1. "Environmentalists have long misunderstood, downplayed, or ignored the conditions for their own existence. They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis. Environmentalists like to emphasize the ways in which the economy depends on ecology, but they often miss the ways in which thinking ecologically depends on prospering economicall." pg. 6
-The idea of ignoring the conditions of the ecological crisis is horrific. This crisis is one not to look past and unfortunately many of us do. The small changes to one's lifestyle can ultimately benefit the world, however long it may take.
2. "...modern environmentalism, with all of its unexamined assumptions, outdated concepts and exhausted strategies, must die so that something new can live." pg. 10
-This thesis put forth by Nordhaus and Shellenberger that you must kill the idea of modern environmentalism to move forward and help change the way we see things. The possibility of recreating what exactly environmentalism is may help people see that changes are needed.
3. "the fourth truth of global warming has arriveda nd will have increasingly serious consequences...the melting of ice sheets will raise sea levels and increase the threat of flooding, agricultural collapse, and food shortages." pg. 13
-Global warming is a serious issue that will affect the whole world's population. If the seas rise as they are predicted to, much of the food supply will be cut off and will no longer be available to the world. This could increase hunger, which is already a huge problem today.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Three Relevant Quotes from Break Through
(i) "Nothing is more central...than our contention that for any politics to succeed, it must swim with, not against, the current of changing social values" (p.6)"
(ii) "Environmentalists have long misunderstood, downplayed, or ignored the conditions for their own existence. They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis. Environmentalists like to emphasize ways in which the economy depends on ecology, but they often miss the ways in which thinking ecologically depends on prospering economically" (p.6).
(iii) "The result is that Americans have seen their wealth and spending power rise, but they have also become increasingly insecure in terms of their employment, retirement, health care, and community" (p.14).
Explanations to come...soon
(ii) "Environmentalists have long misunderstood, downplayed, or ignored the conditions for their own existence. They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis. Environmentalists like to emphasize ways in which the economy depends on ecology, but they often miss the ways in which thinking ecologically depends on prospering economically" (p.6).
(iii) "The result is that Americans have seen their wealth and spending power rise, but they have also become increasingly insecure in terms of their employment, retirement, health care, and community" (p.14).
Explanations to come...soon
3 Quotes from "Break Through"
"In reducing their own manifold interests to single essential causes and complaints, liberal-issue groups have inhibited their ability to create the kinds of broad coalitions they need to achieve their goals."
This relates to the view on environmentalism because it shows how people are focused on reducing only one thing at a time in order to stop global warming and reduce their own carbon footprint. However, the issue of environmentalism is not the effect of one problem, it is the effect of many.
"Environmentalists have long misunderstood, downplayed, or ignored the conditions for their own existence. They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis."
A good economy does allow for thriving environmentalism. With less focus on how to make ends meet, people can focus on refining their lives.
"The fourth truth about the crises we face is that global warming has arrived and will have increasingly serious consequences, even if we stop emitting all greenhouse gases tomorrow."
This shows how the more we continue to change the environment, the more we add to global warming. As it is, we're already going to be facing consequences of the emissions released up to today.
This relates to the view on environmentalism because it shows how people are focused on reducing only one thing at a time in order to stop global warming and reduce their own carbon footprint. However, the issue of environmentalism is not the effect of one problem, it is the effect of many.
"Environmentalists have long misunderstood, downplayed, or ignored the conditions for their own existence. They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis."
A good economy does allow for thriving environmentalism. With less focus on how to make ends meet, people can focus on refining their lives.
"The fourth truth about the crises we face is that global warming has arrived and will have increasingly serious consequences, even if we stop emitting all greenhouse gases tomorrow."
This shows how the more we continue to change the environment, the more we add to global warming. As it is, we're already going to be facing consequences of the emissions released up to today.
Three Relevant Quotes from Silent Spring - Josh Kraskin
"Ultrasonic sound will kill all mosquito larvae in a laboratory tank; however, it kills other aquatic organisms as well." (Carson, p. 288)
This quotation is an example of how certain technologies can have other consequences aside from its desired effect. This relates to Carolyn Merchant's statement that "when humans use nonhuman nature [...] there are often unforeseen 'ecological' consequences.
"An investment in $4,000,000 in biological control work California has received a return of $100,000,000." (Carson, p. 292)
This statistic refers to David E. Nye's notions that investment in scientific research and the technological innovations that it brings about can have profound positive effects on the economy.
"The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man [...] It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth." (Carson, p. 297)
This statement is relevant to Merchant's explanation of how modern science is unfortunately similar to the European colonists perception of nature. This point of view states that man is above nature instead of a part of it, and has every right to manipulate his environment to fulfill his needs and desires.
This quotation is an example of how certain technologies can have other consequences aside from its desired effect. This relates to Carolyn Merchant's statement that "when humans use nonhuman nature [...] there are often unforeseen 'ecological' consequences.
"An investment in $4,000,000 in biological control work California has received a return of $100,000,000." (Carson, p. 292)
This statistic refers to David E. Nye's notions that investment in scientific research and the technological innovations that it brings about can have profound positive effects on the economy.
"The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man [...] It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth." (Carson, p. 297)
This statement is relevant to Merchant's explanation of how modern science is unfortunately similar to the European colonists perception of nature. This point of view states that man is above nature instead of a part of it, and has every right to manipulate his environment to fulfill his needs and desires.
"Break Through" Quotes
"Thinking ecologically depends on prospering economically." (p. 6)
This quote is relevant because it relates to Nye's idea that people's standards of living will fluctuate depending on the economy and what resources are available. If an economy is prosperous, people can focus more on things like green technology, while failing countries can't because they have other concerns.
"Our political goal must be to create a kind of prosperity that moves everyone up Maslow's pyramid as quickly as possible while also achieving our ecological goals." (p. 6)
This idea is based upon the fact that people want to be happy and settled before thinking about problems like the environment. It goes along with Nye's argument that green technology will actually contribute to a growing economy, rather than have the economy grow first and then deal with green technology.
"The challenge for humankind now is not whether we can stop global warming, which is already well under way, but whether we can minimize it, prepare for it, and improve human and nonhuman life while we're at it." (p. 8)
This shows us that we need to focus on creating green technology in order to even have a chance of survival in the future.
This quote is relevant because it relates to Nye's idea that people's standards of living will fluctuate depending on the economy and what resources are available. If an economy is prosperous, people can focus more on things like green technology, while failing countries can't because they have other concerns.
"Our political goal must be to create a kind of prosperity that moves everyone up Maslow's pyramid as quickly as possible while also achieving our ecological goals." (p. 6)
This idea is based upon the fact that people want to be happy and settled before thinking about problems like the environment. It goes along with Nye's argument that green technology will actually contribute to a growing economy, rather than have the economy grow first and then deal with green technology.
"The challenge for humankind now is not whether we can stop global warming, which is already well under way, but whether we can minimize it, prepare for it, and improve human and nonhuman life while we're at it." (p. 8)
This shows us that we need to focus on creating green technology in order to even have a chance of survival in the future.
Quotes from Break Through
"They have tended to view economic growth as the cause but not the solution to ecological crisis."
This quote relates to Nye's concern about the world's carrying capacity.
"Through their stories, institutions, and policies, environmentalists constantly reinforce the sense that nature is something separate from, and victimized by, humans."
This quote is similar to Merchant's idea that the world should view nature as Native Americans did, as nature being force that is uncontrollable and not as something that is to be used for human ends.
"And sustainability is today one of the hottest topics in politics, the corporate world, and the media."
This relates to Nye's essay as it is about sustainability.
This quote relates to Nye's concern about the world's carrying capacity.
"Through their stories, institutions, and policies, environmentalists constantly reinforce the sense that nature is something separate from, and victimized by, humans."
This quote is similar to Merchant's idea that the world should view nature as Native Americans did, as nature being force that is uncontrollable and not as something that is to be used for human ends.
"And sustainability is today one of the hottest topics in politics, the corporate world, and the media."
This relates to Nye's essay as it is about sustainability.
Three relevant quotes from Nordhaus & Shellenberger
1.(page 4) "Civil rights, the environemnt, feminism, labor -- what were once cutting-edge movements are now established special interests."
Significant becuase it clearly states that it is a concern to the government as well because it has become a serious issue internationally.
2. (page 7) "The challenge of climate change is so massive, so global, and so complex that it can be overcome only if we look beyond the issue categories of the past and embrace a grand new vision for the future."
I find this important as it is a suggestion from the writer(s) about how we can make our first step to solving this concern.
3. (page 15) "We argue for an explicitly pro-growth agenda that defines the kind of prosperity we believe is necessary to improve the quality of human life and to overcome ecological crises."
This is relevantly important as it discusses the demands of people in our society as they want to get out of the current ecological crisis our world is facing.
Significant becuase it clearly states that it is a concern to the government as well because it has become a serious issue internationally.
2. (page 7) "The challenge of climate change is so massive, so global, and so complex that it can be overcome only if we look beyond the issue categories of the past and embrace a grand new vision for the future."
I find this important as it is a suggestion from the writer(s) about how we can make our first step to solving this concern.
3. (page 15) "We argue for an explicitly pro-growth agenda that defines the kind of prosperity we believe is necessary to improve the quality of human life and to overcome ecological crises."
This is relevantly important as it discusses the demands of people in our society as they want to get out of the current ecological crisis our world is facing.
Quotes from Silent Spring - Dev
"Dazzled by the spectacular new insecticides of the 1940's, turned their tracks back on all biological methods and set foot on the "treadmill of chemical control." " P278
"Through all these new, imaginative, and creative approaches to the problem of sharing or earth with other creatures there runs a constant theme, the awareness that we are dealing with life - with living populations and all theire pressures and counter-pressures, theire surges and recessions." P296
"These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to theire tast no "high-minded orientation," no humility before the cast forces with which they tamper" P297
These few quotes show what Carsons says about the effect on nature with developing technologies. She says that we are becoming more dependant on technological innovations in all fields of life as our population increases, and we do not take into consideration the effect that has on nature.
"Through all these new, imaginative, and creative approaches to the problem of sharing or earth with other creatures there runs a constant theme, the awareness that we are dealing with life - with living populations and all theire pressures and counter-pressures, theire surges and recessions." P296
"These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to theire tast no "high-minded orientation," no humility before the cast forces with which they tamper" P297
These few quotes show what Carsons says about the effect on nature with developing technologies. She says that we are becoming more dependant on technological innovations in all fields of life as our population increases, and we do not take into consideration the effect that has on nature.
