Thoreau's 'Solitude': Is Technology Taking Over?

1070 Words3 Pages

Is Technology Taking Over? In “Solitude”, Thoreau argues that it is important to admire the beauty of nature and stay away from a cheap society. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr explains how we don’t solve our own problems due to having the answers on google. Society has us blind by being so attracted by social media and not building a relationship between ourselves, people, and nature. We all tend to miss out on a lot of wonderful things around us when all we do is look at a screen. We don't acknowledge nature because we are all connected socially and don’t realize how beautiful she is. ”Yet I experienced sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may be found in any natural object…” (Thoreau). If once in awhile we would stop and look at all the nature around us we'd realize that we are missing out on many beautiful things and change our thoughts about it. The beauty of nature could last for a long time, while items like the devices that let you look at all the social media can just come and go. “The indescribable innocence and beneficence of nature - of sun and wind and rain, of summer and winter - such health, such cheer, they afford forever!” (Thoreau) If you were to lose everything the beauty of nature will still be there to show you that …show more content…

We should treat nature with the same respect that us humans should give another human or any other living thing, but instead of doing that we ignore

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Heart's Fox By Josephine Johnson

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bond between humans and nature, it is fascinating to see how us has humans and nature interact with each other and in this case the essay The Heart’s Fox by Josephine Johnson is an example of judging the unknown of one's actions. She talks about a fox that had it's life taken as well as many others with it, the respect for nature is something that is precious to most and should not be taken advantage of. Is harming animals or any part of nature always worth it? I see this text as a way of saying that we must be not so terminate the life around us. Today I see us a s experts at destroying most around us and it's sad to see how much we do it and how it's almost as if it's okay to do and sadly is see as it nature itself hurts humans unintentionally

    Read More

  • Looking at Thoreau’s “Solitude” Chapter Through a Metaphorical Lens

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    “To read [Walden] as a poem,” writes Anderson (1968), “is to assume that its meaning resides not in its logic but in its language, its structure of images, its symbolism—and is inseparable from them” (p. 18). In this way in general, as Anderson concludes, can we as students of literature “discover the true poetic subjects” (p. 18); and in this way in particular can we here read, investigate, and parse the meaning of such subjects as “solitude”, to which Thoreau devoted an entire chapter—the eponymous Chapter 5, “Solitude”. Thoreau delivers this his poetic sensibility by way of what Golemba (1988) discerns are two “clash[ing]…rhetorical modes” (p. 385)—more succinctly, what Anderson (1968) determines are wit and metaphor. It is of contention here that metaphor impels the poetry of “Solitude” and thus is that which, upon close reading expresses not the logic but the language of what solitude truly means.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Neil Postman's Five Things We Need To Know About Technological Change

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    As aforementioned, social media has redefined what it is to be social and part of a community. I agree with Postman: the introduction of social media has permanently changed how we communicate, obtain information, and interact as a society. Once this new way of life is established, there are two ways it can go; one, people will reject the new idea and allow it to “die off;” or two, people will accept the new way, and it will cause a permanent change. Postman fails to explain that society must first accept the technology, and once accepted, that technology becomes ecological. One example of a rejected technology is the “terminator technology,” which makes plants unable to reproduce, create new seeds, and if the technology were accepted, the world would quickly fall into

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Aldo Leopold's Thinking Like A Mountain

    453 Words  | 1 Pages

    In order words, Nature is beautiful in the more simple way, but at the same time if nature starts to recognize danger or the feeling of dying, she will defend herself. Humanity need the use of ethics and humility at the same time in order to have a good ecological environment. During “Thinking Like A Mountain” Leopold describes the intricate of a mountain’s biomes and the consequences of disturbing their ecological balances, describe specifically with a wolf and a deer. Leopold use the wolf and the deer as an example of how human treats nature. Referring to the wolf way of think, “he has not learned to think like a mountain” like humanity has not learned to think in the way that Mother Nature want us to think (140). Leopold describes how “a land, ethic, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and… Reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land” giving an exact example by having a group A and a group B (258). Group A describes what one needs when on the other hand, group B “worries about a whole series of biotic side-issues” (259). By having this two groups being described, humanity today is like the group A, when one really need to change their way of mind and start to be like the group B. Society needs to use the ethics with humility in order to conserve the health of the natural

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Speaking Out Against Society

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Freedom from anything is a product of the awareness that one must revolt for a higher moral cause to get a good outcome. People have to fight for what they believe in and speak their word to get what they want in society. Sometimes those groups get what they want and other times people are not so fortunate. In the eyes of Henry David Thoreau, he believed in exactly that. As an American transcendentalist, Thoreau enthusiastically maintained these beliefs through his journalism. He implemented his approval for independence and fairness in his essay called Civil Disobedience. This essay was written after Thoreau spent a night in the Birmingham jail and he thought about the American society. This essay is know very well known and has influenced many civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. King regularly used the philosophies that Thoreau wrote in his paper during the bus boycotts in Alabama. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a nonviolent protest where the African American citizens of Alabama rejected the use of the buses until desegregation was passed. The protest all started when Rosa Parks put her foot down and did not give up her seat to a white male on the bus. She was later arrested for violating a city law requiring racial segregation of public buses. The boycott was ultimately ended by the Supreme Court decision to desegregate the buses. Throughout the entirety of the passive protest, MLK proceeded with the essay written by Thoreau in his mind so that he would never let the white people change his view of equal rights. He kept striving to achieve perfect equality between blacks and whites to make a change in the faulty society.

