|
|
|
 
Man's Attitude Towards Nature as Being Superior
As mans attitude towards nature evolved, western culture perceived man
as the central and most important part of nature. This egocentric attitude
has acted to the extreme detriment of nature. Yes, I believe this to be
true and I will prove it by looking at resourcism and speciesism.
Resourcism is the exploitation of the worlds resources. Our
consumption rate, especially in the western world, is overwhelming. In the
beginning, we were a hunter and gatherer society, perceiving man and
animals as equals. Everything was shared, there was no claims of ownership,
especially land. The two most significant events in our conquest of the
planet was the creation of agriculture and the industrial revolution. The
development of agriculture gave us control over what we grew and ate. Mass
amounts of land were cleared in order to make room for new crop fields.
Science is considered to be knowledge, knowledge is power and therefore
science is mastery. The continued advancement of science created what is
known as the industrial revolution. This is where our over consumption
began. We were now able to drill into the earth and extract unrenewable
resources and make them into many new products. This attitude of power and
control over the resources of the earth has lead us to think of ourselves
as the most important part of nature. We took what the earth had to offer,
and there was no one to stop us.
Speciesism is the exploitation of plants and animals. At first, we
feared animals but once we domesticated animals we gained a sense of power
and dominance. We now view animals as commodities, curiosities, and even as
our selves. As commodities, we sell, buy and hunt animals. Fish are
considered to be a commodity, so are domesticated animals as well as some
wild animals. As curiosities, we have animals for entertainment. Zoos,
circuses, bullfights, marine land, etc. . The problem with this is the
animals are kept in cages and often have poor living conditions, they are
to some, being held captive. Many people would prefer watching them in
their natural habitats doing natural things. Bears do not normally roll on
balls in bright coloured skirts just so people can laugh. This is degrading
to the animals but once again it reminds us that we are the top species,
the one who controls all the others. We even view animals as our selves,
this is true when it comes to children's enjoyment. Stuffed animals,
cartoons and especially Walt Disney depict animals as humans. In cartoons
we see animals talking like us, walking like us, doing all the things we
normally do. Children are exposed to this egocentric attitude at a very
early age, almost every child will want to visit disney world. With plants,
it is in our gardening that we exemplify control. We all know of those
large gardens with mazes that are geometrically correct, notice how every
hedge is trimmed perfectly. In the hunter and gather society, their
hierarchy had animals and humans as equals, but today we have god at the
top, humans in the middle and nature at the bottom. Some believe that
animals were created for our benefit this belief which I hold myself comes
from Genesis, the first book in the bible. Chapter 1, verse 26 says "And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth".
In conclusion, we now view our selves as the central and most
important part of nature. It is this new attitude that has acted to the
excessive degradation of nature. Things are still in the process of
changing, with the environment high on our list of priorities, we are
beginning to view nature in a different light, as something to be protected
and preserved for future generations.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Oeconomicus And Lysistrata
The following discussion will concern the works, , by Xenophon and Aristophanes. These two works will contrast the perce
Lord Of The Flies
In the William Golding has a group of schoolboys crash on an island and become barbaric. The reason why the boys turn wi
"I Heard The Owl Call My Name" And "The Black Robe": The Indians
Although the Indians in I Heard The Owl Call My Name, and in The Black Robe are primitive in the technological sense, th
Romantism
“To be natural is to be obvious, and to be obvious is to be inartistic”, was said by Oscar Wilde. There are three main r
Poet's Use Of Mockery As Diction In Poem
The poet's use of mockery as diction conveys his disillusioned attitude toward the men that plan the battles without act
|
|
|
|
