Select at least two quotes from Berry's essay "Preserving Wilderness" and respond to them. What does he mean? Is there something you don't understand? What stands out to you?
Respond as a comment to this post, and again, I'd like to see sincere interaction with the text.
The first excerpt from this article that I would like to point out is the quote, "Our problem, exactly, is that human and the natural are indivisible, and yet are different.(519)" This is our sticky predicament- we try to change a world to stop industrializing, but in fact all we are doing is part of our human nature- competition-survival of the fittest. It is our instinct the "beat" the other ones out. We will Never lose this side of human nature. At the same time, though, people still defend the fact that the earth is being ruined for profit, for selfish gain, however, this will never go away. This brings me to the next quote I would like to point out. "To use or not to use nature is not a choice that is available to us; we can live only at the expense of other lives. Our choice has rather to do with how and how much to use. (518)" Lives, or in this case of my discussion- natural resources, will always be lost. There is no way of escaping that. The secret lies with compromise. There will always be a constant pull of nature and human, just like the the life and death cycle. Things will be created and things will be destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI would like to end by pointing out the quote,"We are not going back to the Garden of Eden, nor are we going to manufacture an Industrial Paradise.(518)"
The middle ground is the only place to stand.
"They believe that the ability to do something is the reason to do it." This quote is from the second paragraph in Berry's article in which he describes the "nature conquerors". This quote stood out to me because I believe it captures the thoughts of a majority of the population. Humans are often selfish beings. They want to do what will benefit them, no matter what damage it will do to the environment or to other beings. This is a major problem and is one of the key mentalities that needs to be addressed in order for for us to preserve nature, which in turn will save human life. I believe the quote mentioned above goes hand in hand with Berry's statement,"To be divided against nature, against wildness, then, is a human disaster because it is to be divided against ourselves." We ruin our environment to gain profit and temporarily benefit ourselves, but we rarely take the time to think about how are current actions will affect our surroundings and our future lives. If we took as much time to preserve nature as we do to harm it, the planet would be a much better place.
ReplyDeleteThe first quote that stood out to me was, "We could argue that properly valued and cared for material things would be an age properly spiritual(523)" This quote stood out to me because the theme that our generation is extremely materialistic a recurring one and Berry has an excellent point here. Our society needs to start appreciating materials and realize how much effort goes into certain materials. The second quote that caught my eye was, "In this double recovery...(521, bottom of page) This quote stood out to me because it is a powerful statement in saying that the only way we can survive is if culture and nature recover together to become consistent. However, i am little confused on what he exactly means by "recovering" because this can mean a lot of things from eliminating all SUV'S, to building millions of forests. It is such a vague term in this context that i would have preferred for the writer to have been more specific. Overall, a powerful, yet repetitive text on how we, as a culture, have to step up to the plate and do something about the current state of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe first quote i would like to point out would have to be on (519) " We live, partly, because we are domestic creatures-that is, we participate in our human economy to the extent that we "making a living"; we are able,with variable success, to discipline our appetites and instincts in order to produce this artifact, this human living." Its a big long quote but it grab my attention as soon as i read it. Makes me think why we were put on this earth and why people do what the do. No matter who you are you are put on this world for a reason so as he said in the article "making a living". The next one that got my attention would be on page 521, its confused me and i really didnt know what to think. "For our history reveals that,stripped of the restraints, disciplines, and amelioration of culture, humans are not "natural," not "thinking animals" or "naked apes," but monsters-indiscriminate and insatiable killers and destroyers." Im not real sure what Berry was trying to say about the people in the world. But overall its was a good article about what the world, people need to do in this life time to make this a bettter place to live in.
