Week 9: The Human in Humanities Environmental Issues

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For this weeks’ blog I wanted to focus on the key point made in The Emergence of the Environmental Humanities: that humans are the cause and answer to environmental issues that plague the world. Humans are, and have always been, and invasive species to the planet; we drive cars that produce lots of CO2 emissions, we overfish the sea, we destroy land to create homes, and so on. The article, early on, states how, “—[the] current consumption of the earth’s resources is not sustainable” (MIT, 1) and that this issue is not fixable by scientists alone. The writers of this essay essentially say that in order to fix this issue we need to convince humans to go along with a solution by catering to them and highlighting the profitability. This leads me to my underlying point that in a capitalistic world, one where you will not show up to your next shift if you receive nothing but knowing you are contributing to the betterment of society, the globally impacting environmental issues will never be resolved in a world full of narrow minded individuals. For example, as an average citizen it is hard to grasp the idea that I alone can do anything about the carbon emissions cars produce every day because even with the invention of new electrically powered cars, it doesn’t mean that me or the next person will have the money to buy one. Therefore the writers then touch on the idea that in order for an environmentally forward shift in any aspect of every day life to have an effect, the new shift must take note of “— adequate insight into the historical and cultural context of a proposed solution” (MIT, 2). This problem is a human made problem that will take everyone’s opinions, outlooks, and ideas to be contributed if we ever want to make any sort of real, positive, change in our environment. Humans are very emotionally wired beings, so if we can get people to care about this issue AND make it make the most practical sense, only then will change have the potential to occur; without those two qualities, humans cannot be bothered and we will ride the Earth until it’s’ wheels fall off.

Week 9 — AI Modeling an Eco-Friendly World

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This week’s reading was super interesting to me and I found that I enjoyed the author’s approach in that they basically say here are the ways that we think are best to view/treat the environment and here are their drawbacks. They clearly stated in the beginning too that they are not out to destroy or dissect any bad ideas, it’s really just pooling what they believe are some of the best approaches. For my blog post, I want to talk about something that my roommate sent me off of reddit the other day and how it relates to this reading. I liked their introduction to explaining how environmental humanities will become a prevalent study in the near future. It reads, “Carolyn Merchant has argued that “a partnership ethic would bring humans and non-human nature into a dynamically balanced, more nearly equal relationship.” Such a new ethic requires a new narrative. This new story “would not accept the idea of sub-duing the earth, or even dressing and keeping the garden, since both entail total domestication and control by human beings. Instead, each earthly place would be a home, or community, to be shared with other living and non-living things” (Emerret, page 6). The other day my roommate sent me this link where someone asked Chat-GPT to “describe a world where the power structures are reversed. Add descriptions for images to accompany the text”. If you click on the link I would hope you are as baffled and interested as I am. It’s interesting to see in this world that we cohabit the environment with nature, opposed to the typical western approach of conquering the environment. Seeing cities and houses that look equally modern as they do ‘nature-ish’ is a wild sight, and in my opinion would be a sick world to live in. My only contingencies in this world is that for starters, I think it would be nearly impossible to get each and every person on earth on this same level of understanding and appreciation towards the environment, especially losing the emphasis on monetary growth in large corporations. Secondly, and what scares me the most, is a world that is predominantly run by AI. I think the concept of AI having no biases is super cool and could be extremely powerful, but in a nutshell someone has to create and train that AI model, and if fed with some level of bias it will inevitably surface in its decision making. But who knows, AI will continue to develop, peoples opinions around: money, positions of power, and environmental relationship could also be subject to change allowing room for this type of society in our world at some point in our future. If anyone checks out the link, let me know what you think! Is it a world you would want to live in? Is it a realistic future? 

Week 9: Environmental Humanities

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Chapter 1 of the book “The Environmental Humanities: A Critical Introduction,” edited by Robert S. Emmett and David E. Nye. The Environmental Humanities is an interdisciplinary field that explores the relationship between humans and the environment through various lenses. What stuck with me from the reading was that, “Human beings do not have special rights relative to other species. Rather than view animals and plants in terms of their usefulness to humanity, we can see them as having an intrinsic right to exist. And when an entire form of life disappears, its loss diminishes human culture too.” (Nye, 11) They argue against the idea that humans have special rights over other species and advocate for acknowledging the intrinsic value of animals and plants. By emphasizing the intrinsic value of non-human life forms, the authors promote a more holistic and ethical approach to environmental management. They highlight the interconnection of all life forms, arguing that the extinction of an entire species or ecosystem has ecological effects as well as a negative impact on human culture. Species extinction can destroy cultural legacy, disrupt traditional traditions, and reduce the variety of human experiences and viewpoints.

I agree with the authors that humans should not feel themselves superior to other creatures. Instead, we should acknowledge the inherent worth of all living beings. By considering animals and plants to have an inherent right to exist, we recognize their role in preserving ecological balance and biodiversity. Furthermore, I agree that the extinction of a species has far-reaching cultural consequences in addition to environmental ones. Every species contributes to our world’s richness and diversity, and their extinction reduces the fabric of human civilization as well.