PAPER FOUR PROMPT
Technology and Nature in New England
R. S. Deese
Boston University
Fall, 2009
Paper 4: One Question, Three Sources (1250-1500 words)
Initial Draft Due in Class November 23, 2009
Second Draft Due Online December 2
FINAL DRAFT DUE IN PRINT December 11
Question X:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
Imagine you are standing at this fork in the road with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant, and ____________. What light can the metaphor of “two roads” shed on the choices we make about our use of technology and our relationship with the natural world? In your essay, be sure to present a detailed discussion of how each author might use this metaphor to explain his or her ideas about technology and nature, and then conclude with your own interpretation.
Question Y:
The year is 2014. Having completed your degree from BU, you now are sitting in the bar of the Lunar Sands Casino with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant and __________. The view is, needless to say, spectacular. As you gaze at the earth rising slowly above the lunar horizon, each of you has decided to place a substantial bet on the future of human civilization and life on earth fifty years hence. What outcome does Nye bet on, and why? What outcome does Merchant bet on and why? How would _________ bet, and why? And finally, what outcome do you think is a safe bet for the world in 2064, and why?
R. S. Deese
Boston University
Fall, 2009
Paper 4: One Question, Three Sources (1250-1500 words)
Initial Draft Due in Class November 23, 2009
Second Draft Due Online December 2
FINAL DRAFT DUE IN PRINT December 11
Question X:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
Imagine you are standing at this fork in the road with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant, and ____________. What light can the metaphor of “two roads” shed on the choices we make about our use of technology and our relationship with the natural world? In your essay, be sure to present a detailed discussion of how each author might use this metaphor to explain his or her ideas about technology and nature, and then conclude with your own interpretation.
Question Y:
The year is 2014. Having completed your degree from BU, you now are sitting in the bar of the Lunar Sands Casino with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant and __________. The view is, needless to say, spectacular. As you gaze at the earth rising slowly above the lunar horizon, each of you has decided to place a substantial bet on the future of human civilization and life on earth fifty years hence. What outcome does Nye bet on, and why? What outcome does Merchant bet on and why? How would _________ bet, and why? And finally, what outcome do you think is a safe bet for the world in 2064, and why?
Nordhaus and Shellenberger quotes ---Peter Eramo
"The truth is that King's dramatic leap from the nightmare to the dream can be a parable for the future only if we first understand how much the world has changed." (4)
I chose this quote because it affirms the importance of understanding our past in order to move forward and make progressions technologically, scientifically, etc.
"Our unprecedented wealth and freedom have profoundly changed what we care about, aspire to, and believe in, so it's no wonder that the old political and moral fault lines no longer apply." (4)
I chose this quote because it immediately made me think of one of David E. Nye's essays in which he discusses how "over-consumption" has caused many of the world's environmental issues.
"The challenge of climate change is so massive, so global, and so complex that it can be overcome only if we look beyond the issue categories of the past and embrace a grand new vision for the future." (7)
This quote is very powerful because it illustrates Nordhaus and Shellenberger's opinions on a possible way to begin fixing our environmental issues. I thought it was interesting because it almost contradicts an earlier quote in the essay that says rather than look away from our past, we should look back and attempt to learn from it as we build for the future.
I chose this quote because it affirms the importance of understanding our past in order to move forward and make progressions technologically, scientifically, etc.
"Our unprecedented wealth and freedom have profoundly changed what we care about, aspire to, and believe in, so it's no wonder that the old political and moral fault lines no longer apply." (4)
I chose this quote because it immediately made me think of one of David E. Nye's essays in which he discusses how "over-consumption" has caused many of the world's environmental issues.
"The challenge of climate change is so massive, so global, and so complex that it can be overcome only if we look beyond the issue categories of the past and embrace a grand new vision for the future." (7)
This quote is very powerful because it illustrates Nordhaus and Shellenberger's opinions on a possible way to begin fixing our environmental issues. I thought it was interesting because it almost contradicts an earlier quote in the essay that says rather than look away from our past, we should look back and attempt to learn from it as we build for the future.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Quotes from "Silent Spring"
"The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road - the one "less traveled by" - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth. The choice, after all, is ours to make."
This quote states that it isn't still too late for humans to make better decisions in preserving the earth, and that it is up to us to change the outcome of the future. Nye, many times in his writing, brings up that today's society is affected from people's actions more than anything. (Carson, 277)
"The advantages of such control over chemicals are obvious: it is relatively inexpensive, it is permanent, it leaves no poisonous residues. Yet biological control has suffered from lack of support"
This quote is relevant to Merchant's view on nature. Caroline Merchant states that nature can be saved if people cared for it, but instead people were more reluctant to show support than not. (Carson, 292)
"As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways."
This quote is relevant to Nye's view on technology. Nye does not believe that technology completely controls people's lives, but more or less affect them greatly. The chemical barrage was used by the humans;this technology harms the laws of nature and eventually will strike back without warning. (Carson, 297)
This quote states that it isn't still too late for humans to make better decisions in preserving the earth, and that it is up to us to change the outcome of the future. Nye, many times in his writing, brings up that today's society is affected from people's actions more than anything. (Carson, 277)
"The advantages of such control over chemicals are obvious: it is relatively inexpensive, it is permanent, it leaves no poisonous residues. Yet biological control has suffered from lack of support"
This quote is relevant to Merchant's view on nature. Caroline Merchant states that nature can be saved if people cared for it, but instead people were more reluctant to show support than not. (Carson, 292)
"As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways."
This quote is relevant to Nye's view on technology. Nye does not believe that technology completely controls people's lives, but more or less affect them greatly. The chemical barrage was used by the humans;this technology harms the laws of nature and eventually will strike back without warning. (Carson, 297)
Break Through, Quotes
"In late 2006, the United Nations announced that since 2000, the emissions of the forty one wealthy, industrialized members of the Kyoto had gone up, not down by more then 4 percent." (pg 12)
This quotation relates to what Merchant says about the changes in the environment and how they affect the problems we have. It also relates to Nye because an increase in pollution decreases the carrying capacity of the globe.
"The politics born of material poverty cannot speak to postmaterial insecurity. Misunderstanding this, Democrats and liberals find themselves constantly telling Americans how poor and vulnerable they are - which is quite possibly the last thing insecure american want to be told" (pg 14)
This relates to Nye because it shows how politics can also affect the material wants of a culture and thus affect the carrying capacity of that way of life.
"Few things have hampered environmentalism more then it's longstanding position that limits to growth are the remedy for ecological crises" (pg 15)
The reason why some resent environmentalism is because it limits growth, but as Nye shows with his American vs Europe example, a high standard of living, and thus growth, does not have to come with a high environmental impact.
Quotes from Silent Spring
"It is our alarming mis-fortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth." (Carson 297)
This quote warns us that the scientific techniques we use are dangerous; they are not only destroying the insects, but also the earth and us.
"A fullgrown steer may succumb to a heavy infestation in 10 days, and livestock losses in the United States have been estimated at $40,000,000 a year." (Carson 280)
This quote shows how devastating insect sterilization is and how it can make such huge economical losses.
"Here, with a minimum of help and a maximum of noninterference from man, Nature can have her way, setting up all that wonderful and intricate system of checks and balances that protects the forest from undue damage by insects." (Carson 293)
This quote states that nature has its way to help themselves to solve its problems, including insects problems. Human do not need to help that much.
This quote warns us that the scientific techniques we use are dangerous; they are not only destroying the insects, but also the earth and us.
"A fullgrown steer may succumb to a heavy infestation in 10 days, and livestock losses in the United States have been estimated at $40,000,000 a year." (Carson 280)
This quote shows how devastating insect sterilization is and how it can make such huge economical losses.
"Here, with a minimum of help and a maximum of noninterference from man, Nature can have her way, setting up all that wonderful and intricate system of checks and balances that protects the forest from undue damage by insects." (Carson 293)
This quote states that nature has its way to help themselves to solve its problems, including insects problems. Human do not need to help that much.
Three Relevant Quotes From Silent Spring
"All such experiments are first steps toward wholly new concepts of insect control which the miracles of electronics may some day make a reality" (288)
"The farmlands of modern agriculture are highly artificial, unlike anything nature ever conceived" (293)
"The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the conveniece of man." (297)
"The farmlands of modern agriculture are highly artificial, unlike anything nature ever conceived" (293)
"The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the conveniece of man." (297)
Quotes from "The Tragedy of the Commons"
"Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush"
Men think seldom of the future, and always about the present. I think this quote can relate to Merchant in that a lot of the social constructions men have created over the centuries have had dire consequences in the near and/or far future.
"The individual benefits as an individual from his ability to deny the truth even though society as a whole, of which he is a part, suffers."
I think the oil lobbyists and other people who Nye talks about who defuse the reality that benefits them personally are clear examples of this quote.
"there is a fair defense that can be put forward for the view that the world is infinite or that we do no know that it is not".
This can be related to Nye's quote "the earth's limits are our own"
However, it is now known that this is incorrect, for we DO know that it is not.(science has proven that we are reaching those limits)
Three Quotes from Break Through
"The ecological crises we face are more global, complex, and tied to the basic functioning of the economy than were the problems environmentalism was created to address forty years ago." (8)
"We argue for an explicitly pro-growth agenda that defines the kind of prosperity we believe is necessary to improve the quality of human life and to overcome ecological crises." (15)
"Rather than limiting the aspirations of Americans, we believe that we should harness them in order to, in Tocqueville's words, 'make new discoveries to increase the general prosperity, which, when made, they pass eagerly to the mass of people.'"
The first quote is relevant because it talks about the change in ecological problems, which relates to what Merchant says about ecological revolutions. They both talk about how changes in the environment affect the types of problems we have, although Merchant focuses more on blaming society than Nordhaus and Shellenberger do.
The second quote is relevant because they focus on positivity rather than negativity in the way that the world can fight problems like global warming.
The third quote is relevant because it relates to what Nye says, about not reducing the quality of life but of asking reasonable amounts from your environment.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Quotes from Silent Spring
"we should look about and see what other course is open to us" (p 278)
"There is, then, a whole battery of armaments available to the forester who is willing to look for permanent solutions that preservew and strengthen the natural relations in the forest." (p 296)
"As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life -- a fabric on the one hand delicare and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways" (p 297"
"There is, then, a whole battery of armaments available to the forester who is willing to look for permanent solutions that preservew and strengthen the natural relations in the forest." (p 296)
"As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life -- a fabric on the one hand delicare and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways" (p 297"
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger
In 2004 Ted Nordaus and Michael Shellenberger earned the moniker "the bad boys of environmentalism" by distributing a position paper entitled "The Death of Environmentalism" (pdf) at a conference of environmental activists. In 2007, they expanded on the ideas first presented in that paper with a book entitled Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. At the center of their argument is the claim that environmentalism has turned too many people away by constantly warning of an immanent ecological apocalypse while at the same time failing to offer a positive vision of the future. As an alternative, Nordhaus and Shelleberger argue that those who seek to combat anthropogenic climate change (aka 'Global Warming') should stress the major economic opportunities that can be created by building a new economy based on innovations in green technology.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Feedback and Tipping Points in Climate Change
Here is an article entitled "Tipping Elements in the Earth's Climate System" from the National Academy of Sciences
The article presents research supporting the proposition that:
'Human activities may have the potential to push components of the Earth system past critical states into qualitatively different modes of operation, implying large-scale impacts on human and ecological systems. Examples that have received recent attention include the potential collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC), dieback of the Amazon rainforest, and decay of the Greenland ice sheet. Such phenomena have been described as “tipping points” following the popular notion that, at a particular moment in time, a small change can have large, long-term consequences for a system, i.e., “little things can make a big difference”.'