ReplyDeleteBefore I state my quotes I just want to say how happy I am that i signed up for a class wheere we get to read and research such intellectual, and interesting literature. I really like this piece even though it was a little prolonged i think, but it really makes you think outside of the box. My first and favorite quote is on page 519 when Wendell "Humans are intelligent enough to select for a type of creature: they are not intelligent enought to make a creature. Their efforts to make an entirely domestic animal, like their efforts to make and entirely domestic human,..." This idea is so simple yet so complex at the same time. We don't understand that everything is wild. Our society tries to hide our wilderness with censorship and old conservative views that tell us how to live. To me we try to beat it but we can't so we should join and embelish it or it will destroy us in the future. The second quote that grabed my attention is on page 522 when Wendellsays "We are going to have to see that, if we want our forest to last, then we must make wood products that last, for our forests are more threatened by shoddy workmanship than by clear-cutting or by fire." I like this because its one of those really interesting unpredictable facts. It really makes me think innovativly, but it makes so much since. I really enjoyed this enlightning piece it has defenatly awaken my mind and made me think.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if this article directly correlates with our lecture of place. The difference is that it is a place with nature. An example of this would be on page 518, "We cannot intend our good, in the long run, without intending the good of our place." With my explanation to place I felt as if human beings were made to be in certain places. If we only had the human beings that cared about superficial success than we wouldn't have people to work low paying jobs. To some, just having a job is a success. This goes with the concept of nature, some people are only concerned with the superficial benefits of nature, while others take it in and protect it for what it is worth.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article, I feel like I am the type that is in the so called middle. I don't feel as if I have the strong feelings for nature as some do, while I don't think that I enjoy the thought of making profit off of the nature that we have left. I feel as if there is a comfortable place in the middle. The extremes of two view points is often scary and not necessarily good for humans.
Wendell Berry’s’ article titled “Preserving Wildness” raises multiple sound points on how we as humans can go about protecting our world. This is done through rhetoric that forces the reader to ask questions and examine their own actions and consciences. Although it would be easy to be pick out five or ten quotes that I found most interesting I narrowed it down to only two.
ReplyDeleteThe first quote that I found specifically compelling comes from page 518 when Berry is discussing humans and intending their own good and he says “We cannot intend our good, in the long run, without intending the good of our place-which means, ultimately, the good of the world.” This quote was specifically compelling to me because I believe it was somewhat similar to the ideas of the past article we read by Orr. The idea being that whatever we do on a small scale or community scale has an impact on a large scale or global scale. Berry is discussing the idea that we need to determine what good and bad is not only a personal prospective but on a community prospective and if it truly is benefiting the place we are in it will transition to a larger place being our nation or world. Overall the quote calls us to think beyond our own means and instead about the whole of the human race.
The second quote I pulled from Berry’s article comes from page 521 when his discussing the power of humans and the necessity to use this power in a responsible manner and he says “And so it is more important than ever that we should have cultures capable of making us into humans-creatures capable of prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and the other virtues.” This quote once again was reminiscent of Orr’s article in the idea that Berry is calling humans to be more moral and conduct their actions in a more ethical manner. I also like that instead of calling our educational system to be fixed in order for people to become more ethical, his calling entire cultures and putting the stress on communities as a whole to hold responsibility for what it truly valued in our society. I like this because although education is a big part of our development within our cultures and communities, there are other aspects that do shape and develop our thinking. After all we can’t be in a classroom twenty four hours a day.
The first quote that I really connected with was "I would prefer to stay in the middle, not to avoid taking sides, but because I think the middle is a side, as wee as the real location of the problem." What I really like about this quote is it shares my idea of always trying to be somewhere in the middle, because more often then not this is the solution. I do not whole heartedly agree with any extremists. Especially when it comes to this topic. I share equal distaste for both the nature loving extremists and the corporate extremists. Both of them refuse to see the benefits of the other side making their arguments impossible to solve. It gets to the point where they are just disagreeing because the opposite side said it. The second quote I chose was "7. If there is no escape from the human use of nature, then human good cannot be simple synonymous with natural good." I really like this quote because it shows that we are indeed tied and dependent on this world. We are apart of the world and have the right and capability to mold it to our image of how we want it. Although we do not fully understand it so and it is important to admire the beauty of the wild nature. It can show us how to live our own lives and help us make discoveries and decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe first quote that I really likes was on page 519 " So-called domestic animals must remain half wild, or more than half, because they are creatures of nature." This stood out to me because I find it to be very true, you can try as hard as you can to domesticate a creature of nature. Its always inside of them and they couldn't survive without their wild survival side. The second quote that I chose was " We are creatures obviously subordinate to nature, dependent upon a wild world that we did not make." Nature is so immense compared to our small lives and we couldn't survive without nature. Nature is wild beyond our control and since everything is dependent on nature I think that is where we get our natural wild side.