Week 9: Humanities

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so this time it was a reading and not quite from the penguin book or the other one which is an interesting change of pace. It talks about how environmental humanities have been in the works for awhile, which I believe: we’ve been aware of climate change since the 60s at the earliest (if I recall correctly). But reading it really reaffirmed a theme that we touch upon in class which is that of humanity’s role within nature.

”human beings are not merely observers they are an active part of nature”. (Page 8) We have shaped nature all throughout history physically and figuratively (through stuff like folklore and mythology). Even today we’re still trying to understand nature more and more (especially since we have a profound effect on it)In a way, it makes sense why environmental humanities became more and more relevant (with understanding comes widespread knowledge, and more awareness). At the same time, though, I hope we aren’t too late with it. Maybe being so divorced from nature has made us care less? Not to say that the developed world is horrible and we should revert back to a simpler life, but the more we move forward, the less we seem concerned with our planet

I had to type this on my iPhone. .

Week 9: The Ocean—Where There is Mystery, There is a Place to Hide From Ourselves

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The Article “The Blue Humanities” by John R. Gillis takes the point made in last week’s reading of “The Trouble With Wilderness” by William Cronon a step further—narrowing the human-made idea of “wilderness” to one specific aspect of the environment: The Ocean. In what we observed from Cronon, we learned about how humanity constructed the idea of the untouched “wilderness” in order to blind ourselves to not only our misdeeds (pollution, loss of biodiversity, overconsumption) but our presence in every area of the world. There is no where to hide from ourselves and our wrongdoings, and we comfort ourselves through delusion. Gillis teaches us about the history of human’s perception of the ocean, once being overlooked, to being feared, to being a new place of solace—a new place to hide. Since the ocean, having been believed to be an empty abyss, was vastly unexplored, humanity was able to project their dreams onto and escape into the deep. He states, “Pristine nature, now in short supply in industrialized heartlands, found refuge in the oceans, while the mystery once associated with terra incognita relocated to the deeps.”, explaining the need to escape that affected a vast majority of people, specifically in urbanized environments, who were immediate witnesses to humanity’s destruction of the natural world. As industrialization became more developed, the world as people knew it began to shrink: in cities, as large buildings were raised and city limits expanded, there was less and less world to be found in the common space, and even in nature, as temperate forests were clear-cut to construct these buildings, life that was not polluted by industrial values disappeared. The only piece of the natural world that was left for people to grasp onto was the ocean, so much so “they want about them talismans of nature on their walls, their shelves, their keyrings.” (Paterson-Hamilton), to be kept as reminders of what life is still out there, life beyond the smog and concrete. But even those talismans are part of the grand constructed delusion, as the ecosystems that were reaped in order collect those talismans were forever tainted. In the hands of collectors desperate for comfort that there is still pure life out there, or in the lungs of swimmers desperate to be part of it, or in the literature of Atlantis that plays in the dreams of people who can no longer see the stars, there is hope that not all has been lost to consumption. But it is already too late, and unless those hopes turn into reparations, and we stop running from the reality of our impact, the problem will only worsen with ignorance.

Week 9: Blue Humanities

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“Early modern science knew much more about the heavens than about the oceans; and more attention was paid to extracting the wealth of the seas, namely fish, than to the waters themselves. All that lay beneath the surface—The Deep—was thought to be an unfathomable abyss, impenetrable and unknowable, a dark dead zone that trapped all that sank below the surface, never revealing its secrets.”

Reading Blue Humanities this week reaffirmed the idea that we really don’t know anything about the ocean. Most of what we know is either what we have explored (which is so minor compared to the percentage of the ocean that is undiscovered), or what we have created through our imagination. Similar to last week’s reading, we created an “aesthetic” of the ocean. What was once considered a scary unknown, is now an element of nature that brings serenity and peace to people. This shift in mindset and attitude towards the ocean and the wilderness in a way is kind of refreshing because I think it encourages us to be more protective over earth. Although preservation tactics and human consumption have been an ailment to nature, viewing natural elements in a humanly-beneficial way can motivate politicians and people in general to shift towards saving the planet.

Week 9: The Emergence of Environmental Humanities

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It was interesting to learn in this week’s reading that the environmental humanities did not emerge until the 1970s and 1980s. The field is one that I personally find a lot of interest in and believe has assisted in many other fields of study and discoveries. “The environmental humanities has become a global intellectual movement that reconceives the relationship between scientific and technical disciplines and the humanities, which are essential to understanding and resolving dilemmas that have been created by industrial society” (Emmett, Nye, 4). This quote from the reading helps explain that point. Throughout time historians and researchers have used the humanities to assist in scientific discoveries. Art and literature play a big role in understanding history and are essential to learning about the past. This leads me to agree with the suggestion by arts and design advocates to shift the term STEM to the term STEAM. The arts contribute so much to science, technology, mathematics, and engineering and deserve to be appreciated and studied just as much. Without the arts, there would be much more unknown about history and the development of society. I believe that many of the progressions we have made as a society are credited to the arts and humanities which further surprises me that the environmental humanities were discovered so recently.

