Our Treatment Of Nature By Daniel Quinn

Pollution has become a serious political issue. Humans that live among nature prevent damaging effects like pollution from occurring because nature is their habitat that they want to protect. This simple difference in lifestyle and in attitude already majorly distinguishes the two groups of humans. Ego is not the only factor in destruction, however. The lack of awareness about the consequences of destruction of nature causes destruction of nature. Well-known consequences like pollution exist, but there are some that are not as obvious. In the Indian fable “Numskull and Rabbit ”, the forest creatures describe how the lion’s murderous nature is not only ending lives, but is also preventing the birth of future lives as a result. An example of this mass destruction is evident in the second image from the movie, where cages full of jailed chickens that are hoarded like they are just objects are about to become poultry for human sustenance . Core principles of evolution state that reproduction of a species is imperative to their survival. If a species has a reduction in population, then the food chain becomes unbalanced, which can impact many species negatively. Humans who live among nature are more aware of their environment and how it impacts their lifestyles, so they are more careful in making sure that they do not injure its natural order. The destruction of nature is caused by simple

Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson has a lot to teach about how to respect the earth because it is a mighty force but Nature also teaches what it means to be connected with nature and the feelings that are associated with connection. During my close read of Nature I faced challenges, successes, and a greater appreciation for the writing from a world that is drastically different from the one I live in. One of my biggest struggles while annotating the piece was looking at the big picture and what the paragraph as a whole was telling me. While I am annotating I tend to focus more on the smaller pieces such as the meaning of words and decoding what a sentence is saying. It’s hard to pull back from that and connect the bigger pieces to find what the

Rachel Carson’s Man and the Stream of time possesses enlightening perspectives of nature that have been marinating in her mind for ten years. Her writing reflects upon the effects that man has on nature and the role he plays in the ever changing environment. Her sole observation is that it is man’s nature to want to conquer the world, but nature is not one to be conquered. The writer affirms that nature is an entity that must be dignified, Like English poet Francis Thompson said, “Thou canst not stir a flower without troubling of a star.” Most environmentalist would agree that nature is not stationary, we cut the trees now today, its not just the trees that disappear ten years from now. As humanity advances, we create a multitude of

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can

Alexander Von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist whose work has helped shape and define our modern understanding of nature. He used enlightenment rationalism to navigate his way through life and his deep connection to his natural environment inspired a visionary movement in ushering out the monotheistic creationist worldview. “Humboldt’s books, diaries and letters reveal a visionary, a thinker far ahead of his time. He invented isotherms...discovered the magnetic equator...came up with the idea of vegetation and climate zones that snake across the globe…and revolutionized the way we see the natural world.” (Invention of Nature, 5). Although his work was extensive, author of ‘The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf suggests that his work has largely been forgotten due to his polymath approach of including art, history, poetry and politics that made him unfavorable. While Humboldt gave us our concept of nature itself, “the irony is that Humboldt’s views have become so self-evident that we have largely forgotten the man behind them.” However, although his work individual work may be overlooked, Humboldt’s success in making science more accessible work and as a result, his legacy lives on as the source of inspiration for many influential thinkers throughout history.

A question I have for you is how you do see humans in relations to Nature? Nature is a vague term, and the way you emphasize people to embrace its simplicity implies humans were apart from Nature to begin with. This inherently

Chris McCandless probably wasn’t the first to think, “When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it.” In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and the short story “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, they both have the belief that by living off of nature and preserving it, the closer one will come to understanding the nature of nature.

The world is being sickened by the needs of man in today's society. People, love to live in luxury without knowing the consequences of their actions. This is because man lives at a pace set by himself, and not one that is naturally set by nature. This is shown excellently in a quote inside of the novel Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. The Quote states, “the rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the impetuous and heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature.” The Earth is experiencing such rapid and disastrous change due to the wants of man. Man demands too much from the earth and not only is this changing the Earth, but it is also depleting many non renewable resources

In Jenny Allen's essay "The Trouble With Nature" humor is utilized in order to entertain the reader and inform them, and let them know that in nature no matter what you try to dodge and ignore there is always going to be something else. This is because nature goes as it pleases and there really is no boudaries or rules that it has to go by.

