Bridget's+Page

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Man has always felt a need for control because with control comes the feeling of security. As time progresses nature has yet to be controlled by man. It can be manipulated and replicated but not be completely controlled. This is what makes nature so frightening and beautiful. How can man successfully feel like he has control over a situation that is impossible to have control over? Man does this by analyzing and observing nature. Some of these observations are expressed and shared in the texts below. Ultimately none of these opinions on nature will change anything about nature itself. These authors are simply trying to change the views of their readers. Perhaps they feel that by changing a person's mind and perhaps their day to day behavior, they are changing nature as a whole. When these views are written down and expressed the author feels he, himself has a better understanding of nature. He feels that gives him some sort of power over it. But it doesn't. No matter how deeply someone analyzes the growth of a fungus on a log, it will never change how things should be happening naturally. No one has the authority to determine what is natural. The only thing man can do is to try to have as little influence on nature as possible and let it take its course.

Rip and Scooby; how wilderness and solitude affect trust.

In "Rip VanWinkle" Rip is overwhelmed not by the lack of control he has over nature but the lack of control he has over his own life. Rip saw nature as a retreat and an escape from the pressures of society and from the pressures his wife put on him. This story also shows how we may view nature in a mystical sort of way. When Rip goes into the forest, it is not only to hunt wild pigeon and squirrels. He goes into the forest to get lost within himself and the mysticism of nature. One of the reasons man affiliates the mystical with wilderness is because wilderness is untamed and untouched by man. Being untouched or undiscovered, nature is a mystery to man. When man goes into the wilderness he is often secluded from others. This means if no one else is with him, no one could prove what had happened or did not happen. When Rip was approached by dancing gnomes in the woods, who would ever believe that that actually happened? Since no one was with Rip, there was no proof that the recounted event actually happened. Although Rip did tell the truth, the possibility to twist the truth always comes with the privilege of being secluded. It does however, always leave the public wondering how true or untrue the stories are that come from people being secluded in wilderness. In Scooby-Doo the creator uses solitude and wilderness to bring a mystical element into the story. when the gang went into the woods they felt uneasy because of the suclution, they didn't like the idea of the trees covering the actions that were about to happen inside of the woods. When Fred and Scooby find the headless horseman had gotten caught up in the sewing machine, they were alone. When they bring back the rest of the gang. They find that the headless horseman is missing. This causes Fred to eminently defend his statement that the headless horseman was indeed there because; they have no reason to believe him with out proof other than their trust in him. this is proving the point that, when one is sucluded it is harder to believe what they say.


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 When I first went into the woods, I did not feel the anxiety that the Scooby-Doo gang felt when they were in the woods. I did not succumb to the pressure of wanting to leave to become in society once again.  At the beginning of this trip, I felt sluggish andslow. This quickly changed after we started the hike. When the crisp mountain air filled my lungs I felt a relief. I felt light and free and after ten minutes or so I started to enjoy the hike. When we came upon beautiful views it made me feel clean. I felt clean because I did not feel the responsibility of mankind anymore. Seeing so much untouched land gave me hope that man may soon stop destroying wilderness. When looking at the views I thought, every person should have the chance to experience what I am feeling right now. After this thought I became depressed because, I realized not everyone will get that chance. I did not think that because of the difficulty to make the hike but, because many sights like the one I was experiencing would be torn down some time in the future. This feels inevitable, it is inevitable, the demands of humans are just too great. I went on to reflect on what man has done in the past to try and stop what was bound to happen and how many of his actions were in vain. It was interesting to see the farms at the bottom of the valley. You could directly compare two pieces of land. The first being a farm, cleared away of all trees and wilderness. The second being a piece of forest, the same size, almost untouched. I contemplated which one was worth more for society at large.

// Societies View of Nature //

 The world's view of nature in today's day and age is very disputed. Nature is viewed by some as a tool. Many humans today believe that nature should be used to its fullest extent and every single element can, and should be used. These are the people that focus on industrial and economic growth. They believe progress cannot be made without the constant use of natural resources. People who look at nature this way often times do not think of the consequences. To them trees will continue to grow, coal will continue to be available, and the earth will continue to replenish its self with resources. However, this is not the case. The constant use of nature’s natural resources makes them limited. The earth cannot grow trees at the rate at which humans chop them down, coal cannot be found in the amount that is needed anymore, everything has it's limit. This has created a society filled with guilt. Environmentalists have seen the effects of over using natural resources and they are consistently trying to teach the consequences of our actions to the world's population. They urge society to conserve and protect the environment because with out the help and respect of human beings it cannot flourish. This movement has inspired many people to "go green". Some extremists believe we must conserve and only conserve, but the general view that has for a long time been the ideal is that there should be a balance. If man can balance their needs with nature the resources that they need will be there for a long time.


