November 30, 2016 - 10:50
Main Points:
1. Humans share a bond with the Earth that is so strong. One of the most striking examples of this was when he pointed out that Newton's law of gravitation could illustrate the bond we have in the best way. Serres described this very well: "... the Earth comprehends, in a way, the point of view of the other bodies since it must reverberate with the events of teh whole system." (pg. 6) This took me back to the Le Guin reading that we did for last time, and how the planet the crew was on reflected the emotions they were feeling back at them. In the same way, the Earth takes our actions and emotions and reflects them back onto us. There is no way we can escape this bond.
2. This relates to the first point again, but another main point is that the Earth is very alive. Too often, we put the Earth in the background, and refuse to see it as a living, breathing thing. We see the Earth as inanimate, and thus try to control it. Mark Twain once wrote, regarding the Mississippi River, that one "cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or confine it... ." (pg. 9) However, that's exactly what some people have tried to do. They try to "fix" the river to make it flow where they want it to flow. Of course, this ends up badly, and flooding becomes a more severe risk.
3. Another very major point that he makes is that the Earth is taking control now, or at least that is how we see global warming: "... it is human history that has become frozen and natural history that is taking on a frenetic place." (pg. 12) Humans think that it isn't our fault that this is happening. We are so disconnected from the Earth that we can't really take the blame for this. We need to become more connected in order to solve the problem.
Question:
My question is one for all of us: What are we going to do after this class and after reading this? Are we just going to continue on with our lives and live in ignorance, or are we actually going to try to make an effort?