The Earth is a fascinating planet and it is full of secrets that we are trying to uncover. Scientists have already found out some answers to Earth’s mysteries and they are all ideas that are known as the “Enduring Understandings”. The three “Enduring Understandings” can take form of these three statements: “(1) Energy, from the Sun and from Earth’s interior, drives all of the Earth’s cycles and processes, (2) matter, moves through Earth’s spheres in cyclical processes, over varying period of time, and at different scales, and (3) Earth’s surfaces and processes are altered by human engineering. These three statements are highlighted and explained in John McPhee’s novel called The Control of Nature. This book does an exceptional job on relating real world examples to three fundamental principles that explain how our Earth works. The book is separated into 3 case studies involving the concept of the Atchafalaya River, the Heimaey eruption and the debris flow incidents in Los Angeles. Through the process of the water cycle, the Atchafalaya River moves through the spheres of Earth in a cyclic

The first reason nature is ending drastically is because of carelessness. Humans started to become careless because they wanted land. They do not care about the beauty of nature and how it will affect us in the future. For example: “The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on” (Chief Seattle). The more land the humans acquire, the more power they possess. Many people wanted land in order to obtain power, yet they took advantage of other people’s property and claimed it as their own; however, claiming a property that does not belong to a person cannot claim as his own. Another example of such aggression is on Chief Seattle’s essay, “Letter to President Pierce, 1855.” He mentions how a white man hated

In the book, The Control of Nature by John McPhee, one can see humans in a multitude of locations attempting to control the various aspects of their natural environment. Furthermore, it is clear that the three enduring understandings of Earth Science are present throughout the book as an ongoing theme. The first, the idea that energy, from the Sun and from Earth’s interior, drives all of Earth’s cycles and processes, can be interpreted in many different ways. However, in the different sections of the book, one sees that the Sun can cause weather patterns and can lead to different outcomes. Additionally, the energy, or power, resulting from the intense heat and pressure from the Earth’s interior, can cause volcanic eruptions. As for the idea that matter moves through Earth’s spheres in cyclical processes, over varying periods of time, and at different scales, one can see that water, land, plant matter, and even molten rock come and go in a definite period, whether it is thirty years, or even centuries. In regards to the third idea, that Earth’s surfaces and processes are altered by human engineering, one can see a plethora of examples in the book. The energy from the Sun and from Earth’s interior and the events that are caused from that energy can cause humans to alter the surfaces and processes of Earth by building everything from levees to basins and can even cause humans to make an attempt at cooling flowing

The concept of nature has become layered with many complexities due to the numerous ways the word can be interpreted. It could mean anything from “the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing” to “the external world in its entirety” to “a spontaneous attitude” (Merriam Webster). However, despite its many forms, in its essence, nature as a concept implicates powerlessness for individuals. It will always be something that is beyond human control, whether it be the forces that work around people such as weather or animals, or the innate and uncontrollable characteristics within one’s personality. Nature has control over the world, and one can decide to either fight this authority or succumb to it. This idea is seen very

Nature is merely our instrument of conquering one another. By manipulating what already exists, we create everything from nuclear warheads to high speed internet. The continuous competition between men feeds off of our technological advancement—none of which would be possible without the resources Nature provides for us. And rather than being grateful for the unequivicable power so generously offered us by our environment, we instead mock its existence. We distract from the cunningness and cruelty of our efforts toward mankind by relabeling our target ‘Nature’ rather than ‘each other’. By convincing ourselves we are somehow beginning to have Nature within our control and understanding, we forget that Nature is really only the means, not the end of our conquest. We will not be satisfied until we have defeated ourselves. As Lewis puts it, “Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man. The battle will then be won… But who, precisely, will have won it?” (The Abolition of Man, 421)

The connection between humans and nature is very weak. Due to future advancement we are basically losing our grip on reality, which brings up the point of destruction to nature that we are not aware of. At one point in time nature was the most beautiful thing you could ever witness. Now people exploit it for money. They are selling land, resources, even water for a profit. They don’t think twice or blink an eye at the damage they cause. The disconnect is so huge the debate of protecting the earth is treated as a forbidden topic. “Second, environmental injustices critics challenge the mainstream environmental idea of what environmental problems are in the first place. They say its focused on the beautiful outdoors, it has anti-urban bias, it isn’t engaged enough with artificial human environments like neighborhoods and workplaces” (Purdy 4) That just baffles me how you can turn the place we call home and the wellness of it to a political debate when all we should want to do is preserve it.