For a short video explaining this concept see here:
If you would like to read the script and check the research behind the conclusions in this video, go here.
The article presents research supporting the proposition that:
'Human activities may have the potential to push components of the Earth system past critical states into qualitatively different modes of operation, implying large-scale impacts on human and ecological systems. Examples that have received recent attention include the potential collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC), dieback of the Amazon rainforest, and decay of the Greenland ice sheet. Such phenomena have been described as “tipping points” following the popular notion that, at a particular moment in time, a small change can have large, long-term consequences for a system, i.e., “little things can make a big difference”.'
For a short video explaining this concept see here:
Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.
If you would like to read the script and check the research behind the conclusions in this video, go here.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Article: Obama Addresses Twitter in China
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/world/asia/17shanghai.html?_r=1&hp
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis
About thousands of years ago, one fourth of the earth was covered by land. Only ten percent of that one fourth land was inhabited by people and other living species.The rest was covered by thick green pastures or forests.As time passed by, population started increasing and so did the needs of the people.To meet these needs, many new things like machines,etc were invented.Now, we have come to a stage where any work can be satisfied by some form of technology.But if we continue to produce goods with the help of this technology at an increasing rate, will there be an abundance or is there a possibility of ecological crisis?This is the question which Nye addresses in his essay ‘Sustainable Abundance , or Ecological Crisis’.
The nature has many resources that are useful to us.Man,having acquired this knowledge,has used nature’s resources since the very beginning of time.Fire,an element of nature, was used by Early man to cook food orr drive away animals.With whatever was available,Man succeded in making tools to make his life simpler.Water was used to rotate wheels in mills.In this way, some part or the other of nature of nature was utilised by man.Technological advancements increased the production and it was sufficient enough to meet the needs of the people.But,at the same time,what was happening behind-the-scenes was that the green land which was home to millions of wild species was being destroyed and turned to dry lands which was then used for other purposes.For example,in Denmark,wheat-growing areas were converted to diary farming owing to the pressure from inexpensive grain produced in the rest of the world. ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’,as said by Newton is very prominent here.Every resource of nature that is being exploited,leads it’s elimination and thus,it will not be available to the future generations.This in-turn results in a crisis.It all depends on us.As J.B. Jackson said, “Landscape is a composition of man-made or man-modified spaces to serve as infrastructure or background for our collective existence”.This means that we have been building up land accordingly so as to satisfy our needs.As agricultural machinery came up, most of the forested hillsides in New England were cleared in 1840 so that farming could be done.By introducing technology into farming, we were able to produce large amounts of goods.For example, in 1890 a single US farmer could produce 19 times the goods produced by his grandfather in 1830.Productivity increased owing to the tractors,motors,new fertilisers,etc.In this way people were self-sufficient between 1870 and 1890.The working hours in factories also dropped and the wages rose twenty-percent.People started living more luxurious lives as they had more money to spend and a lot of leisure was available to them.Robert Thurston predicted that at this rate,people in the 20th century will live twice as easy and as comfortable lives and have many more luxuries.But, is this happening right now?Some people are still struggling to live a comfortable life whereas the others are happy with what they have.Thurston expected an abundance of products or goods to be available to the people of the twentieth or twenty-first century.But in reality,this did not happen.The rate of technological change was taking place at a very fast rate and ordinary people had access to every form of technology.This is clear by the fact stated in the book which says that almost everyone owned a car or truck.But using these vehicles let out a lot of carbon dioxide and other gases that were harmful to the atmosphere.In the book it says that in the first half of the nineteenth century, many believed that industrialisation created more wealth and abundance.But this is not true.Building dams and irrigation systems in desert areas increased food production but in the years to come, the land might become unproductive due to the salts and chemicals left behind by evaporating water.We know that burning coal produces electricity.What we are not realising is that it also produces sulphur-dioxide which results in acid rain.There is another effect of increase in productivity which further leads to abundance. ‘Demand’ for more and more products increases and when this demand increases excessively, it leads to the exploitation of nature(which is nothing but a crisis).For example,in the book it is mentioned that demand for wood, charcoal and iron stripped colonies of forests;european demand for gold,silver,copper,zinc,lead, and nickel created mines,pits,slag heaps and polluted ground water;some industrial methods led to air and water pollution;in some areas, there was extensive soil erosion.By 2000,there was massive air pollution that increased the level of greenhouse gases.This was because of the increase in the number of automobiles on the roads. Pollution is not the only effect but making a car requires high amount of resources and we need a lot of land for roads,driveways,parking lots.All this leads to an ecological crisis again.Technologies did create abundance but at the cost of nature.Technological abundance distracted people from helping one another.As the book says, in 1970, they distracted people from helping one another.They were least bothered about the future of next generations and continued to increase domestic per capita energy use.Another example given in the book that created ecological imbalance was that European nations eliminated hedgerows to create larger fields for farming.As this happened,many bird species that lived in hedgerows diminished leading to the imbalance.As we exploited nature’s resources more and more,we lost the value and significance of them.Whether it is to be sustainable abundance or Ecological Crisis, it is upto us in the end.The choice we make will result in either of the two.For example,in the book it is mentioned that Henry David Thoreau made a choice to reduce his needs to a minimum by eliminating the unwanted.He chose to live in a simple ome-room house in Massachusetts woods.He was not against technology.He just used it to satisfy his needs.In this way , he made sure he didn’t use the resources of nature excessively.This might seem hard to practice(living in the woods using very little of technology)in real but what Nye is trying to say by stating his example is that one must utilise resources wisely and in a way that will not harm others or the environment.Europeans have made a choice to rely onn mass transist and bicycles and smaller automobiles and alternate forms of transport.This reduced the amount of pollution and also the energy per capita, averting ecologocal crisis.This shows that it is our choices which create abundance or crisis.Technology will create abundance but it is the way we mangae the abundant products or resources that makes the difference.Over-utilisation(using products more than the required amount) of resources leads to a crisis.
Nye’s statement, ‘Ultimately.....construction’ means that carrying capacity is not a number that can be calculated or predicted but it is a number based on our activities that shape the nature in return.Nature is there to harness but should not be over harnessed.Nye’s statement is supported by many examples stated above in the essay.With more technological advancements, comes more responsibilty.This responsibilty lies in making choices that build up a healthy environment.The choices depend on what people want from life. “Nature’s limits are our own”.As we tend to exploit nature more and more, the lesser will be it’s availability to us in the future.
The nature has many resources that are useful to us.Man,having acquired this knowledge,has used nature’s resources since the very beginning of time.Fire,an element of nature, was used by Early man to cook food orr drive away animals.With whatever was available,Man succeded in making tools to make his life simpler.Water was used to rotate wheels in mills.In this way, some part or the other of nature of nature was utilised by man.Technological advancements increased the production and it was sufficient enough to meet the needs of the people.But,at the same time,what was happening behind-the-scenes was that the green land which was home to millions of wild species was being destroyed and turned to dry lands which was then used for other purposes.For example,in Denmark,wheat-growing areas were converted to diary farming owing to the pressure from inexpensive grain produced in the rest of the world. ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’,as said by Newton is very prominent here.Every resource of nature that is being exploited,leads it’s elimination and thus,it will not be available to the future generations.This in-turn results in a crisis.It all depends on us.As J.B. Jackson said, “Landscape is a composition of man-made or man-modified spaces to serve as infrastructure or background for our collective existence”.This means that we have been building up land accordingly so as to satisfy our needs.As agricultural machinery came up, most of the forested hillsides in New England were cleared in 1840 so that farming could be done.By introducing technology into farming, we were able to produce large amounts of goods.For example, in 1890 a single US farmer could produce 19 times the goods produced by his grandfather in 1830.Productivity increased owing to the tractors,motors,new fertilisers,etc.In this way people were self-sufficient between 1870 and 1890.The working hours in factories also dropped and the wages rose twenty-percent.People started living more luxurious lives as they had more money to spend and a lot of leisure was available to them.Robert Thurston predicted that at this rate,people in the 20th century will live twice as easy and as comfortable lives and have many more luxuries.But, is this happening right now?Some people are still struggling to live a comfortable life whereas the others are happy with what they have.Thurston expected an abundance of products or goods to be available to the people of the twentieth or twenty-first century.But in reality,this did not happen.The rate of technological change was taking place at a very fast rate and ordinary people had access to every form of technology.This is clear by the fact stated in the book which says that almost everyone owned a car or truck.But using these vehicles let out a lot of carbon dioxide and other gases that were harmful to the atmosphere.In the book it says that in the first half of the nineteenth century, many believed that industrialisation created more wealth and abundance.But this is not true.Building dams and irrigation systems in desert areas increased food production but in the years to come, the land might become unproductive due to the salts and chemicals left behind by evaporating water.We know that burning coal produces electricity.What we are not realising is that it also produces sulphur-dioxide which results in acid rain.There is another effect of increase in productivity which further leads to abundance. ‘Demand’ for more and more products increases and when this demand increases excessively, it leads to the exploitation of nature(which is nothing but a crisis).For example,in the book it is mentioned that demand for wood, charcoal and iron stripped colonies of forests;european demand for gold,silver,copper,zinc,lead, and nickel created mines,pits,slag heaps and polluted ground water;some industrial methods led to air and water pollution;in some areas, there was extensive soil erosion.By 2000,there was massive air pollution that increased the level of greenhouse gases.This was because of the increase in the number of automobiles on the roads. Pollution is not the only effect but making a car requires high amount of resources and we need a lot of land for roads,driveways,parking lots.All this leads to an ecological crisis again.Technologies did create abundance but at the cost of nature.Technological abundance distracted people from helping one another.As the book says, in 1970, they distracted people from helping one another.They were least bothered about the future of next generations and continued to increase domestic per capita energy use.Another example given in the book that created ecological imbalance was that European nations eliminated hedgerows to create larger fields for farming.As this happened,many bird species that lived in hedgerows diminished leading to the imbalance.As we exploited nature’s resources more and more,we lost the value and significance of them.Whether it is to be sustainable abundance or Ecological Crisis, it is upto us in the end.The choice we make will result in either of the two.For example,in the book it is mentioned that Henry David Thoreau made a choice to reduce his needs to a minimum by eliminating the unwanted.He chose to live in a simple ome-room house in Massachusetts woods.He was not against technology.He just used it to satisfy his needs.In this way , he made sure he didn’t use the resources of nature excessively.This might seem hard to practice(living in the woods using very little of technology)in real but what Nye is trying to say by stating his example is that one must utilise resources wisely and in a way that will not harm others or the environment.Europeans have made a choice to rely onn mass transist and bicycles and smaller automobiles and alternate forms of transport.This reduced the amount of pollution and also the energy per capita, averting ecologocal crisis.This shows that it is our choices which create abundance or crisis.Technology will create abundance but it is the way we mangae the abundant products or resources that makes the difference.Over-utilisation(using products more than the required amount) of resources leads to a crisis.
