Sebastian Shrady

WR100

" 'Tis the day of the chattel". With this first sentence, Emerson sets a tone of human supremacy, for man is the one who possesses, who controls. Yet the second sentence shatters this original idea, for even though the examples given ( "web" and "corn" ) are indeed human possessions, they require human attention and work. So despite possessing these "things", humans must obey nature's laws to work them, and are thus controlled by them.

"Things are in the saddle and ride mankind." One of the very first times that man succeeded in controlling nature was when he managed to tame beasts, the most notable of which was the horse, to use them for his personal gain. In this sentence, Emerson states the opposite, saying that it is really nature who is dominating us. In the end, despite advances in technology,in the field of farming for instance, we are still nature's puppets and work around seasons, climate, types of land and soil, and many other parts of her to achieve our agricultural goals. It is like we live in ignorance and permanently believe is it us who ride the saddle, not able to come to terms with the fact that we will always be the horse.

this image is indicated in the last sentence of the excerpt, in which Emerson states that the "laws for thing" "doth the man unking". The more powerful advances are, the bigger and more complicated problems become, leading to an endless cycle in which the can only be one victor, and it shall not be man. In trying to find bigger and better ways to tame the wild, people realize just how far they are from this end, and they realize they have lived the illusion like many before them, just to be unkinged like many before them.

Emerson clearly thinks that man is at nature's mercy. "and ride mankind" sums up his idea that despite man's efforts, it cannot conquer a entity so mighty, and that no matter how advanced our technology may become, it will not make the tables turn.

This opinion is shared by Nye, who says that "no technology is, has been, or will be a "natural force."" He believes like Emerson, that no matter how great the technology, it will never surpass nature, and man will thus never truly dominate nature, he will never truly be "king."

"Technology is only an instrument and man does not always know how to use it" illustrates perfectly what Emerson states in the ninth and tenth lines of his excerpt. Man rushes to advance as fast as possible in order to gain control of everything around him, and yet he cannot keep up with the speed with which he is advancing. Many emerging technologies we believe are bringing us closer to our goal, but are really accelerating the pace with which we are losing control, steadily getting outside our grasp.

The marxist thought also seems to be in accord with Emerson's. It states that although man's intentions are always for modernization, and facilitation of the human quality of life, there are always unintended consequences that do just the opposite.

A quicker method or machine should theoretically give the worker more spare time, so he can have a more tranquil day while improving the quality of his work. The opposite happens, as the mentality becomes "the quicker you can go, the more you can do" . So new technologies actually make worker's lives harder. Scientific and technological advances seem to be steering us not toward the utopia that evolutionary socialists describe, but rather toward a state of unhappiness, exploitation, and an ignorant and selfish desire for supremacy that will slowly but steadily descend us into chaos.

I, however, do not believe this. I am of a different frame of mind than Emerson and Nye, and think that technology is the answer to the world's problems. I have seen how it has been misused though, and how human nature has prevented it from reaching it's potential. Technology has the ability to fix the problems humanity has created, and lead mankind to that utopia. We have reached a point,a threshold, in which we cannot, like some suggest, steadily eliminate technology from our lives. It is too late for that. As a species we have made mistakes that threaten everyone and everything around us, and I believe it just takes a small group of brilliant minds to come up with the solutions, and a small group of strong and righteous ones to apply them.

Until now, technological creations have dominated us. We have fallen victims to it's appeal. It's capacity to make us less active and our lives easier is one that it's in our nature to desire. We, as a species, lazy, and any form of technology that permits us to do less with the same results becomes "necessary". The telegraph, telephone, cellphone, pager, instant message, all allow us to be in contact with people without having to go through the process of visiting or even having to hand-write a letter. I constantly see the most idiotic inventions that serve no purpose other than creating more unnecessary comforts. Unfortunately, even though it's a complete waste of resources and money, it seems to be what the people want. And it is that ignorance exactly that is dooming mankind.

Dean Kamen is a famous inventor, and personal idol, who in my opinion represents the answer to the world's technological problems. His corporation, called DEKA, is a center that promotes innovation only in the realm of "helping the world". It is a place where great minds get together to find solutions to some of the world's difficulties. Although they easily could, they don't invent items that are marketable yet useless, only ones that will do some good. That is exactly what mankind needs to finally reach it's potential. This is what the world needs to become that utopia in which mankind doesn't surpass nature, but learns to live in perfect harmony with it.