 * __ Thoughts on "The Idea of a Garden" by Pollen __**

 In "The Idea of a Garden" by Pollan he discusses a perfect balance in nature where resourcesare utilized, but only to the extent of which they are needed by a society. In Encounters, neither Dominy nor Brower believes this. They are Extremists. Dominy believes progress cannot be made without completely exploiting nature. However, Brower feels that nature should be left in its complete original state and should not be harmed. In "The Idea of a Garden" Pollan talks about how a storm destroys an area of pines and leaves almost no trees standing. A reporter claims, "To biology it is not a travesty. It is just a natural occurrence." This would be Browers argument. He would believe that the trees should be left as they are and that humans should not interfere. In the article Pollan also states, " A few others had the poor taste to point out the waste of more than a million board-feet of valuable timber, stupendous lengths of unblemished, knot-free pine." This would be Dominy's argument. He would feel that the fallen trees should be used for lumber because it would be a complete waste of resources. Dominy likes to use nature to its full industrial potential. Pollan feels that a balance should be found between the two. He believes it would be fair to use the fallen trees for lumber as long as new trees were replanted in their place. Pollan believes in nature there is a balance and there is always a way to achieve in a way that is beneficial to humans and nature.

How Encounters Relates to Preservation

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 In Encounters there are two opposite view points. Dominy and Brower argue simulare to how the comunity in "Idea of a Garden" do. There is Dominy's view, where he believes that nature should be used to man's advantage. He is for the use of damns and explains the benefits they will have to society. However, Brower is against using natural resources and believes nature should be left alone. This is why he believes damns should not be built because he thinks it will affect the environments natural state. In "The Idea of a Garden" Pollan discusses a balance. This balance is true preservation because it is using natural resources to sustain and support humanity, but replenishing them so they can be used for future use. =====

Man's View of Nature from Genesis

Genesis reflects Dominys view that the wilderness was created for mans advantage. The section of Genesis in the bible is a story of creation. It talks about how god created the earth anorder that which he created it. As one reads Genesis you get the sense that man is superior to all other beings. It's as if God placed everything on the earth in for the arrival of man. Light, water, animals, livestock, and all of nature, were put to sustain, to entertain, and to be all at man's fingertips. However, God did not intend for nature to be wasted. He wanted humans to benefit from it, but not to harm it. The main reason God created most of the life in nature is so that man and other creatures could eat and survive. God wanted nature, like all things, to be appreciated. He did not want humans to waste and view nature as something that will always be perfectly supplied. God wanted it to be valued just as life itself was. He did want human life to feel semi-superior, but to the extent that humans feel today. Society cannot blame Genesis and the creation story for how nature is treated today because it all depends on how you interpret the story.

Ben Franklin

 Ben Franklin is often praised for his attitude towards the Native Americans, even though his attitude contradicted some of the basic beliefs that a colonists man would grow up with. In his essay "Remarks Concerning The Native Americans" he shows the people of the colonies that Native Americans are not savages, they are just a group of people with a different lifestyle and culture. In the essay Franklin discusses how proper gentlemen of the colonies tried to propose a formal education to the young men of Native American tribes. When receiving the offer, the Native Americans took a day to reply to show respect, but their answer shocked the gentlemen. The Native Americans made a statement that they respected the offer, but they must decline. The chief said that their young men were better off being raised with the Indian customs and traditions than in proper colleges. He also said that the gentlemen sons and fellow young men should come and learn with them because the Indians will teach them to become actual men and teach them useful life skills. Franklin thought this was worth writing about because, he agreed with the Native Americans. He felt that proper schooling was not necessarily the only or best option and that the Native American life style should be respected. The Native Americans were one of the only people in the entire world that were able to find a way to live in sync with nature. The Native Americans were able to live off the land without abusing the abundance of resources they had at their fingertips. This was very unlike the colonists and when the Native Americans were killed so was their way of life.