Nye’s statement, ‘Ultimately.....construction’ means that carrying capacity is not a number that can be calculated or predicted but it is a number based on our activities that shape the nature in return.Nature is there to harness but should not be over harnessed.Nye’s statement is supported by many examples stated above in the essay.With more technological advancements, comes more responsibilty.This responsibilty lies in making choices that build up a healthy environment.The choices depend on what people want from life. “Nature’s limits are our own”.As we tend to exploit nature more and more, the lesser will be it’s availability to us in the future.
Geothermal Technology
The above video is one of several that talks about the benefits of geothermal technology. It covers the advances in the field that allow for the most efficient extraction of energy from the Earth's natural cycles. Geothermal technology would be the most reliable and powerful source of renewable energy.
Green Technology
I just thought this was interesting about the cultural view of nuclear power, which has been shown to be less damaging than burning fossil fuels.
Go nuclear!
Green Technology
This video describes a new innovation in green technology, the solar tower in Madrid, Spain. This tower is an important project because it contributes to our hectic search of new sources of energy.
New Green Technology Being Tested In Race Cars
The video clip above demonstrates how society is trying to apply green technology within race cars today.
Fast EV
The White Zombie is a converted Datsun 1200 and it shows the potential performance of electric cars. It is one of the fastest electrical cars in the world, with a 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds and a 1/4 mile at 11.5 seconds. White Zombie shows that with technology today, it is very possible to create a electric car that is as fast as or faster then it's gasoline counterpart while still being cheaper to run.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Space Based Solar Power
This video is about an upcoming method of creating energy from the sun. Solar panels are put on satellites in space, allowing them to collect energy 24 hours a day without any distruptions from clouds or other atmospheric problems.
Green Technology - Dev
This video shows major green technological innovations including products from Sony that are made from corn. It also shows products that have built in solar panels to charge itself.
Renewable Energy - Michael Park
This video is about improving dependency upon renewable energy than oil. It shows various types of renewable energies like solar, geothermal, hydro-electric, and wind energy. The video mentions UK's improvement on usage of renewable energy from 147.3 million tones equivalent to oil to 161.1 million tones, which is 9.3% increase. UK is hoping to reach 10% by 2010.The video urges usage of renewable energy with the slogan saying, "Lets all change to Renewable."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Green Video
This video is about green technology. It talks about new greener technology being developed by Sony, including a battery powered by sugar. It also talks about a company that turns recycled plastic bottles into carpets.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
What do you consider life's essentials? Is it food, water and shelter? or do we require much more? We live in a world where so many items are offered to us that this age old question constantly changes over time. Some may only require the three basic essentials; food,water and shelter, while others may require AC, internet and cell phones. All of these factors contribute to solving a very controversial question among scientists; What is the Earth's carrying capacity? There are various components in determining the carrying capacity of the Earth. The main component is the allocation of resources amongst Earth's inhabitants. In the opinion of technological historian David E. Nye, he believes that the answer to this question is socially constructed. Based on the needs and wants of people, the answer varies. Along with Nye, I agree that the answer to the carrying capacity of the Earth is socially constructed and is mainly based upon the per capita usage of resources.
As the days continue, Earth's population increases. The increase in population has scientists questioning the amount of people the Earth can sustain. Although man theories and educated guesses have been made, the answer cannot be 100% accurate. The threshold of the Earth's power to support life varies depending on its inhabitants. There are many factors that contribute to Earth's carrying capacity. The main component to answering this question is the consumption of valuable resources. Depending on how much and how quickly (per capita) humans and animals deplete the resources, a more accurate guess can be created. According to Nye, if humans want to eat meat daily and wear only natural fibers, the Earths carrying capacity will be much less than if humans would be willing to survive on limited amounts of meat and dress in synthetic materials. Another major factor that will attribute to the Earth's carrying capacity is our effect on the planet. Through pollution and disrespect to the nature around us, we may be drastically reducing the carrying capacity of the Earth. One reason is that by polluting the areas around us, we may be destroying useful resources without ever being able to use that resource.
Along with directly harming the environment around us by consuming resources and polluting, technological developments have also contributed to environmental destruction. "Western technologies have been used to create abundance, but at a high environmental cost" (Nye 98). Due to the economic emphasis on marginal benefit and marginal cost, through technological advancement, production levels have risen over the years. In earlier centuries, fields were plowed manually and when one person plowed a field, production levels and area plowed are not equal to that of a gas powered machine plowing the fields. Through technological innovations such as the automobile and other influences from the Industrial Revolution, air pollution and resource consumption have grown exponentially. Along with industrial items, chemical innovations have also contributed to environmental damages. The use of DDT since the mid twentieth century has caused immense damage to the environment around the world. This chemical compound is very useful in fighting malaria and other diseases. Although it has positive uses, due to the strength of this chemical bond, it does not break down in the environment and stays toxic for years, polluting fields and water supplies.
Even though technological inventions have caused environmental damage, technological innovations have also benefited the environment. Recently, developments in alternative energies have caused for a revived optimism in the number of humans the Earth can support. By decreasing out dependence on fossil fuels and other extremely limited and polluting resources to consuming more abundant and cleaner resources, the Earth's health and power should increase. Currently, fossil fuels are the most common source of fuel. With fossil fuels, it takes thousands or millions of years to produce these fuels and when consumed, these fuel sources leave a large carbon footprint that has serious ecological consequences. But, with research and development in new industries such as natural gases, wind and solar energy, alternative fuels show promising results as far as environmental destruction. In regards to hydrogen power, the result of consuming this gas is production of hydrogen and oxygen molecules into the atmosphere, which combine to create water. Through technology and advancement in science, future energy sources can be purely clean and not damage the environment, which will improve the Earth's carrying capacity exponentially.
The dilemma of calculating the Earth's carrying capacity will continue until the threshold is broken. Due to constant changes in lifestyles and innovations, the carrying capacity also changes. Currently, estimates have shown that the carrying capacity of the Earth is 10 billion, while other estimates have reached the 100 billion mark. Along with the carrying capacity changing due to lifestyle changes and innovations, the carrying capacity alters from time. If everything in the world is kept equal and the rate and number of resources consumed is kept constant, the Earth's carrying capacity will always be greater yesterday than today because the resources that were available yesterday are not available today, thus decreasing the carrying capacity. Scientists and mathematicians may be spending an incredible amount of time on quantifying the Earth's carrying capacity, but like Heisenberg's uncertainty principal, the Earth's carrying capacity is uncertain. The true number will never be known until the Earth cannot sustain human life; the more important question is, how long do we have on this planet?
Saturday, November 7, 2009
China's Greenest Tower
The video is on the site I've linked. I was not able to embed the video.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8317211.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8317211.stm
Friday, November 6, 2009
To see a man who has made his money in the oil industry come out and openly support green energy is extremely reassuring. Mr Pickens has the capital to actually do something about this. My hope is that in the comeing years this will be a more common sight. He is right in saying that green energy is the next big industry in america.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
eco-friendly technology
This video talks about the use of technology in creating ecologically friendly substances. Science and environment come together, as is a tendency of Americans to turn to technology to solve problems. With all of the new developments in science, it is the first place we turn to solve our problems, rather than fixing the damaging behavior. This video argues that it would be better to use our current technology efficiently rather than create new technology.
eportfolio Ian Alvarez
All too often our global society takes for granted the very resources that make our day-to-day lives possible. The food in our stomachs, the clothes on our back, the electricity that powers our lives all derives from natural resources. But do these resources have a limit? Are we rapidly approaching a world where we no longer worry ourselves with the newest fashions and latest trends? A world where not only the poor struggle to attain the basic necessities of life, everyone dose. This is the very question addressed in David E. Nye’s “Sustainable Abundance, or Ecological Crisis?”.
For almost 300 years many within the scientific community have argued that our small planet has a limited “carrying capacity” or a limit to how many people this world can support.1 The estimates very greatly, but they are formulate based on such figures as available arable land and clean drinking water.2 Nye on the other hand presents an argument that depicts the worlds potential carrying capacity as flexible and that our world’s resources are not limited but that our ability to utilize them is the only limitation. He argues that technology and culture govern the use of our resources and dictate our ability to distribute them in a way that benefits us all. This argument seems much more realistic than that of those pose before him.
Between 1830 and 1890 our country experienced an agricultural revolution that greatly outlines the impact of technology on humanities ability to capitalize on our natural resources. A farmer in 1890 could produce at least 200% more than his counterpart 60 years before.3 This tremendous increase in crop yields was due to an industrial revolution constantly churning out new technological inventions. Gas powered machinery, new irrigation techniques, and increased understandings of fertilization and harvesting allowed for the mid western states to rapidly become the breadbasket of the world. These advances in technology allowed for people to produce more food in the same amount of area with less overhead costs. In essence technology allowed for the same area to have a greater carrying capacity and in turn increased the worlds carrying capacity. Since the 1890’s we have continued to introduce technological advances that have further increased our ability to produce food but simple food production is not the only factor when discussing the limits of our planet.
For over a century now we have continued to use fossil fuels as our primary source for energy. This has created a dependency on limited resources while greatly damaging the world’s environment. Our global community has begun to see the harmful affects of this in global warming and astronomically high oil prices. So in response to the negative affects of
For almost 300 years many within the scientific community have argued that our small planet has a limited “carrying capacity” or a limit to how many people this world can support.1 The estimates very greatly, but they are formulate based on such figures as available arable land and clean drinking water.2 Nye on the other hand presents an argument that depicts the worlds potential carrying capacity as flexible and that our world’s resources are not limited but that our ability to utilize them is the only limitation. He argues that technology and culture govern the use of our resources and dictate our ability to distribute them in a way that benefits us all. This argument seems much more realistic than that of those pose before him.