    Read More

  • Does Nature Demand Respect In Woodsong By Gary Paulsen

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story woodsong by Gary Paulsen explains and important fact. Throughout the story Paulson speaks about a personal experience warning others of what could be the outcome of messing with nature. In my opinion nature does demand respect.

    Read More

  • Henry Thoreau and Science

    4617 Words  | 10 Pages

    Though best known as a literary figure, Henry Thoreau showed a lasting interest in science. He read widely in the scientific literature of his day and published one the first scholarly discussions on forest succession. In fact, some historians rate Thoreau as one of the founders of the modern science of ecology. At the same time, Thoreau often lamented science’s tendency to kill poetry. Scientific writings coupled with his own careful observations often revealed life to him, but in other ways rendered nature lifeless. Modern-day Thoreauvians are also aware that science has largely become a tool for control and increased consumption, rather than for the appreciation and protection of wild nature. This paper explores some of Thoreau’s reflections on science and "system," and presents his view of the proper role of science in our lives. As will become clear, Thoreau’s worries are occasioned by his own scientific endeavors. His responses to science’s insufficiencies are reformist, suggesting ways to improve and supplement science rather than discard it.

    Read More

  • Morality In Thoreau's Walden

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Thoreau's “Walden”, he lays out many suggestions that some may take as significant or just senseless. Thoreau brings forth many concepts such as necessity, news, and labor which would benefit modern society. Yet, his views on isolation and moderation are unattainable in a technology-driven society. Even though the ideas that could benefit society may not be totally agreeable, the main reasoning for them are valid. Those ideas of isolation and moderation are clearly not possible in a world where people crave to be social and live to obtain any and everything they want.

    Read More

  • Loneliness And Loneliness In Henry David Thoreau's Walden

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The term solitude is often defined as the act or state of being alone, which in turn, is associated with loneliness and isolation. In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, however, the term solitude takes on a much deeper meaning. To illustrate, Solitude is the fifth chapter in Walden, a book about self-discovery through acts of transcendentalism. Furthermore, this chapter is focused around the idea that solitude is rather a state of mind instead of a specific circumstance. According to Thoreau, solitude is found everywhere, and for the most part, people are often loneliest when surrounded by others. In other words, Solitude not only addresses how one can feel wholesome when isolated and immersed in nature, but also how one can feel entirely lonely when apart of meaningless interaction.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Is Google Making USupid

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    In composing “Is Google Making Us More Stupid” Nicholas Carr wants his audience to be feared by the internet while at the same time he wants his work to seem more creditable. Nicholas Carr uses many different types of evidence to show us that we should be scared and feared as well as his credibility. Carr’s audience is people who think like him, who find themselves getting lost on the internet while reading something, someone who is educated and uses the internet to look up the answers to questions or to read an article or book.

    Read More

  • Influence Of Computer Technology

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” by Sherry Turkle are two articles that explore how technology influences our daily lives. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” discusses the effects of the internet in our society, how it is robbing us of our deep thoughts, memories and our ability to read books. Carr also talks about how the internet has become our primary source of getting information. The writer also discusses about how he’s having difficulty focusing on reading. “How Computers Change the Way We Think” is talking about how people don’t use their brains full potential capacity to solve problems. Instead, we depend on technology to do that for us.

    Read More

  • Response To Blare's No Need To Call By Sherry Turkle

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our modern day society depends on technology for everything, can anyone imagine a life without their phone or computer? Probably not, social media and other popular applications have become so ingrained into our daily lives. Not only can we connect with people anytime throughout the day but we also have so many useful applications that help us on a daily basis. Thinking back to when I was eight years old, I couldn 't wait for sixth grade because my parents had promised to get me a cell phone, I remember counting down the days till the summer of fifth grade was over because I already knew which cell phone I wanted. Once I got it I couldn’t stop showing my mom all of the cool things it could do. Which looking back at it today, it really couldn

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau Loves to be Alone

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    “I love to be alone.” It is one of the shortest sentences in the entire chapter, and yet it has so much to say. However, its simplicity is what makes it so complex. It is so short, that the reader cannot fully understand what Henry David Thoreau means by that. There are two basic things it could mean. More specifically, the usage of the word “alone” could mean two things. One meaning is that Thoreau loves to be alone from society, meaning people. The other is that Thoreau loves to be completely alone, away from both humans/society as well as nature. However, that meaning of the sentence makes Thoreau seem quite paradoxal.

    Read More

  • Paul Taylor The Ethics Of Respect For Nature

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his essay, The Ethics of Respect for Nature, Paul Taylor presents his argument for a deontological, biocentric egalitarian attitude toward nature based on the conviction that all living things possess equal intrinsic value and are worthy of the same moral consideration. Taylor offers four main premises to support his position. (1) Humans are members of the “Earth’s community of life” in the same capacity that nonhuman members are. (2) All species exist as a “complex web of interconnected elements” which are dependent upon one another for their well-being. (3) Individual organisms are “teleological centers of life” which possess a good of their own and a unique way in which to pursue it. (4) The concept that humans are superior to other species is an unsupported anthropocentric bias.

    Read More

  • Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... our way when we are trying to do something such as deforestations. We should respect living creatures in our world because they have a life they should enjoy. People never want to see the dark side of an industry which is why society doesn’t seem to care or be informed. What this reminds me of personally is the show Scooby Doo which is about monsters and teenagers investigating them, trying to figure out what it is and at the end of every show it’s always a human which gives a powerful message because at the end of the day humans are the monsters, are we the monsters today? We need to open our eyes before it's too late. Life is valuable and we need to cherish every moment.

    Read More

More about Thoreau's 'Solitude': Is Technology Taking Over?

Open Document