ReplyDeleteThere was alot in this article that i liked. But there was also alot of information i didnt like, and or disagreed with.
ReplyDeleteOne of the quotes i liked from "Preserving Wilderness" was "..humans differ most from other creatures in the extent to which they must be made what they are..". I like this quote because i think it represents the entire root and in time, solution of the problem that Berry is addressing. Humans are made, socially constructed beings. If we want the way we handel and co-exist in and with nature... we must change the way we are being brought up. Policies, and ideas, and "recognition" of and for the problem wont do anything if we are not EDUCATED and aware of the problem. We must be brought up with this notion of nature if we wish to really change the way we handle it.
Now, aside from some of the strong things that Berry said. I thought atleast, that there were many bad points in his writing. Such as, "if we use soil fertility faster than nature can replenish it, we are proposing an end that we do not desire." While this is totally true, this is only the tip of the iceberg on this issue, just as with many other things in this piece. He has one, very small unspecific, un-ranged example for his arguments. In this one, he missed all about exploring the posibility of man made soil fertility and irrigation. Completley leaving out anything but the au natural process. Just as in this quote " We cannot know what we are doing until we know what nature would be doing if we were doing nothing"... While this quote "makes sense" it really... doesnt. How can we know what we are doing based off what would be happening if we werent here, its like going back in time. Your very existence in that place at that time, defines the path. You cant try to make the path off of a situation that isnt happening, thats an "idea" not progress. Not helping.
This writing for me was very long, with alot of unnecessary and reallly unsupported arguments. But it did have alot of useful and insightful information as well. But in the end, i hope i dont have to read another one of these.
The first quote that stood out to me(on page 519) was when he said, "We live, partly, because we are domestic creatures- that is, we participate in our human economy to the extent that we "make a living"; we are able, with variable success, to disicpline our appetities and instincts in order to produce this artifact, this human living." This stood out to me because it's basically saying that without nature, what are we? Nothing. We rely on nature so much, that it really makes us who we are today. The second quote I liked was, "Human nature partakes of nature, participates in it, is dependent on it, and yet is different from it." This caught my attention due to the fact human nature REALLY IS dependent on nature. The food we eat comes from nature, and I just believe that nature forms our personalities and makes us who we are today.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting to me it showed me that without nature we could not exist. One of the quotes I liked was “what one has (house or job, spouse or car)is only valuable insofar as it can be exchanged for what one believes that one wants- a limitless economic process based upon boundless dissatisfaction.”(page 524) I picked this quote because I believe it to be true, in this world know one seems to be satisfied no matter how much they have. Successful people always seem to want a better car better house and a better life. This reminded me of the article we read previously when it said to not be successful because it will go to your head and forget what is important. Instead of the person who sees the car as a old hunk of crap but sees it as a car and is thankful they have it. Another quote I thought was interesting was “we may or may not have room for more people, but it is certain that we do not have more room for technological heroics.”(page 528) This quote caught my eye because I found it kind of funny because technology can both hurt nature and help nature. This quote makes it seem like technology will destroy nature completely, but I see it as eventually we will start helping out nature with our technology.
ReplyDeleteIn this article there were a lot of points that I found very interesting and points that I feel would be good topics to talk about for hours without getting any of it resolved.
ReplyDeleteI say that we could discuss some of these topics for hours and never get them resolved because preserving our nature is one of those topics that needs a resolution but probably never will.
