an ethical way to live with nature.". Maybe we will find a lesser way to consume nature, but either way humans will take what they need. I feel that there will always be this constant battle between civilization and nature. There will be supporters on both sides . . . always. Hopefully there can be negotiations to help realize that if nature goes, so will we.
The last line, "...if nature goes, so will we," is powerful and accurate.
ReplyDeleteI have never been one to camp; after spending a week in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, I told my friends I had gone camping. After further explaining my week, my friends decided that my time spent at a three-story, wrap-around-porch, air-conditioned cabin with a hot tub did not count as camping.
You make an excellent point about just how prevalent technology is in our world today. And you make another great point - that the drive for technology is not going to change any time soon.
Negotiation, communication and collaboration are the only solutions.
I have not thought about nature much until reading this article. I do think we need to learn how to live amongst nature. Our technology was some how created from nature and if we continue to consume nature without preserving it, we may wake up some day and not have any more nature to make any more technology.
ReplyDelete"The human conquest and consumption of nature is inevitable..." that is true. That statement should almost be obvious but it isn't. There are those who don't realize what is happening every year.
ReplyDeleteWhen summers are just a little bit hotter and winters just a tiny bit colder, and storms are more violent and larger in numbers. It's almost like it's trying to creep up on us.
But you are certainly right about humans not being able to get over their wants and work with nature instead of against it. I also hope that the people that are over-consuming will realize they are going to use up all of the resources if we keep going at the rate we are.