Between 1830 and 1890 our country experienced an agricultural revolution that greatly outlines the impact of technology on humanities ability to capitalize on our natural resources. A farmer in 1890 could produce at least 200% more than his counterpart 60 years before.3 This tremendous increase in crop yields was due to an industrial revolution constantly churning out new technological inventions. Gas powered machinery, new irrigation techniques, and increased understandings of fertilization and harvesting allowed for the mid western states to rapidly become the breadbasket of the world. These advances in technology allowed for people to produce more food in the same amount of area with less overhead costs. In essence technology allowed for the same area to have a greater carrying capacity and in turn increased the worlds carrying capacity. Since the 1890’s we have continued to introduce technological advances that have further increased our ability to produce food but simple food production is not the only factor when discussing the limits of our planet.
For over a century now we have continued to use fossil fuels as our primary source for energy. This has created a dependency on limited resources while greatly damaging the world’s environment. Our global community has begun to see the harmful affects of this in global warming and astronomically high oil prices. So in response to the negative affects of
Infinite Wants, Infinite Resources
Infinite Wants, Infinite Resources
Intuitively we perceive resources as finite because we have no experience of infinity. David E. Nye contends that the carrying capacity of the word is a construction guided by the consumption behavior of a society. I agree with his thesis, namely, that this projection is “but a social construction.” However, I suggest that the world’s carrying capacity is a matter of perception. I am not implying that if we perceive the world as boundless, then it is necessarily so. There is a simple truth that even a middle school student knows: in this world there are renewable and non-renewable resources. However, how we perceive our world around us, as renewable or non-renewable, does influence the answer. Naturally, we have virtually infinite wants. An if we can somehow satisfy those wants with renewable resources, then this world does not have a carrying capacity for humans, ceteris paribus.
One person might set a carrying capacity of x, based on his observation that humans are “dependent on x,y, and z” and there are only a certain number of x,y, and z in this world. A different approach would suggest that there is no limit to human population growth because although humans need x,y,z to survive, our technology permits a limitless supply of x,y,z. I do not believe there is a right or wrong answer to the carrying capacity of humans. Rather, it is a matter of perception. My argument is centered on the relationship between two perceptions: our world’s resources and, our consumption behavior.
We know, though experience, that we cannot breathe under water, nor can we survive in extreme temperatures. Having this in mind, our construction of our carrying capacity would not include humans living in water or in the magma layer of the Earth. Our technological progress now permits humans to live in extreme temperatures and under water.
On a more basic level, we know that without food and water, we cannot survive more than 7 days. What makes us believe that there is not enough food and water for 50 billion humans?
Why do entertain ourselves with questions that have to do with our physical limits when technology constantly expands them? In some sense, our only understanding of infinity is that it is limitless. There seems to be no limits to progress except those we set beforehand. In other words, the questions we ask limit the result we obtain.
Behind this abstract discussion, lies the concept that technology can satisfies our hunger with renewable resources. The only real problem then is us. Can we envision this kind of technology? The answer to this question is not really a matter of being illuminated or not, but really of permitting our mind to float around and beyond “obvious” boundaries.
Take for example the following question: Why should we want another 5 billion people?
Professor John McCarthy of Stanford University illustrates my point: “The questions assumes that ‘we’ can decide how large the population should be and then figure out how to implement the decision. At present there is no mechanism for making a decision about world population or for implementing any such decision.”
Addressing the limits of human population has been severely disputed by economists, politicians and to a lesser degree, by scientists. Since the creation of the nation-state and its implications (artificial boundaries, passports and visas, etc.), human migration and distribution has been severely interrupted. Therefore, the need to place a control on population is more an issue of crowdedness than sustainability.
The earlier question framed is more adequately evaluated if we ask, can the world grow enough food for 15 billion people? Professor McCarthy asserts that, “Yes, it can and with present agricultural technology...biotechnology based on molecular genetics.”
The inability of Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) to foresee the dramatic human progress in the field of science since his time led him to develop his pessimistic prediction that population growth would exceed food supply.
That the human population is placing a strain on the world and interrupting natural processes is not an issue of overpopulation. The unhealthy and unnatural practices humans have turned to have been around even prior to the Industrial Revolution. The environmental culture of human beings has been inconsiderate and intensely supported by centuries of egocentric belief.
The past century witnessed the most accelerated growth in human population. During this short period in human history, more innovation and progress has been produced than any in all of the other periods in world history combined. Increased human population has brought more gifted minds to his world. Likewise, increased crowdedness of human population has brought more tolerance and pragmatism as different religious, ethnic and cultural people interact closely with one another.
Many aspects of the sustainability of the human pace are also used by advocates of population control. With regards to energy, Professor McCarthy and many more scientists assert that the world is not running out of energy. That we tend to equate energy with oil is a misperception and misinformation. In fact, McCarthy asserts that “nuclear and solar energy are each adequate for the next several billion years. Another scientists, Cohen, estimates that at least “5 billion years of energy are left based on extracting uranium from seawater, which the Japanese have already shown work.”
The perceived need to curb population growth can be ascribed to a perceived over-crowdedness. Perhaps the feeling that enough is enough, will lead us to limit population growth. After more traffic hours, more Internet jamming, and crowding of tourist hotspots may give neo-Social Darwinists the upper hand in this debate. However, human life is indeed a divine creation. Humanity has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to adapt. Ultimately, constructing a carrying capacity involves the assumption that technology cannot match our infinite wants with renewable, and therefore, infinite resources.
Paper 3, Draft 1
In his statement, Nye says that the world’s carrying capacity has more to do with society than it has to do with science. More specifically, Nye focuses on the decisions that individuals and society as a whole make. Our style of life has a lot to do with the world’s ability to carry some variable amount of humans. Thus, the earth may carry, for example, 10 million people who live a less consuming life-style. This number may be significantly lowered if people choose more consuming life-styles. Ultimately, what Nye is trying to get at is that science does not set numbers in stone. Rather, those numbers have a lot to do with the way the people choose to treat the world around them.
Although Nye makes a good argument, I think that it is safe to say that science has significantly increased the carrying capacity of the world. Although this is not entirely independent of the way people live, technology’s ultimate goal is to make production more efficient. The textile industry is a great example. In the past, most people could only afford one or two attires. Today, each person has countless amounts of clothes. This is due to the efficiency in these industries, which ultimately brings down the cost of the product. As technology becomes more advanced, life becomes cheaper. This contributes to the rising carrying capacity of the earth. Thus, we can say that in general, technology raises the carrying capacity of the earth.
Another factor that is increasing earth’s carrying capacity of man is the ability of humans to dominate. Because they are able to manipulate almost everything around them, they have done so in a way that best fits their immediate needs. Due to this process, many species have gone extinct. This decreases the demand for resources on earth. This allows man to take control of those resources. This, in turn, raises the earth’s immediate carrying capacity. However, this may ruin the earth’s natural cycle, which could lower the carrying capacity in the long term.
Merchant makes somewhat of a similar argument that Nye does, only she is more extreme. Merchant, like Nye, argues that science can vary greatly depending on the social aspects that affect it. However, Merchant takes it one step further and says that science is not only affected by social constructs, but is created by them. As such, there can be no ultimate truth because everything is relative.
Although both writers argue the same point, the extent to which they choose to push the argument makes a profound difference in the validity of the argument.
Although Nye makes a good argument, I think that it is safe to say that science has significantly increased the carrying capacity of the world. Although this is not entirely independent of the way people live, technology’s ultimate goal is to make production more efficient. The textile industry is a great example. In the past, most people could only afford one or two attires. Today, each person has countless amounts of clothes. This is due to the efficiency in these industries, which ultimately brings down the cost of the product. As technology becomes more advanced, life becomes cheaper. This contributes to the rising carrying capacity of the earth. Thus, we can say that in general, technology raises the carrying capacity of the earth.
Another factor that is increasing earth’s carrying capacity of man is the ability of humans to dominate. Because they are able to manipulate almost everything around them, they have done so in a way that best fits their immediate needs. Due to this process, many species have gone extinct. This decreases the demand for resources on earth. This allows man to take control of those resources. This, in turn, raises the earth’s immediate carrying capacity. However, this may ruin the earth’s natural cycle, which could lower the carrying capacity in the long term.
Merchant makes somewhat of a similar argument that Nye does, only she is more extreme. Merchant, like Nye, argues that science can vary greatly depending on the social aspects that affect it. However, Merchant takes it one step further and says that science is not only affected by social constructs, but is created by them. As such, there can be no ultimate truth because everything is relative.
Although both writers argue the same point, the extent to which they choose to push the argument makes a profound difference in the validity of the argument.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Essay 3 - First Draft
Dev Sethi
Writing 100 - Technology and Nature in New England
Professor – R. S. Deese
10/28/09
First Draft – Paper 3
Here are the statistics - a new baby is born every half a second in some part of the world; the death rate is almost half of the birth rate; doctors have increased the average age of a person from 47 to 65. It seems that the world is growing in every way possible, with more babies being born and people living longer, but is there enough of space for such growth on our planet? In one of his essays in his book “Technology Matters”, author David E. Nye writes that he feels the world’s carrying capacity is defined by the way we decide to live, rather than it being a scientifically derived number. Although I do not disagree with what Nye has to say, I feel the Earth’s carrying population is defined by both the way we choose to live and a scientifically proven number on a limit on the number of people that our planet can take.
Nye finished off the essay by saying “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction”. What he means by “a social construction” is that it was created by people in order to follow certain rules and regulations relating to particular societies. The way people decide to live is an example of a social construction. An example that Nye talks about is Robinson Crusoe. Basically he is a person stranded on an island with nothing with him. Over time he uses his knowledge and social experiences to make something out of nothing on that island. He builds a habitat and learns to make the most of what he has. Eventually, after many years, he builds a fully functioning society by getting people to migrate to the island. This shows how a social construction can affect the larger part of the society. This statement in context of the essay sums up his view that the daily trivial choices that we make can impact our world in the long term. For example, if a person decides to build on land that is for forestery, it not only reduces the space that we have but it also uses up precious resources.
Nye cites a lot of examples to prove his point of view, ranging from real life experiences to his opinions on historical happenings. The examples that I feel that relate to this argument are mostly real life examples. After the experience of Robinson Crusoe, he moves on to talk about farms in Europe and the Atlantic coast. He says that those farmlands, once huge areas of greenery used for farming and forestry, have now been turned into industrial land with factories covering them. The cutting down of trees not only affects our oxygen supply but it also reduces the resources available to us for the future. He moves on to talk about the change in the way we have started to think about nature. Before we viewed it as gods creation that needs to be preserved for as long as possible, and now we view trees purely as an economic resource to make tables and chairs with. Quoting what Henry Ford said about machines “it is a symbol of the man’s mastery of the environment”.
