Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Technology and the Wilderness
Borgmann looks at the wilderness and nature as a matter of ultimate concern. He thinks that we should connect to the wilderness and nature, but the idea of a true wilderness is gone because of technology. He brings up two ideas from the book by Leo Marx about the garden and the wilderness. He says that the garden is unspoiled and full of promise while the wilderness is untamed, scary, and presents an image of what has yet to be overcome. So therefore, we needed technology to tame the wilderness which is now ultimately gone because we've destroyed it. Because of this the environment then becomes a focal thing. This is almost sad to think of because when we moved out West from Europe, we basically took over the land and destroyed the wilderness that was once here and we can no longer fully experience this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I agree with Sara on this point of view. Borgmann believes that we should connect to nature, but technology has taken out the risk. It is sad how a person can go through daily activities without even taking a glance and looking at nature, appreciating its beauty. I know I tend to neglect nature, I even drive to school everyday and I couldn't tell you one beautiful aspect of nature. People are so caught up worrying about everything else that they tend to neglect everything else. Imagine stripping the color and uniqueness of nature and just having a bland atmosphere, would people notice it then?
I think that another problem that causes people to be like this is the media. The news is always telling people how animals attack civilians that are in the wilderness, which I ultimatly starts to lead people away from nature. The media also tells us things that sways our thoughts. They say things like there are to many deers living in the area, therefore we have to kill them off, what if something decided that there were to many humans? Now what are we going to do?
After reading Tricia's question at the end of her blog it really made me rethink things. I know I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to neglecting nature. I enjoy running and when I am out getting a jog in I realize so many more landmarks and beautiful things about nature. It's so weird to think that jsut sitting in a car can cause you to neglect everything else wonderful around you. This is just a little piece of technology too. It is very true to say that technology has taken over the wilderness and that technology has tamed the wilderness. It has destroyed it all together. And the car is a perfect example of that. I don't think people would know what to do if the world and nature around us was bland and all browns and greys just like a black and white movie. People woudld then realize that they were taking nature for granted, but at that point it could be too late.
One of my favorite things about the fall is riding in my car on my way to school. There is always a road (sleepy Hollow) that i have to drive on to get to school. On the right and left of the road i am surrounded by beautiful trees and orange and yellow leaves. I am so thankful that i get the chance to see this almost every day in september, october, and november. It makes you wonder why nature was created so beautiful. It should make people think that nature wasn't by chance; That it just developed into something so beautiful by luck. It seems to me that it was created by something...like God! I agree that we take nature for granted sometimes. I believe that technology has taken this away.
I think that for the most part technology has destroyed true wilderness in most places. Looking at some 3rd world countries, they still have some great areas of wilderness. Their are also many rain forest and reservation that are having the image of nature and wilderness still kept alive. Does this mean that zoos or small parks also have true wilderness there? I would say no because they are merely trying to tame the wilderness and has way to much human influence.
When discussing the difference of the garden and the wilderness I think it is easy to see what is truly the focal thing. The wilderness is said to be scary and raw but i think this is just the product of living too comfortable in the garden. I think the one great thing about nature is that at any given moment it can take us out of our comfort zone and put us in the most ancient of conditions. I think that nature is at its most beautiful when the landscape is completely untouched. This is not to say that humans haven't been there.
I think that our technology is our new wilderness. Humans are really the only species that can change the environment on a massive scale. All of are resources come from the earth. So we are only manipulating the environment to suit us better. But because of this we are making harder for other life to survive. So to say we are destroying nature or taming it is a false concept for me.
Post a Comment