Some people may claim that they have witnessed nature’s true beauty, but truth is, there is much more to it than meets the eye. Humans can analyze, capture moments, and get clear understandings of nature just from looking at it with the naked eye, but there is so much more we are missing. Some actions in nature occur way too fast for our eyes to realize what has happened, others simply occur too slowly where we fail to recognize a change happening. Other actions in nature are missed because they happen in remote areas where humans are scarcely found, and having the ability to access these areas is not an easy task. The talks I have chosen to write about come from Louie Schwartzberg, whose video is titled “Hidden Miracles of the Natural World” …show more content…
He stated that our use of technology, “can help us see how nature’s ingenious devices work in hopes of one day mimicking them” (Schwartzberg, 2014). For example, he points out that the dragonfly is the world’s greatest flyer. No one knew their secrets of how they were able to hover, fly backwards, or even upside down until scientist preformed studies. After careful examinations, and understandings of the dragonfly’s flight pattern, he says scientist can now use this data to “create new kinds of robotic flyers to expand our vision of important and remote places” (Schwartzberg, 2014), because of this direct interaction. This is what environmental science is all about. We must make interactions and relationships with the natural world around us in order to create solutions that will not only benefit our future, but the future of the world as a …show more content…
Before, we were blind to such wonderful events, but with the use of today’s technology, we are now able to see what we have been missing all these years. There are other forms of technologies other than film equipment that can help us learn new things from observing nature in its many natural forms, living and nonliving. This paper just reflects the few that were described in the talks. Hopefully, one day everyone will realize how important it is to try and preserve what parts of the natural world we have left. We need nature and its ingenious devices. Without it, environmental science will cease to
Even now, people are constantly enraptured by the possibilities that science and technology offer, while neglecting their duties towards nature and the earth.
The life of Eustace Conway has been one, large Transcendental experience. From an early age, he has expressed a great admiration for the wilderness. At only twelve years old, Eustace ventured into the woods where he lived for a week by himself. And then at seventeen, he moved out and into the wild, where he lied in a teepee for seventeen years. He has not only hiked the entire, 2,000 mile appalachian trail, but he has paddled 1,000 miles down the Mississippi River. He has rode a horse across America, and kayaked in Alaska. By living this life, Eustace faces the hard truths of nature, as explained by Eustace himself, “...only those who
There is this feeling we all experience when we step away from the chaos of rushing cars, infrastructure, and artificial lights, and we step into nature. Some describe it as bliss, comfort, excitement, pleasure or just pure happiness. This is the answer to the question Paul Bloom asks “Why should we care about nature?” in his article “Natural Happiness.” Paul goes through this process in which he uncovers the fact that “real natural habitats provide significant sources of pleasure for modern humans”, regardless of our need for food, clean water, and air. There are 3 main arguments that Paul makes in this article that I find particularly interesting, they include: “Our hunger for the natural is everywhere. In many regards our species has already kissed nature goodbye, and we are better off for it. There is a considerable mismatch between
Wilderness is a highly idealized concept in today’s society – we simply put it on a pedestal and choose to admire it as we see fit. Nature and wilderness are considered distant and remote concepts, separate from our everyday, civilized lives. By approaching the natural realm in this sense, we simply detach ourselves from our origin, which leaves us to fantasize about the great outdoors as an escape from the artificial creations of our everyday life. This desire to escape our artificial lives has lead to the construction of locations such as national parks, which merely appear to be the natural world, yet in reality they are simply just facets of the modernized world we have created.
In the “Impoverishment of Sightseeing”, John Daniel seeks to inspire readers to experience nature beyond observation. Daniel clearly differentiates between the minute appreciation received from sightseeing, and the aweing admiration you can feel if you engulf yourself in nature. Through sharing his personal experiences and scholarly analysis, Daniel demonstrates the importance of being vulnerable to the environment that is necessary for comprehensively understand nature. He argues by allowing ourselves to be naked to nature, one can understand how the natural World has the power to limit our existence.
She starts by bringing a pessimistic view to photographs of nature, by describing what may or may not lie just outside the boundaries of the picture. Mockingly she leads the reader to assume that there are no real nature photos left in the world, but rather only digitaly enhanced photos of nature wit...