The first quote I would like to discuss goes along with what I just said in the above few sentences. In the very beginning of the reading Berry states that " At one extreme are those who sound as if they are entirely in favor of nature;they assume that there is no necessary disjuncture or difference between the human estate and the estate of nature...at the other extreme are the nature conquerors, who have no patience with an old-fashioned outdoor farm, let alone a wilderness"(pg 516-517). I feel that this statement is very true. When it comes to any side of any certain issue, we always have the people who are on the far end of both sides of the spectrum. These people feel that they are doing good by demonstrating their beliefs but in retrospect to things all they are really doing is arguing back and forth and that is something that will never seize to exist. It would be like if someone who did not believe in God went up to someone who was a full blown Christian Activist and gave all sorts of good points on why God might just not exist. Will this person drop his or her beliefs right then and there, or will he act out and start blurting out why the non-God believer was wrong. I'm going to say the second one. No one has ever once been in a political debate and one day stopped and said, you know what, your absolutely right. This is something that can not and will not ever happen. For Berry to demonstrate both ends of the spectrum in the very beginning says something on what he thinks will or will not ever happen with this on going debate. Yes, it is good to stand for what we believe in but how long does it take to realize that there's a difference between standing behind our beliefs and being just plane ignorant.
The second quote I would like to discuss is when Berry states that "they believe that the ability to do something is the reason to do it"(pg517). This statement is also a question that people could debate about for hours on end. Where do I stand on this particular topic? Honestly, I am on neither one side of the spectrum or the other. I believe that it depends on what the matter is that were dealing with, whether or not we should do it just because we can. For instance, if we found a cure for cancer would the government hide it from the public or would it be released in bountiful amounts? If we someday found a way for all of to never have to die again would society be willing to give in to something like that? The topic Berry is talking about is a little less extreme but none the less just as important. He is discussing the topic of food production without the use of farms or farmers. Now this topic could be debated forever until the end of eternity. But if we're talking about moral and ethics I would have to say that doing this is only a recipe for disaster. Think of all the people who would be out of jobs. It would either really hurt the economy even more than it already is or it would help better the economy. Regardless if that were ever to happen there would be some sort of drastic change in the economy, whether it be for good or for bad. Berry's side of the issue is more on the fence then mine. At first he says he would want to join the nature extremists but then he states that he would much rather remain in the middle of both spectrums although that in itself is another problem.
"Preserving Wildness" was an interesting article for me to read. It discussed how we are a part of the wilderness and how in some ways it's a part of us. One of the quotes that stood out to me was "There does exist a possibility that we can live more or less in harmony with our native wilderness; I am betting my life that such a harmony is possible." I connected with this quote because I find it to be true, in fact I connected with this entire paragraph. There is a balance that can me between us and the wild but it's very difficult to achieve and will most likely never be perfect. What in this world is perfect though?
ReplyDeleteThis piece was very information to the point where Berry listed so many different aspects our world faces. With all of the points he listed, he remained constant and precise with the "side" he chose (which was in the "middle"). I would have to agree with him though because, well, hes right. "..as the Reagan administration has done, that the wildernesses we are trying to preserve are standing squarely in the way of our present economy, and that the wildernesses cannot survive if our economy does not change"(524). But the problem isn't all just the economy, it also deals with the people behind it. As the "animals" we are, we relate to some things such as instincts. One of our insticts as humans is to be at the top and to do whatever it takes to get there, otherwise known as selfish. So as we try and tackle this enviromental problem, we should first be asking ourselves what we can do individually to make the process to solve the problem easier. In the movie, Notorious, the main character (Notorious BIG) says, "We cant change the world unless we change ourselves". When I read the Reagan line, and started underlining it, that movie and that quote was the first thing that popped into my mind. So before we just jump right into a problem, I think you should jump back and look at the bigger picture of it.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that I feel like Berry was trying to get across was that the foundation of stewardship. Or how I look at it is by taking care of something like you individually own it. On page 522-523, the bottom paragraph talks about "The good worker" and how "if we want our forests to last, then we must make wood products that last". I took this paragraph as seeing how much times have changed and how now its all about quantity and numbers, instead of quality and dedication. Now were all about factories making products so fast that a good number of the products aren't even worth the money their sold for. Back before the industrialist times, things were made with passion and "the good worker" understood that if something is made poorly then the user of that product is going to get the short end of the stick. Why is this happening? All so someone can make a couple dollars here and there. If that person cared more about other people and less about how much they were getting paid then I believe things would go a lot smoother and soon enough you would start to see the world changing for the better.