= The theme of nature throughout Huckelberry Finn =

 Throughout Huck Finn we frequently see him living with nature as well as within nature. Much like the Native Americans he was able to take what he needed from nature but only what he needed. Huck was also uncomfortable when he had more than what he needed as well. When he lives with the widow, he often comments on how uncomfortable he is in this setting. When Pap takes him away to a cabin in the woods, even though he has been kidnapped and taken against his will he can't help but to enjoy the woods and the simplicity days there. Huck missed simplicity in his life. At the widows he was constantly nagged and forced to do things he didn't want to do. In the wilderness huck knew how things worked and was forced to do very little other then not leave. Later on in the book when Huck meets up with Jim they travel down the Mississippi together,  using nature as the purest means of transport. They are simply floating and don't need an engine or paddles. At this point in the book Huck and Jim are reliant on nature for most everything. They mostly fish for their food except when they're lucky and pass a farm where they can "borrow" some mush melons and how far they go in a day is all dependent on how fast the current is.  Later on in the book Huck mentions how him and Jim are naked almost all the time on the raft. This shows neither of them like the confinements of clothes. Huck even has a set of clothes from when he spent time with Bucks family, but he says they're far too nice to be comfortable. Even when he stayed wit the widow he was constantly complaining about his clothing and how itchy they were. Huck just prefers a simpler life. When Huck came upon a fortune with Tom Sawyer, He didn't want the money he only thinks of it as a burden and he was proved right to think so when his father comes and kidnaps him only for his fortune. Huck is proved several times in the book that life is better when it's simpler and that there's no need to make things complex with things like religion or money or clothing or speaking correctly or being honest when it's not convenient. Huck is constantly finding sanctuary in nature and when everything goes wrong the reader knows they are at a sense of normalcy when huck and Jim are back on the raft. Huck is truly comfortable when entrenched in nature. He has time to gather his thoughts in silence, with no one to tell him what to do. Huck is truely fortunate to be able to enjoy the seclusion.

Being in an urban setting, it is more difficult to find a way to seclude yourself from society. Often in urban settings people feel more lonesome and stressed than in wilderness settings despite being surrounded by more people. There is beauty in simplicity and nature is far simpler than urbanity. With urban innovation, a trained eye, such as someone who is used to the scenes around them, is the only eye that can find beauty and peace in a city. It takes more effort for a man to relax in a city, and often the ways they find to relax are by simulating natural settings. Man naturally finds peace in nature because that is where man derived from. In "Maggie Girl of the Streets" we see in the opening chapter of the book that there are two boys fighting in an alleyway. This scene demonstrates the conflicts man may have to deal with when living in such close quarters. This brings with it the aspect of an urban wilderness, not wilderness in the sense of wild, but in the sense of the primal natural and what is bound to happen naturally when man lives to closely to one another.
 * The Urban Wilderness **

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #e52621; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 55pt;"> How Koyaanisqatsi Relates To Our Topic Of Nature

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Like "Maggie Girl of the Streets" Koyaanisqatsi is filled with images of an urban wilderness. Koyaanisqatsi forces the viewer to witness untouched wilderness and urban life in different ways. It questions the point of all of Societies consumption and if it's worth the cost. This movie says so much without saying anything at all. The music playing during the scenes has a huge impact on the feeling of the viewer. When an image of a highway appears, a fast dissonance-filled melody is played, compared to when an image of a creek is brought on to screen, a loving slow melody is played. This changes the feelings of the viewer by manipulating their level of comfort.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">media type="youtube" key="cJrtROuQFfk" width="425" height="350" align="left"

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In the video to the left it shows the launch of a space shuttle out of the earth's atmosphere. The shuttle represents all of the pride and effort we put into the manufacturing of new products in America. It also represents what society can make with enough resources. When the shuttle explodes it show that all of our effort was in vain and that we should have never had pride in the first place. All of our resources were plucked from the earth and wasted on a project that should have never been created in the first place. The reason this project was created is because the western man cannot and will not ever be happy with what he has and where he is. He will always want more and always want to be somewhere else.When the movie shows the face of people walking by in New York, the pedestrians look miserable. Perhaps it’s reflecting on the fact that in an urban environment it is very hard to be happy. Perhaps if those people went back to nature they'd be happier. Back to the shuttle, as the debris from the shuttle falls, one reflects on why we even made this shuttle in the first place, we should've been happy with what we had. As it fades into the image of the cave paintings it is trying to represent that ancient man was the only one who knew how to live with nature and how we are all doomed if we never get back to that mentality.