Nature can keep its blissful purity untroubled in the moment, not convicted by what all society has brought into this world. Furthermore, many find nature as their safe place, the one place they can go too, and no one can interfere with their happiness. John Muir and William Wordsworth noticed the peaceful nature brought to their soul when traveling on their journey. Do not let your hands be weak, for you shall be rewarded.” – 2 Chronicles 15:7 John Muir and William Wordsworth both faced challenges to get to where they were going.
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
As the two men hiked, they came upon many rugged trails and hills that were difficult to overcome, however they did it together and kept moving on. The view from the trail was beautiful with many places to stop and admire the view, but they couldn’t seem to get above the canopy of the trees to truly take in the whole view. The man that strove to see the beautiful scenery from an unobstructed viewpoint was trying in every way to get above what was around him to see the true beauty of the mountains.
In the world of science there are many discoveries. “A discovery is like falling in love and reaching the top of a mountain after a hard climb all in one, an ecstasy not induced by drugs but by the revelation of a face of nature … and that often turns out to be more subtle and wonderful than anyone had imagined.” (Ferdinand Puretz). Most people in the world we live in lack to notice and or appreciate the gift of sight in life. By not cherishing the gift of sight and using it properly, many discoveries are left unfound. In the writing piece, Seeing, Annie Dillard speaks of nature and the small things that we all are unconsciously blind to and not appreciative of. Seeing explores the idea of what it means to truly see things in this world. Annie Dillard’s main point is that we should view the world with less of a meddling eye, so that we are able to capture things that would otherwise go unnoticed. There’s a science to how we view things in nature. Dillard attempts to persuade her reader to adopt to her way of seeing, which is more artificial rather than natural.
Many of the readings that we have studied in class have discussed the idea of human beings and our relationships with nature. The different authors we’ve studied and the works we’ve analyzed share different views of this relationship – a very interesting aspect to study. Human relationships with nature are truly timeless – nature can have the same effects on humans now as it did millions of years ago. Two of the works in particular which offered differing views on this relationship were “Entrance to the Woods” by Wendell Berry and “The Invented Landscape” by Frederick Turner.
Nature has always been a controversial subject ever since the 1800’s when the artistic movement of Transcendentalism flourished. Transcendentalism refers to the intellectual movement that was developed in the 19th century which declares that truth can not be sought through plain observation, but is found through the “heightened consciousness” that allows an individual to reach the truth (Robinson 125). The “heightened consciousness” portrays spiritual guiding, letting the body dictate its own path to life. Eventually, key figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau emphasized the movement, discussing the relation between man, nature ,and transcendentalism. Over the course of the 19th century, transcendentalism links the value
On one side of the conflict, Americans have a passionate relationship with nature. Nature acts as a muse for artists of every medium. While studying nature, Jo...
No matter how much research is done, it is obviously known that humans will never be able to fully understand the phenomenon of the natural world, yet it is something that we still continue to explore and work with each and every day. As The Red Turtle simply explains to the viewer, nature is something that is full of chaos and unpredictability, yet it is beautiful in it’s own way and worth exploring. In today’s world of the twenty-first century, it is quite easy to see that humans are dominating the natural world. Mainly, I believe that nature is a big provider for our health and happiness, but in order to sustain this relationship, the human population must also provide for the natural world and keep the common peace.
The power of nature is all around us and can be found almost anywhere. One is able to study nature through experiencing it firsthand, looking at a picture, watching a movie, or even reading a familiar children’s story. I believe that by learning more about nature we can grow closer to God. Emerson states, “Nature is so pervaded in human life, that there is something of humanity in all, and in every particular” (Emerson 508). Like Emerson, I believe that humanity and nature were created by God and we can learn more about the Spirit of God by studying nature. I also see that nature has the power to influence our emotions and actions. I see evidence of this through various landscapes such as the desert, the beach, the mountains and the jungle. I thought about the vastness of the desert during a recent trip to the desert with my class. I think about nature and my love for it when I am scanning through my photo album and see pictures that capture me enjoying the mountains of Utah. When I watched the movie The Beach I was struck out how nature, specifically the beautiful beaches of Thailand, influenced the actions of every character in the movie. Of course it is hard to read a legendary story such as “Jungle Book” and not see what a powerful effect nature and its’ animals can have over humans.