The first quote that stood out to me while reading this was this quote here: "This wilderness, the universe, is somewhat hospitable to us, but it is also absolutely dangerous to us (it is going to kill us, sooner or later),and we are absolutely dependent upon it." I think this quote summarizes our existence as humans. We tend to think of ourselves as indestructible as a race but the fact is that we are extremely insignificant to the power of the universe and that in the end there is nothing more powerful than that. In this quote he is fostering the idea of humility and the fact that we will always be dependent on nature and the universe. The second quote that struck out to me was this one: "It is not possible (at least, not for very long) for humans to intend their own good specifically or exclusively. We cannot intend our good, in the long run, without intending the good of our place-which means, ultimately, the good
ReplyDeleteof the world." Here he is again appealing to our condition that we must maintain our environment for the good of ourselves. If we keep on taking and taking from the earth eventually we will run out of natural resources and the livlihoods of future generations would be at stake or more likely they wouldn't have livlihood, so it is in our best-interests to do what is best for the world for the future of the human race. Overall I liked the article a lot, Berry wants to find a balance between human progress and success, and the needs of the environment. His moderate stance is very refreshing.
"This wilderness, the universe, is somewhat hospitable to us, but it is also absolutely dangerous to us (it is going to kill us, sooner or later), and we are absolutely dependent upon it."
ReplyDeleteI think quotes like this make Berry's essay very frank. He didn't make it about the environment replacing technology (or vice versa for that matter). He has included humankind and all of our technology (as detrimental as it may be to the planet) into the environment. That's something that can't be ignored. Humans are a species, we will not last. Our struggle to find harmony with the environment is not because we are independent of the of the environment it's because we effect it more than any other species.
"That we depend upon what we are endangered by is a problem not solvable by "problem solving." It does not have what the nature romantic or the technocrat would regard as a solution. We are not going back to the Garden of Eden, nor are we going to manufacture an Industrial Paradise."
This also puts Berry free of either side (as he said in the beginning of his essay). He isn't an optimist or pessimist. He's trying to be a realist. Our options aren't between only technology or only green. There's a third option. It's up to us to figure out a healthy third option.
The first quote that I find interesting is on page 520 when Berry says "But humans differ most from other creatures in the extent to which they must be made what they are-that is, in the extent to which they are articles of their culture." I believe that Berry is speaking to the fact that we, as humans, have little to no basic natural instinct and we must be taught everything from observing the world around us. It is an important point to bring up because it shows the importance of rhetoric in everyday life to help us to form our own opinions about things. Preserving the wilderness is a very necessary task because the earth is our home and if we just keep treating it the careless ways we have in the past then eventually all of our resources will cease to exist. The second quote that I find interesting is on page 528 when Berry says “We may or may not have room for more people, but it is certain that we do not have more room for technological heroics. We do not need any more thousand-dollar solutions to ten-dollar problems or million-dollar solutions to thousand-dollar problems-or multibillion-dollar solutions where there was never a problem at all.” This quote stands out to me because in many ways I agree with it. Every day there is someone coming up with a new solution to a human problem, but if they were to pay a little closer attention they would probably realize that humans are the reason the problem existed in the first place. I’m not saying that I am against technology, I just feel as if we have come to a point where more and more people are more interested in what new video game console is coming out or what new fast car they can buy than caring for the very planet they are living on.
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