When one mentions nature, people tend to think of ponds, trees, fresh air, and freedom; however, has man changed that image? Since the beginning of mankind, the human race has built contraptions beyond belief. Skip Morrow, in his article entitled “What are the Top Ten Inventions of the Last Decade?,” he writes that in the last ten years, “...Camera Phones, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (it was a slow year, but I love this product), YouTube, Tesla Roadster 100, iPhone, HTD Dream (1st Android phone), AIDS Vaccine, iPad, Google 's Self Driving Car, Google Glass, (and) the Oculus Rift....(Morrow)” were created. On the other hand, while some of these items are useful, most were made for the enjoyment of humans. They serve no purpose other than to distract
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Because of his views of nature, among other things, people of today’s century see Thoreau as a transcendentalist. The fact that Henry surpasses thoughts of physical possessions, or the first box, leaves space in his mind for the essential questions. In Walden (one of his more famous texts), Thoreau speaks about how he, “...went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach....(Page 383, lines 4-6)” This shows and proves that he only intends to learn the basic core of what is necessary within nature. An average person of today’s standards would not be able to complete such a task. Research from the Statistic Brain Research Institute shows that the, “...average attention span for humans in 2015 (is approximately) 8.25 seconds. …show more content…
Whether it be natural, such as erosion, or human-caused, like pollution, the way nature and the environment is treated has rapidly declined. Adi Ferrara, in her essay “Pollution Issues,” talks about the effects of pollution not just on nature, but the people residing in and around it, “Between December 5 and 9, 1952, 4,000 people died in London as a result of smog trapped in a thermal inversion (a condition where the air close to the ground is colder than the layer above it, and is therefore unable to rise above it). This incident brought about England 's Clean Air Act in 1956. (Ferrara)” Clearly, in Thoreau’s time, issues such as this was not as big of an issue. With less fossil fuel-run equipment, the air was much cleaner, and people were more active (by walking, riding bicycles, etc.). It is circumstances such as these that must be taken into account on asking whether or not Thoreau and a contemporary person would have the same views upon the wilderness. As seen from the summary of Henry David Thoreau’s travels, “In 1846, 1853, and 1857, Henry David Thoreau traveled through vast stretches of Maine wilderness....(Page 398, lines 1-2)” This obviously shows he explored far before the aforementioned dates when things started to
Because of his views of nature, among other things, people of today’s century see Thoreau as a transcendentalist. The fact that Henry surpasses thoughts of physical possessions, or the first box, leaves space in his mind for the essential questions. In Walden (one of his more famous texts), Thoreau speaks about how he, “...went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach....(Page 383, lines 4-6)” This shows and proves that he only intends to learn the basic core of what is necessary within nature. An average person of today’s standards would not be able to complete such a task. Research from the Statistic Brain Research Institute shows that the, “...average attention span for humans in 2015 (is approximately) 8.25 seconds. …show more content…
Whether it be natural, such as erosion, or human-caused, like pollution, the way nature and the environment is treated has rapidly declined. Adi Ferrara, in her essay “Pollution Issues,” talks about the effects of pollution not just on nature, but the people residing in and around it, “Between December 5 and 9, 1952, 4,000 people died in London as a result of smog trapped in a thermal inversion (a condition where the air close to the ground is colder than the layer above it, and is therefore unable to rise above it). This incident brought about England 's Clean Air Act in 1956. (Ferrara)” Clearly, in Thoreau’s time, issues such as this was not as big of an issue. With less fossil fuel-run equipment, the air was much cleaner, and people were more active (by walking, riding bicycles, etc.). It is circumstances such as these that must be taken into account on asking whether or not Thoreau and a contemporary person would have the same views upon the wilderness. As seen from the summary of Henry David Thoreau’s travels, “In 1846, 1853, and 1857, Henry David Thoreau traveled through vast stretches of Maine wilderness....(Page 398, lines 1-2)” This obviously shows he explored far before the aforementioned dates when things started to