We’ll my opinion about this topic does not differ much from what Nye says. I definitely agree that the way we decide to live affects the carrying capacity of the world. But I also feel that there has to a precise amount of number of people that can physically fit on our planet. The earth’s size definitely isn’t getting bigger so as more and more people fill the world, the space definitely has to be reducing. A simple observation of the traffic on the roads in every part of the world shows us that soon there will more people than space in some cities. Although it isn’t a factor of concern right now as we have other environmental issues to deal with, in the near future it will be one of our main concerns.
Nye’s argument has a clear purpose to it and only time will tell us weather he is right or wrong. As for now we should all do our part to conserve nature on our planet so that we do not run out of it in the future.
Writing 100 - Technology and Nature in New England
Professor – R. S. Deese
10/28/09
First Draft – Paper 3
Here are the statistics - a new baby is born every half a second in some part of the world; the death rate is almost half of the birth rate; doctors have increased the average age of a person from 47 to 65. It seems that the world is growing in every way possible, with more babies being born and people living longer, but is there enough of space for such growth on our planet? In one of his essays in his book “Technology Matters”, author David E. Nye writes that he feels the world’s carrying capacity is defined by the way we decide to live, rather than it being a scientifically derived number. Although I do not disagree with what Nye has to say, I feel the Earth’s carrying population is defined by both the way we choose to live and a scientifically proven number on a limit on the number of people that our planet can take.
Nye finished off the essay by saying “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction”. What he means by “a social construction” is that it was created by people in order to follow certain rules and regulations relating to particular societies. The way people decide to live is an example of a social construction. An example that Nye talks about is Robinson Crusoe. Basically he is a person stranded on an island with nothing with him. Over time he uses his knowledge and social experiences to make something out of nothing on that island. He builds a habitat and learns to make the most of what he has. Eventually, after many years, he builds a fully functioning society by getting people to migrate to the island. This shows how a social construction can affect the larger part of the society. This statement in context of the essay sums up his view that the daily trivial choices that we make can impact our world in the long term. For example, if a person decides to build on land that is for forestery, it not only reduces the space that we have but it also uses up precious resources.
Nye cites a lot of examples to prove his point of view, ranging from real life experiences to his opinions on historical happenings. The examples that I feel that relate to this argument are mostly real life examples. After the experience of Robinson Crusoe, he moves on to talk about farms in Europe and the Atlantic coast. He says that those farmlands, once huge areas of greenery used for farming and forestry, have now been turned into industrial land with factories covering them. The cutting down of trees not only affects our oxygen supply but it also reduces the resources available to us for the future. He moves on to talk about the change in the way we have started to think about nature. Before we viewed it as gods creation that needs to be preserved for as long as possible, and now we view trees purely as an economic resource to make tables and chairs with. Quoting what Henry Ford said about machines “it is a symbol of the man’s mastery of the environment”.
We’ll my opinion about this topic does not differ much from what Nye says. I definitely agree that the way we decide to live affects the carrying capacity of the world. But I also feel that there has to a precise amount of number of people that can physically fit on our planet. The earth’s size definitely isn’t getting bigger so as more and more people fill the world, the space definitely has to be reducing. A simple observation of the traffic on the roads in every part of the world shows us that soon there will more people than space in some cities. Although it isn’t a factor of concern right now as we have other environmental issues to deal with, in the near future it will be one of our main concerns.
Nye’s argument has a clear purpose to it and only time will tell us weather he is right or wrong. As for now we should all do our part to conserve nature on our planet so that we do not run out of it in the future.
Earthships
(For some reason it won't let me embed the videos, so I just posted the links.)
Long Version, 7:30 min
(Very) Quick Version, 1:10 min
Micheal Reynolds, a former architect and now self-proclaimed "biotect", has begun a revolutionary way to construct homes. By using recycled materials and renewable energy sources, these homes are 100% sustainable. Reynolds hopes to see an "Earthship" community in every major city in his lifetime. This concept argues that the way to battle climate change and the energy crisis may not necessarily mean to simply change how we get our fuel, but to rethink the idea of the traditional home.
-Josh Kraskin
Long Version, 7:30 min
(Very) Quick Version, 1:10 min
Micheal Reynolds, a former architect and now self-proclaimed "biotect", has begun a revolutionary way to construct homes. By using recycled materials and renewable energy sources, these homes are 100% sustainable. Reynolds hopes to see an "Earthship" community in every major city in his lifetime. This concept argues that the way to battle climate change and the energy crisis may not necessarily mean to simply change how we get our fuel, but to rethink the idea of the traditional home.
-Josh Kraskin
Monday, November 2, 2009
Alternative Energy
This video about alternative energy is from the EU. They speak about renewable energy sources like water, wind, and the sun. The EU and possibly others predict that by 2020 there will be 20% of renewable energy. It is interesting that they predict that the world, or just the EU, will only use 20% of renewable energy. However, I believe that we will use more sources of renewable energy than the EU predicts.
e-portolio
Paper 3 Sustainable Abundance
Solomon Belay
With so many newborns on their way every single minute of the hour on this world, almost everybody has dwelled on the concept that at some point humans might overpopulate the world. Too many newborns and infants and not enough resources would cause a major problem and competition would increase. The thought of a major surplus of human lives that eventually leading to decreasing the significance of every single person and reduce the value of uniqueness, vital aspects of human life. How would life be then? How will these events play out and will the problem be solved? Well, author David E. Nye had a say in this topic and defended his idea in his essay “Sustainable Abundance, or Ecological Crisis?” I personally stand by Nye’s thesis of the world’s carrying capacity not being a scientific fact but rather a social construction.
Nye spends a good majority of his essay talking about the advancements of exploiting technologies that produce a surplus of foods, goods, and services. He uses several effective examples to show of this advancement. These include coal mining, irrigation, car production and several more economic processes that consume a great deal of natural resources. Nye gives examples to how these processes deplete the natural resources that this planet runs on. Another concept he throws in together along with these economic processes is the idea of simplicity. Simplicity is the concept that one can live an enjoyable and efficient life without many unnecessary goods and the ability to almost live solely on simple material needs. Nye mentions Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden. The book being about an experiment Thoreau conducted based on the idea of simplicity. He built a one room house in the woods of Massachusetts. He lives simply on basic necessities and enjoys hobbies such as reading, reflecting and close studies on nature. Thoreau came to the conclusion that people can easily become slaves to what they own. Nye uses this to wrap up his idea of simplicity. These two topics of exploiting technologies and simplicity lead Nye to proving his point of sustainability and the world’s carrying capacity.
Nye’s thesis is a clear one in that the world’s carrying capacity is something that is adjusted to socially and is not calculated scientifically. He defends his position with an example of the hedgerows. He tells of how some Europeans nations have reversed a policy of destroying hedgerows to create large fields for the “rationalization” of farming. However, many of the bird species lived and prospered in these hedgerows which lead to the diminishing local ecologies being upset. Realizing this, by the end of the twentieth century hedgerows were being re-established to readjust the balance between wild nature and agriculture. This example allows Nye to express how that decision was consciously made by society for the better of the environment. Another example Nye uses is that of the Zuider Zee dam. He mentions how the Dutch cut off the Zuider Zee dam from the North Sea and how that interrupted many ecological circles. Realizing this, they decided not to drain all the water away and recovered some land for settlement and agriculture while allowing much of the area to remain underwater. He goes on to explain that humans’ decisions dictate how much resources are being used up. The way humans socially interact affects nature changes things environmentally. He mentions how if people in dry areas want green lawns and chlorinated swimming pools, there will be less irrigation. He says not only will farmers produce less food but chlorinated water will be unavailable to other species. He also mentions that if people want to eat meat everyday and wear natural fibers, the world can support fewer people. In the end Nye writes that “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction. Nature is not outside us, and it does not have a fixed limits. Rather, its limits are our own.”
I agree with Nye’s statement completely in the fact that there is no scientific fact that tells of the world’s capacity. I believe that cultural decisions of humans affect how natural resources are used. As Nye showed, if humans are willing to balance environment and production, fundamentally disaster can be averted. The world’s carrying capacity is something that can be changed when humans change how things are socially constructed. I see a direct correlation between the way humans use resources and the seeming carrying capacity. The more humans ask for, the more natural resources are exploited. But on the other hand, the more humans irrigate and cultivate, the more humans can preserve natural resources and keep the carrying capacity at a stable state. So in general I back Nye’s statement and think it is absurd to say that the world’s carrying capacity is a scientific fact.
Work Cited:
Nye, David E. Technology Matters Questions to Live With. New York: The MIT, 2007. Print.
e-portfolio for Aimee Caplen for paper 3 draft
Sustainable Abundance
The word’s resources have diminished due to the increase of the world’s population. The world is required to use these resources to stay alive. Unfortunately, as David E. Nye and other scholars note, the world has a certain carrying capacity. Nye’s statement, “Ultimately the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction” is correct. The world’s population doesn’t necessarily choose who uses the world’s resources because the population of six billion is the cause of the slow decline of resources. Therefore, the world’s carrying capacity is socially constructed.
The carrying capacity ranges from scholar to scholar. The amount of people the world’s resources can support will soon run out, but when? Henry David Thoreau, part of the minority who favored simplicity, believed that “rather than constantly expand one’s desires, it was better to simplify material life.” A simple material life is long forgotten. Today there are few people who follow Thoreau’s simple life ideal. Today’s ideals include work hard play hard; simple lives mean stress free lives; and more leisure time because there are more opportunities for family time outside of one’s jobs. Technology is a way of life therefore today’s ideals have driven away from Thoreau’s simple life is the better life philosophy. Technology has not only created an abundance of products to be consumed by humans, but has helped their lives become relatively easier compared to the lives of those before the large use of technology. Robert Thurston drew conclusions about the easiness of the human lives now. Technologies are “mainly engaged in supplying our people with the comfort and the luxuries of modern life, and in converting crudeness and barbarism into [a more] cultured civilization.”
The nineteenth century became known as the mechanical age. Technology, though a convenient invention, began to create problems for the earth and its people. Thomas Carlyle declared that a steam had “accelerated a process which was going on already, but too fast.” Henry Adams believed that technology had accelerated out of control. For example, the production of cars requires a vast amount of resources that “requires as much energy” to produce the materials for the car “as it does to drive the car for a decade.” However cars have become a necessity for the majority of the population. Also agricultural technology that increases the production of many goods such as bushels of wheat and barley has affected the environment. Even though, the use of the new machines and chemicals increases productivity and profitability it ultimately destroys the soil. Pesticides and other chemicals are profitable and save the crops from weeds and insects that will either suffocate or eat the crops. Although the use of the chemicals is profitable, the consideration of the soil being ruined is not high on the company’s priority list. A company usually fallows the soil every five years therefore limiting the amount of acres in use. Though profitable, the company must consider that using the chemicals will have a long-term affect on the soil and ultimately limit the world’s resources and carrying capacity.
