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Human Behavior And The Social Environment
Impact of industrialisation on the environment
Environmental influences on human behavior
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Today’s society thrives off of technology. Technology is all around and is at society’s disposal at all times now more than ever and at this rate will become more and more of a necessity in the future. In return, millions of people fail to realize just how society contributes to environmental issues that we play a part of daily.
The macro-level approach of Structural-functional analysis highlights connections that link environmental issues to the way today’s society operate and also, what they operate for several decades complex technology continues to raise a threat of damage to the environment, and also cultural values that encourage technological development, materialism, and the growth of the economy (Macionis, pg. 479). Along with these issues, environmental sociologists emphasize that environmental problems are the result of human decisions and activities that harm the environment (Saylor.org). From one single person to big corporations, decisions we as society make daily are harming the environment intentionally, non-intentionally and sometimes without thought. Either way, the environment is suffering. I believe that many of our environment
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Structural-functionalism points out how “powerful a society’s technology is, the greater the capacity to alter the natural world” (Macionis, pg. 479). Moreover, the destruction of the environment doesn’t just fall solely on how each single human operates, but also firms, governmental agencies and large corporations play a major role in harming the environment. Some of the activities such as keeping our house warm in the winter, driving motor vehicles are considered as necessities but it would help the environment if we avoided activities that are not
Look at the civilized, beautiful capital cities in every developed country all around the world which is the central of high fashioned and convenience facility. To live in the city, it seems like the nature surrounding is not important to us anymore. In “The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature” David Suzuki presents the connection between human and the nature and how we depend on the surrounding environment. However, within the past century, most of our modern technologies have been developed in order to provide people needs of goods and products (63). Many of the products we made are causing much more harm to the environment than the value that products provide. Technological development has damaged our environment to the point
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation’s leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon’s emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These “rotten egg” smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.
Ehrlich continues by pointing out that cultures do not only develop as simple, predictable reflections of their environments. The influences do not only run in one direction; cultural beliefs and practices may lead to large-scale environmental changes made by a society. The culture of a given society may influence how and to what extent that society interacts with its environment. The rate at which cultures acquire new technologies has historically been highly variable; on the one hand, a culture may deliberately restrict the use of a given technology or simply may not have the cultural demand for an available technology (1) . On the other hand, many cultures seem to have desires and appetites that far exceed a sustainable method of utilizing their environment. All too often, the practices of a society over-strain its existing resources in ways that leave those resources irretrievably damaged.
Americans abuse technology by taking advantage of it which can lead to environmental issues. Americans use more energy than most as Mckibben explains, “the average American uses more energy between the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve and dinner on January 2 than the average, say, Tanzanian consumes in a year,” (559). In both essays, the authors discuss how Americans abuse technology and harm the environment, but Jensen's solution to cut technology altogether would be detrimental to our environment. Technology extends our capability to change the world to better suit us. Instead of cutting technology altogether, we should increase our technology in an energy-efficient way to minimize the harm it may
Our environment only has the power over us that we allow it to have. Our environment does not affect all of us equally, because those who are less privileged are more susceptible to environmental influences because they lack the ability to overcome the effects of the economic environment. Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” states that children are also less susceptible to environmental influences and are more self-reliant because they are too young to be hesitant or hypocritical, “Infancy conforms to nobody” (269). I believe technological environment forces most significantly shape our lives because technology is something that we are in contact with at every second of the day and as seen in “Super Sad True Love Story” if we put all our energy into technology it can be wiped away and we are rendered helpless like Lenny after the Rupture, “My apparat isn’t connecting. I can’t connect. No one’s apparati are working anymore” (268). With that being said, I believe we should be somewhat resistant of this advancing environment or at least cautious. Physical environment is inevitable and can’t be changed, so I don’t think that is something that should be considered as a major influence on shaping our lives. Our family and cultural
Although Maniates labels the “A” in IWAC as “meaningful consumption Alternatives,” his thoughts on the matter refer more to the institutional influences on product development. In Woodhouse’s words, “The public’s failure to embrace sustainable technologies has more to do with institutional structures that restrict the aggressive development and wide dissemination of sustainable technologies than with errant consumer choice” (48). Instead of attributing the lack of environmentally friendly products to happenstance, Maniates claims that there are production-side structural aspects which hinder the development of green products. Woodhouse mirrors Maniates in this aspect by recognizing the influences on engineers to overlook environmental concerns. “Neither law nor professional norms make [sustainable] design tasks a required aspect of most engineers’ responsibilities, and most employers place substantial obstacles in the way of engineers taking those design elements farther than law and market competition require” (27). By and large, companies are driven by the desire to maximize profit above all else, and from the perspective of employers, adding in environmental concerns is merely an additional constraint on potential profit margins. If engineering ethics and government regulations are sufficiently detailed on sustainability, then employers
In today's world, technology is constantly changing from a new paperclip to an improvement in hospital machinery. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. Some people focus their energy on making new innovations to improve transportation and the health of people that may save lives and some people focus on making new designs of packaging CDS. Technology is significant in everyone's life because it rapidly changes what is in the market. But, some new innovations of technology are ridiculous because they serve no purpose in helping mankind.