The reading also focuses on the term “resilience” and the idea of equilibrium. There are opposing opinions about whether or not resilience is a good argument and method for a sustainable environment. Resilience “suggests that a healthy ecological system is self-regulating and is able to adapt to external challenges within certain limits. A system, rather than being a balanced arrangement that has persisted for millennia, is always in a process of change” (Emmett, Nye, 20). This idea can be compared to the readings on Wilderness from last week. We spoke about the idea of humans living in balance with nature to create a healthier planet and ecosystem. This raises the question of whether or not we can live in balance with nature as people and if that would lead to more resilient ecosystems. The environmental crisis is important to address and I think the connection of “The Emergence of Environmental Humanities” with “The Trouble With Wilderness” can help us better understand it.

Week 9: Blue Humanities

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Out of the two readings for week 9, I found the Blue Humanities one to be more interesting. This article discussed our scientific and conceptual history of the sea and how it has developed over the last few centuries. One part I liked was when the author talked about how with more analysis of historical sea documents, we have started to understand our changing perceptions toward the sea. Our view of the sea has primarily shifted from a more utilitarian and mechanical perspective to an aesthetic, modern, beautiful conception. This tied into some of our discussion from last week, when we talked about how the sea used to be only visited by people who went there for work, but it later moved into a more recreational activity for people as it became this beautiful, relaxing concept. Our interaction with parts of nature depends on our subjective value of the entity. This can apply to really everything; for instance, our social interactions with others will depend on our subjective value of the other. But even within our subjective values of parts of nature, there is variance between person to person. No two people see the world the same, as our worlds are shaped by personal experiences and our top down processing of the world creates a biased and personalized living experience. Take for instance–some people go into nature and take the ‘leave no trace’ method, while others destroy and litter. All depending on subjective value. But it is interesting to see when these perceptions of the world are something that are the same from person to person–this shift from a utilitarian ocean to an aesthetic ocean. Mediums such as stories and paintings are fascinating to analyze because of how they may affect the viewers and change their own perspective of the world. How much of our reality is actually real, and how much of it is influenced and made subjective? I don’t believe anyone can truly see the world in objective eyes. I wonder what other parts of the world that we disregard may become more ‘aesthetic’ to us, or the reverse. Will the ocean become less aesthetic and beautiful to us as we discover more about it? Or as environmental pollution/destruction ruins it? Will we have places on land, similar to aquariums, that mimic what the ocean used to be like? 

Week 9: Blue Humanities

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In last week’s reading we have learnt that recreation at a sea has only become relevant, because humans have culturally produced the sea to be a place to go to take a break. I was reminded of that and saw correlations between the article “Blue Humanities” and last week’s reading. As being said in Gillis’ article, “nations turned away from the sea as a place of work that writers and painters turned their full attention to the sea itself. They turned it, as never before, into a place of spiritual and physical recreation […] they gave it new cultural status, a higher aesthetic power” (Gillis). What I found to be interesting about that, is that this transformation once again reflects broader shifts in societal values and attitudes towards nature and the environment. Apart from, it resembles people’s desires in an ever-changing world (the time of industrialization). Now that industries developed and people moved to the cities, they also got disconnected to the natural world. The sea thus got romanticized as a consequence and beach activities first got developed, “It was in the era of the thoroughly landlocked industrial revolution that the sea first became a part of mainstream mainland culture”. The middle class of the late 18th century was looking for an unknown natural place, far away from urban cities, to call their new place of recreation.

Another interesting aspect I found in the text is that the sea “became a symbol of eternity, a comfort to those who, having lost their faith in divine dispensation of everlasting life, came to see in its apparently timeless flows evidence of nature’s immortality and a secular promise of life everlasting”. Through what is shown above, one can argue that some of the late 18th century people started to lose their faith in religious concepts of eternal life. Looking at the sea and seeing the waves and tides come and go, gave the people a sense of security, knowing that now nature is immortal.

Week 9: Blue Humanities

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In the blue humanities reading, the author showcased how Western attitudes towards the sea/ocean changed over time from disinterest and fear to one of fascination and awe. This mimics the attitudes that individuals held towards the “wilderness” as the cultural values associated with both these natural spaces changed to suit the desires of a western audience. I believe that the coast and sea shore itself became a kind of frontier myth for those living in the 19th century. In both the terrestrial and aquatic frontier myth, people looked back to these places as a romanticized version of the past. In the reading, the author states that, “pristine nature now in short supply in the industrialized heartlands, found a refuge in the oceans…Simultaneously, the sublime, previously associated with mountains and forests, came to be associated with the wild water.” In this quote, the author is mentioning how people are once again searching for a space that is untouched/unaltered by humans which is highlighted by the addition of the words ‘industrialized heartlands’. This phrasing positions the sea as something that people saw separate from them and because of their separation, there was a type of sacredness to it, which matches the sacredness that people felt towards national parks. The use of the phrase ‘wild water’ is interesting as well because the water is being personified and altered to fit this idea of untouched wilderness even though people had utilized the open ocean and other bodies of water for hundreds of years.

Humanities: The Journal of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Web. 2013