I for one sometimes forget that our world’s resources are slowly decreasing. The amount of paper used to print out documents, sometimes unnecessary, is increasing at a faster rate than it takes to grow and produce the paper. Today’s population needs to consider how much they waste the resources provided to them, or else the world’s carrying capacity will not be able to have all the necessary resources for the world’s growing population.
The word’s resources have diminished due to the increase of the world’s population. The world is required to use these resources to stay alive. Unfortunately, as David E. Nye and other scholars note, the world has a certain carrying capacity. Nye’s statement, “Ultimately the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction” is correct. The world’s population doesn’t necessarily choose who uses the world’s resources because the population of six billion is the cause of the slow decline of resources. Therefore, the world’s carrying capacity is socially constructed.
The carrying capacity ranges from scholar to scholar. The amount of people the world’s resources can support will soon run out, but when? Henry David Thoreau, part of the minority who favored simplicity, believed that “rather than constantly expand one’s desires, it was better to simplify material life.” A simple material life is long forgotten. Today there are few people who follow Thoreau’s simple life ideal. Today’s ideals include work hard play hard; simple lives mean stress free lives; and more leisure time because there are more opportunities for family time outside of one’s jobs. Technology is a way of life therefore today’s ideals have driven away from Thoreau’s simple life is the better life philosophy. Technology has not only created an abundance of products to be consumed by humans, but has helped their lives become relatively easier compared to the lives of those before the large use of technology. Robert Thurston drew conclusions about the easiness of the human lives now. Technologies are “mainly engaged in supplying our people with the comfort and the luxuries of modern life, and in converting crudeness and barbarism into [a more] cultured civilization.”
The nineteenth century became known as the mechanical age. Technology, though a convenient invention, began to create problems for the earth and its people. Thomas Carlyle declared that a steam had “accelerated a process which was going on already, but too fast.” Henry Adams believed that technology had accelerated out of control. For example, the production of cars requires a vast amount of resources that “requires as much energy” to produce the materials for the car “as it does to drive the car for a decade.” However cars have become a necessity for the majority of the population. Also agricultural technology that increases the production of many goods such as bushels of wheat and barley has affected the environment. Even though, the use of the new machines and chemicals increases productivity and profitability it ultimately destroys the soil. Pesticides and other chemicals are profitable and save the crops from weeds and insects that will either suffocate or eat the crops. Although the use of the chemicals is profitable, the consideration of the soil being ruined is not high on the company’s priority list. A company usually fallows the soil every five years therefore limiting the amount of acres in use. Though profitable, the company must consider that using the chemicals will have a long-term affect on the soil and ultimately limit the world’s resources and carrying capacity.
I for one sometimes forget that our world’s resources are slowly decreasing. The amount of paper used to print out documents, sometimes unnecessary, is increasing at a faster rate than it takes to grow and produce the paper. Today’s population needs to consider how much they waste the resources provided to them, or else the world’s carrying capacity will not be able to have all the necessary resources for the world’s growing population.
Rough Draft of Paper 3
Josh Kraskin
Carolyn Merchant once wrote “science is an ongoing negotiation with nonhuman nature for what counts as reality. Scientists socially construct nature, representing it differently in different historical epochs.” (Merchant, p. 4) Throughout history, there have been varying views about the relationship between humans and the environment. Myths, religion, pseudoscience, and empirical science have all been used to explain how man should interact with nature. In Ecological Revolutions, Merchant provides a valid argument that man has constructed various views of nature throughout ancient, colonial, and modern times.
Merchant begins her argument by discussing the views of ancient civilizations. She explains that nature “was an actress on the stage of history” and “the bringer of life, fertility, famine, and death.” (Merchant, p. 5-7) Merchant is trying to convey that through this pagan and animistic perspective, ancient peoples had a spiritual view of nature, seeing it as something to be both worshipped and feared. They believed nature to be something eternal; they knew it had existed long before they had, and would continue to do so after they were gone.’
The dawn of the seventeenth century marked the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. From this point forward, views about nature had changed quite drastically; Merchant states that they believed that they “world itself is a clock, adjustable by human clockmakers. Nature is passive and manipulabe.” (Merchant, p. 7) This perspective asserts that man is above nature and has every right to manipulate his environment to his benefit. It is this mindset that fueled many of the actions taken by Western nations during the ages of colonialism, imperialism and industrialization. These views differ greatly from those of their pagan ancestors who saw nature as alive and active as opposed to “dead” and “inert.” (Merchant, p. 7)
Modern perspectives on nature have integrated both mechanistic and primitive views about the environment. While man still utilizes natural resources for his own gain, it is done with respect and the knowledge that humans are a part of nature; our own survival is very much dependant on the well being of our environment. Merchant recognizes this fact when citing Marx: “man lives on nature – means that nature is his body, with which he must remain in continuous interchange if he is not to die. That man’s physical and spiritual life is linked to nature means simply that nature is linked to itself, for man is a part of nature.” (Merchant, p. 10) Marx specifically mentions the word “interchange”, which is defined as “to give and receive reciprocally.” This means that if man is to take from nature, he must also give back; for example, if one cuts down a tree in a forest, one must plant another in its place. Another change in the views on nature in the modern era is the way that nature is seen as a synergistic system or “network” in which “economic metaphors such as producers, consumers, productivity, yields, and efficiency” are used to explain how the different element of ecology interact. (Merchant, p. 9) Merchant further explains that “nature is cast as a computerized network of energy inputs and information bits that can be extracted from the environmental context and manipulated according to a set of thermodynamic equations.” (Merchant, p. 9) This trend of breaking down individual parts of a large system to try and analyze and understand the bigger picture seems to be a growing trend in the twenty-first century.
Merchant’s recurring thesis is that science is socially constructed. She believes that man does not actually know what reality is; therefore he creates his own definitions of what is real and what isn’t, based on the culture and beliefs of society at the time. For example, throughout the Middle Ages, Western civilization was dominated by the views of the Church. The geocentric model of the universe, where the universe revolved around the Earth, was proclaimed to be true by the Church, and therefore accepted as a scientific fact, despite being proven to be false several centuries later. Merchant explains how even modern empirical sciences, like ecology, are socially constructed. She writes: “ the ecological paradigm is a socially constructed theory. Although it differs from mechanism by taking relations, context, and networks into consideration, it has no greater or lesser claim to some ultimate truth status than do other scientific paradigms.” (Merchant, p. 8) She continues by explaining how “both mechanism and ecology construct their theories through a socially sanctioned process of problem identification, selection and deselection of particular ‘facts,’ inscription of the selected facts into texts, and the acceptance of a constructed order of nature by the scientific community.” (Merchant, p. 8-9) In both of these statements Merchant stresses that even the scientific method, which is considered to be an acceptable way of ascertaining the truth, is socially constructed.
Truth and reality are intangible, ambiguous objects that philosophers, scientists, and various other academics have attempted to contemplate for millennia. It is incredibly difficult to distinguish what actually is from what we perceive. What if everything we believed to be real was nothing more than a fabrication, as depicted in The Matrix? While it seems safe to assume that we are not living inside of a virtual reality created by machines, what can we really know for sure? Descartes believed that he discovered the one, sure truth when he stated: “I think, therefore I am.” While Carolyn Merchant would most likely not argue that thinking is socially constructed, she is quite sure that the majority of science is. While this may have been true in the past, and may still be true to some extent today, I believe that humans have progressed enough both technologically and socially to be sure of at least several scientific facts. We can be sure that the Earth will always orbit around the sun; we can be sure that a living person’s heart will always be beating; we can be sure that an object dropped from a high place will always fall to the ground. These ideas are not socially constructed; they have been true before humans were around to observe them, and will continue to be true after we are gone.
Carolyn Merchant once wrote “science is an ongoing negotiation with nonhuman nature for what counts as reality. Scientists socially construct nature, representing it differently in different historical epochs.” (Merchant, p. 4) Throughout history, there have been varying views about the relationship between humans and the environment. Myths, religion, pseudoscience, and empirical science have all been used to explain how man should interact with nature. In Ecological Revolutions, Merchant provides a valid argument that man has constructed various views of nature throughout ancient, colonial, and modern times.
Merchant begins her argument by discussing the views of ancient civilizations. She explains that nature “was an actress on the stage of history” and “the bringer of life, fertility, famine, and death.” (Merchant, p. 5-7) Merchant is trying to convey that through this pagan and animistic perspective, ancient peoples had a spiritual view of nature, seeing it as something to be both worshipped and feared. They believed nature to be something eternal; they knew it had existed long before they had, and would continue to do so after they were gone.’
The dawn of the seventeenth century marked the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. From this point forward, views about nature had changed quite drastically; Merchant states that they believed that they “world itself is a clock, adjustable by human clockmakers. Nature is passive and manipulabe.” (Merchant, p. 7) This perspective asserts that man is above nature and has every right to manipulate his environment to his benefit. It is this mindset that fueled many of the actions taken by Western nations during the ages of colonialism, imperialism and industrialization. These views differ greatly from those of their pagan ancestors who saw nature as alive and active as opposed to “dead” and “inert.” (Merchant, p. 7)
Modern perspectives on nature have integrated both mechanistic and primitive views about the environment. While man still utilizes natural resources for his own gain, it is done with respect and the knowledge that humans are a part of nature; our own survival is very much dependant on the well being of our environment. Merchant recognizes this fact when citing Marx: “man lives on nature – means that nature is his body, with which he must remain in continuous interchange if he is not to die. That man’s physical and spiritual life is linked to nature means simply that nature is linked to itself, for man is a part of nature.” (Merchant, p. 10) Marx specifically mentions the word “interchange”, which is defined as “to give and receive reciprocally.” This means that if man is to take from nature, he must also give back; for example, if one cuts down a tree in a forest, one must plant another in its place. Another change in the views on nature in the modern era is the way that nature is seen as a synergistic system or “network” in which “economic metaphors such as producers, consumers, productivity, yields, and efficiency” are used to explain how the different element of ecology interact. (Merchant, p. 9) Merchant further explains that “nature is cast as a computerized network of energy inputs and information bits that can be extracted from the environmental context and manipulated according to a set of thermodynamic equations.” (Merchant, p. 9) This trend of breaking down individual parts of a large system to try and analyze and understand the bigger picture seems to be a growing trend in the twenty-first century.