"...We live in a breakable takeable world, an ever available possible worldÖ" These words, by poet and singer-songwriter Ani Difranco, articulate the relationship between the environment and its inhabitants. Society is constantly manipulating the environment. Our capacity for changing the environment is kept in check by the destructible aspect of nature. The changes we make, those advancements in technology, are limited. While the industrial revolution, per say, is over, industry is ever expanding, moving us into a faster, more efficient lifestyle. However, efficiency and advanced technology are not without their price, and that fee, even more so than monetary in nature, is more accurately quantified by an increased duress on the environment and its inhabitants. As industry expands, waste products increase, and often this waste is toxic to humans, plants, and animals. So-called advancements, such as pesticides, which can greatly increase crop production, may cause chronic health problems. Environmental stressors, such as smelters, chemical plants, incinerators, and landfills all result from efforts to improve the functioning of society, and all have adverse effects on the populations living within proximity of these stressors (Bullard 1994).
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has had an extremely negative effect on the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem. The oil spread across the gulf contaminating any living organism that came into direct or indirect contact with it. The oil cuts off the ability of oxygen from the air to move into the water which directly harms fish and other marine wildlife that require that oxygen. The dispersant that the BP is using to try and break up the oil moves the slick into the entire water column which contaminates the ocean floor which would most likely not have seen any damage if it wasn’t for the use of these dispersants. More than 400 species that live in the Gulf Islands and marshlands are at risk and as of November 2 s...
Our modern lives are full of manufactured products. Nearly everything that surrounds us in our day-to-day lives is born of intense industrial processes, yet rarely do we think of the systems that support our lifestyles. Finding a single action in a day that does not somehow depend on fossil fuels is nearly impossible. Everything we use, eat, or come in contact with has either been shipped or manufactured (or both) far away from where we live, and arrives at our door via processes that gobble up mounds of natural resources (Chiras, 2000). Because of the affluence of our lifestyle, we do not see the effects of these processes, and thus we rarely consider the long-term sustainability of our daily actions.
...t would alter industrial society beyond recognition.” In other words, without the support of cultural movements, actual production of mass ecological innovation came to a halt. Amidst the waning of cultural influences, ‘Ecological Modernization’ emerged. Ecological Modernization is a way of thinking that finds technology and innovation integrated into environmental policies, similar to ‘eco-efficient innovation’ that uses environment-friendly technologies to enhance productivity of a product.
Modernism is an optimistic view of human impact on the environment that has been the dominant viewpoint for the last 200 years. The knowledge that mankind has the ability to control the environment is heavily stressed as a reason why climate change is not such a big deal. One of the core beliefs of the modernistic perspective is that people have no need to fear environmental disaster because the next technological advancement is right around the corner. Furthermore, those who share this view do not include themselves in their view of the ecosystem believing they are detached from it. Lastly, a laissez-faire approach is taken to environmental problems, focusing on progression through technology, stressing that as long as progress is made
The environment is a hotly debated topic in today's society. Some of the subtopics that are going to be discussed are going to be those related to the way technology is changing, what industries are doing to help prevent further pollution, some of the methods used in paper recycling, and some discussion of renewable energy sources. For the most part, this section of the research paper, unlike the other sections, is going to attempt to discuss some of the ways the public has been dealing with, and are finding new ways to deal with environmental problems that we are presently facing.
...dearly-held, unconscious collective assumptions may impede our chances for survival. Or, as Poliakoff, et. al., noted, “fundamental changes in technology are adopted… only when they provide real advantage” (810). Are human beings inherently selfish, or are they capable of rising above that? Will we use this power we have developed to help ourselves, or to attempt to help the world? “Why can’t we achieve a better balance between people, resources, and the environment? … The complete answers to these questions lie deeply within the complex realms of science, philosophy, religion, economics, and politics.” (170). The answers may be complicated. The truth is, industrialization has changed our relationship to the environment. It has enabled us to hurt it far more than any other species, but it has also given us the ability to help. The power of choice now lies with us.
It’s out with the old and in with the new, isn’t it? Society has become obsessive with the materialistic way of life. The consumption of goods at a higher rate, Consumerism. Consumerism is becoming the hallmark of most world economies. In the West, it is a common phenomenon, but now even developing countries in the world are resorting to it. It has become one of the biggest challenges the world faces. Our greedy appetites have a terrible impact on the world, and not just economically, socially or on our health, but on the environment. The global environment is being destroyed by processes that exist primarily to fuel the world’s desperate need to constantly consume.