Merchant’s recurring thesis is that science is socially constructed. She believes that man does not actually know what reality is; therefore he creates his own definitions of what is real and what isn’t, based on the culture and beliefs of society at the time. For example, throughout the Middle Ages, Western civilization was dominated by the views of the Church. The geocentric model of the universe, where the universe revolved around the Earth, was proclaimed to be true by the Church, and therefore accepted as a scientific fact, despite being proven to be false several centuries later. Merchant explains how even modern empirical sciences, like ecology, are socially constructed. She writes: “ the ecological paradigm is a socially constructed theory. Although it differs from mechanism by taking relations, context, and networks into consideration, it has no greater or lesser claim to some ultimate truth status than do other scientific paradigms.” (Merchant, p. 8) She continues by explaining how “both mechanism and ecology construct their theories through a socially sanctioned process of problem identification, selection and deselection of particular ‘facts,’ inscription of the selected facts into texts, and the acceptance of a constructed order of nature by the scientific community.” (Merchant, p. 8-9) In both of these statements Merchant stresses that even the scientific method, which is considered to be an acceptable way of ascertaining the truth, is socially constructed.
Truth and reality are intangible, ambiguous objects that philosophers, scientists, and various other academics have attempted to contemplate for millennia. It is incredibly difficult to distinguish what actually is from what we perceive. What if everything we believed to be real was nothing more than a fabrication, as depicted in The Matrix? While it seems safe to assume that we are not living inside of a virtual reality created by machines, what can we really know for sure? Descartes believed that he discovered the one, sure truth when he stated: “I think, therefore I am.” While Carolyn Merchant would most likely not argue that thinking is socially constructed, she is quite sure that the majority of science is. While this may have been true in the past, and may still be true to some extent today, I believe that humans have progressed enough both technologically and socially to be sure of at least several scientific facts. We can be sure that the Earth will always orbit around the sun; we can be sure that a living person’s heart will always be beating; we can be sure that an object dropped from a high place will always fall to the ground. These ideas are not socially constructed; they have been true before humans were around to observe them, and will continue to be true after we are gone.
e-portfolio for Branden Kim (Hyunsoo Kim)
Branden Kim's choice for Best Paragraph:
As I watch the earth rise from the Lunar Sands Casino, various scenarios of the future storm my mind. They differ greatly; one shows cities in ruins under a perpetually gray sky caused by a nuclear winter, while another depicts humans existing with one another and nature in perfect harmony. While these two visions are on opposite ends of the prophetic spectrum, they are both possible outcomes for the human race. I agree with both Nye and Carson in that there is not one single, definite future; there are far too many choices that lie ahead to accurately prophesize what the next fifty years will bring. However, regardless of whether the world of 2064 will lay in ruins or prosperity, it will be technology that leads us to our fate. Technology has always been a part of being human; nature gave us no other way to survive. We do not have sharp claws or teeth to hunt prey; we are not particularly powerful or fast; we do not have fur to keep us warm or a thick hide to protect us from predators; but what we do have, and what has been the only thing that has kept our species alive and dominant for tens of thousands of years, sits between our ears. We have sharpened spears to hunt prey; we have worked as a team to overcome our individual weakness; we have sewn furs together into clothing so we do not freeze during the winter. Our ability to create objects to solve the issues of survival is our greatest, and possibly our only gift. Therefore, it really is impossible to envision a future society of humans in the absence of technology. Even if we exaggerate Merchant’s wishes of returning to the ways of our primitive ancestors, science would still be present; bows and arrows and teepees were still considered modern technology at one point. As Robert Frost would agree, we stand where two roads diverge; both end in drastically different places, however it is science and technology that will bring us to the either destination.
***
“Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social
construction.”
In recent history, the topic of overpopulation gained attention. Overpopulation, as many believed, will bring crisis such as starvation and spreading of diseases throughout the world. There would not be enough source of food for everyone and whether or not the person may live or die depends on the concept of the survival of the fittest. However, as Nye states, “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction,” he asserts that the world’s ultimate capacity of people animals, plants, and the whole population in general depends on the way our society is constructed and not on any previously set scientific values. Like Nye, I concur with the idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity economically and culturally.
David E. Nye uses Daniel Defoe’s classic “Robinson Cruesoe” (1719) as an
example to solidify his view on the ecological crisis. Robinson Cruesoe is a seaman who was stranded on a deserted island off the coast of South America for over 26 years. In a location with zero human population other than Cruesoe himself, he managed to build fortified shleters, catch fish, tame goats, weave baskets, make pottery, and even farm. His means of survival depended upon using his knowledge to obtain the necessities from his surroundings. Nye makes a point that Cruesoe did not become superior because he had metal tools and weapons. He also brings up that Cruesoe did not build tables, chairs, or any of the furniture although he had the knowledge to due to the reason that those items were not necessary for the means of survival. It is not the science itself but together with social construction that will affect the world’s carrying capacity.
It can be clearly stated from our common sense of knowledge that total
population had risen dramatically throughout the last century. As the number of people increased throughout the last century, the advancements in technology had also been taking place, which led to the changes in the ways people lived and utilized the nature around us. “Landscapes are part of the infrastructure of existence, and they are inseparable from the technologies that people have used to shape land and to shape their vision,” stated Nye. (Nye, 89) In this quote, Nye is trying to state that technologies and landscapes go together. The more changes in landscapes, there are usually more technological advancements. For example, Japan’s increasing population has become a concern for the Japanese government. For this reason, the Japanese has been building high-rises, but the problem with this was that Japan is frequently hit with earthquakes. Therefore they utilized the technology of high-rises being able to withstand earthquakes in order to maximize the space for their overpopulation. Japan’s population has reached to about 128 million by 2009. If the number 128 million occurred at the time around 200 years ago, without a doubt there will be catastrophic events such as mass starvation and deaths caused by diseases which results from unsanitary conditions. Nonetheless,technology and the ways of our social construction has changed the ill-fate.
People once thought that the world population would never stop increasing
until food would run out for people to suffer from starvation. They believed that all of our natural resources are going to be used up so there would not be any substitues for our necessary energy. It turned out to be false however, since technologies have changed people’s social conditions and lives. People started having lesser number of babies because the average life expectancy sore up due to better medicine and surplus of food. It was not the matter of survival anymore but the matter of commodity. I agree with Nye’s idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity since the world has become more liberal than religious from the past and this also took account in producing less children in the family.
Many of certain natural resources are running out, but our societies are working to produce different ways of energy efficient technologies. We always have alternative plans when things start to go in a negative way. Technology is reasonable for this, and as long as our societies are ready to adapt to new changes and prepare for the better future,our world’s population seems bearable. I agree with Nye that there is no set limit to the world’s carrying capacity.
As I watch the earth rise from the Lunar Sands Casino, various scenarios of the future storm my mind. They differ greatly; one shows cities in ruins under a perpetually gray sky caused by a nuclear winter, while another depicts humans existing with one another and nature in perfect harmony. While these two visions are on opposite ends of the prophetic spectrum, they are both possible outcomes for the human race. I agree with both Nye and Carson in that there is not one single, definite future; there are far too many choices that lie ahead to accurately prophesize what the next fifty years will bring. However, regardless of whether the world of 2064 will lay in ruins or prosperity, it will be technology that leads us to our fate. Technology has always been a part of being human; nature gave us no other way to survive. We do not have sharp claws or teeth to hunt prey; we are not particularly powerful or fast; we do not have fur to keep us warm or a thick hide to protect us from predators; but what we do have, and what has been the only thing that has kept our species alive and dominant for tens of thousands of years, sits between our ears. We have sharpened spears to hunt prey; we have worked as a team to overcome our individual weakness; we have sewn furs together into clothing so we do not freeze during the winter. Our ability to create objects to solve the issues of survival is our greatest, and possibly our only gift. Therefore, it really is impossible to envision a future society of humans in the absence of technology. Even if we exaggerate Merchant’s wishes of returning to the ways of our primitive ancestors, science would still be present; bows and arrows and teepees were still considered modern technology at one point. As Robert Frost would agree, we stand where two roads diverge; both end in drastically different places, however it is science and technology that will bring us to the either destination.
***
“Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social
construction.”
In recent history, the topic of overpopulation gained attention. Overpopulation, as many believed, will bring crisis such as starvation and spreading of diseases throughout the world. There would not be enough source of food for everyone and whether or not the person may live or die depends on the concept of the survival of the fittest. However, as Nye states, “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction,” he asserts that the world’s ultimate capacity of people animals, plants, and the whole population in general depends on the way our society is constructed and not on any previously set scientific values. Like Nye, I concur with the idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity economically and culturally.
David E. Nye uses Daniel Defoe’s classic “Robinson Cruesoe” (1719) as an
example to solidify his view on the ecological crisis. Robinson Cruesoe is a seaman who was stranded on a deserted island off the coast of South America for over 26 years. In a location with zero human population other than Cruesoe himself, he managed to build fortified shleters, catch fish, tame goats, weave baskets, make pottery, and even farm. His means of survival depended upon using his knowledge to obtain the necessities from his surroundings. Nye makes a point that Cruesoe did not become superior because he had metal tools and weapons. He also brings up that Cruesoe did not build tables, chairs, or any of the furniture although he had the knowledge to due to the reason that those items were not necessary for the means of survival. It is not the science itself but together with social construction that will affect the world’s carrying capacity.
It can be clearly stated from our common sense of knowledge that total
population had risen dramatically throughout the last century. As the number of people increased throughout the last century, the advancements in technology had also been taking place, which led to the changes in the ways people lived and utilized the nature around us. “Landscapes are part of the infrastructure of existence, and they are inseparable from the technologies that people have used to shape land and to shape their vision,” stated Nye. (Nye, 89) In this quote, Nye is trying to state that technologies and landscapes go together. The more changes in landscapes, there are usually more technological advancements. For example, Japan’s increasing population has become a concern for the Japanese government. For this reason, the Japanese has been building high-rises, but the problem with this was that Japan is frequently hit with earthquakes. Therefore they utilized the technology of high-rises being able to withstand earthquakes in order to maximize the space for their overpopulation. Japan’s population has reached to about 128 million by 2009. If the number 128 million occurred at the time around 200 years ago, without a doubt there will be catastrophic events such as mass starvation and deaths caused by diseases which results from unsanitary conditions. Nonetheless,technology and the ways of our social construction has changed the ill-fate.
People once thought that the world population would never stop increasing
until food would run out for people to suffer from starvation. They believed that all of our natural resources are going to be used up so there would not be any substitues for our necessary energy. It turned out to be false however, since technologies have changed people’s social conditions and lives. People started having lesser number of babies because the average life expectancy sore up due to better medicine and surplus of food. It was not the matter of survival anymore but the matter of commodity. I agree with Nye’s idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity since the world has become more liberal than religious from the past and this also took account in producing less children in the family.
Many of certain natural resources are running out, but our societies are working to produce different ways of energy efficient technologies. We always have alternative plans when things start to go in a negative way. Technology is reasonable for this, and as long as our societies are ready to adapt to new changes and prepare for the better future,our world’s population seems bearable. I agree with Nye that there is no set limit to the world’s carrying capacity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)