The Shift from Wilderness to Ecology: Plaguing the Human Race with Justified Anxiety by Brandon Davis

The Shift from Wilderness to Ecology: Plaguing the Human Race with Justified Anxiety by Brandon Davis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3 en-us 2023-04-30 18:20:15 UTC 2025-12-09 18:16:23 UTC hello@padlet.com (Start) The Beginning of United States Environmentalism brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573070768 Almost a century after the initial settlement of North America, the invention of textile-producing equipment and steam-powered machinery brought novel economic practices to United Statesian society. A drastic shift from the widespread rural lifestyle to an economically more efficient urban one began to take shape (History.com Editors, 2009). With this industrialization came the disappearance of natural landscape, lending to various initiatives, mostly anti-modernist in nature, to mitigate human alienation from the environment. Literarily, such efforts were accompanied by the production of nature writing, works characterized by a retreat from civilization in an effort to freely observe the natural world (Menrisky, 2023).]]> 2023-04-30 18:35:53 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573070768 The Foundation of the Nature-Human Relationship...Thank you Europe! brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573094262 The origin of such anxiety over the disappearing natural environment proves interesting upon understanding the pre-existing relationship between humans and the surrounding land. As a historical consequence owing origin to, at the latest, the widespread practice of serfdom in Europe, the impression that land was defined as private property for economic gain was long entrenched. Therefore, it is not surprising that such a trend became a continuity, based on the American settlers' European origins: "land use ethics are still wholly governed by economic self-interest, just as social ethics were a century ago" (Leopold, 5). This view of land being exclusively used for human benefit set the foundation for the anthropocentrism that defines the human relationship with nature both historically and contemporarily.]]> 2023-04-30 19:38:18 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573094262 Transcendentalism: Thoreau's Wilderness brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573111546 This focus on purpose being based around utility to humans informs one of the initial forms of thought towards environment in the United States: civilization and nature as separate spheres of the world. At first glance, it was believed natural greenery had no actual purpose in regards to society; no part of nature impacted socioeconomic well-being, in fact, it may have been believed to deter from it. With such thought came the aforementioned fading of nature. In an effort to combat this, Henry David Thoreau, well-known for his participation in Transcendentalist philosophy, articulated this concept of nature as non-human wilderness. However, while doing so, he proposed reasons that nature was valuable of maintaining through the explanation of deeper spiritual truths held within it, creating a definition for Transcendentalism as it is known contemporarily (Menrisky, 2023).]]> 2023-04-30 20:27:53 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573111546 Nature as an Individual Experience brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573122395 Throughout his description of nature in Walking, Thoreau's spatial distinction of nature and culture is at the forefront. There exists a clear preference for natural landscape and environment, present in the form of a subtle magnetism and appeal to wild energy. This becomes most recognizable when Thoreau states "man and his affairs, church and state and school, trade and commerce, and manufactures and agriculture, even politics, the most alarming of them all,—I am pleased to see how little space they occupy in the landscape" (32). Such rhetoric posits human and nature as distinctly separate spheres, implying there lacks a connection between the two. He, thus, conveys nature as an escape from society, claiming that part of its anthropocentric purpose is to remove oneself from the busyness of everyday life, providing reason for its existence.]]> 2023-04-30 20:57:46 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573122395 The Second Anthropocentric Part of Wilderness brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573127886 Another motif throughout Walking is Thoreau's emphasis on a sort of supernatural awakening that comes from exposure to the natural environment. This is most clear when Thoreau states "for I believe that climate does thus react on man,—as there is something in the mountain-air that feeds the spirit and inspires. Will not man grow to greater perfection intellectually as well as physically under these influences?" (36). In portraying this relationship between the natural environment and some mystical human development, Thoreau is justifying the need for nature by directly displaying how it can be advantageous to the human experience in hopes of counteracting the moves favoring industrialization. In conjunction with his aforementioned wilderness depiction of nature, he is illustrating the accessibility this sensation is completely in one's own jurisdiction; the accessibility of these transcendental truths are not contingent upon anything aside from one's willingness to escape society and enter nature.]]> 2023-04-30 21:14:16 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573127886 The Contemporary Consequence of the "Separate Spheres" brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573158945 However, regardless of the result of said rhetoric in the mid-nineteenth century, the contemporary manifestation of portraying nature as wilderness is the inability to understand the strong level of interconnection between humans and the surrounding nature. Portraying nature as a completely separate sphere has led to illogical decisions on multiple political fronts. For instance, "[District Judge Christopher Abbott] lifted a temporary restraining order that limited wolf hunting and trapping..., reject[ing] concerns raised by environmental groups...[over] harm[ing] the park's wolf population and conservation efforts" (Hanson). Considering the intentions of lifting the order, it seems to be primarily concerned with the culture of carnivorous hunting in the region. Based on the implication humans and nature exist separately, it is believed that sustaining wolf populations beyond a point where they are not considered in danger of extinction is not in human interest and is seemingly actively against it. The anthropocentrism that can be found in Thoreau's argument for nature conservation lends to a failure to recognize the checks and balances already inherent in nature and that they, more importantly, can actually adversely impact humans. Other instances of this wilderness paradigm appear throughout the discussion. The author of said article, Amy Beth Hanson, mentions "conservationists" and uses the phrase "stronghold for wolf populations" which, in some way, is directly alluding to the separation of humans and nature and the lack of a connection between them (Hanson).]]> 2023-04-30 22:48:37 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573158945 So...the Wilderness Paradigm is not in the Human Interest... brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573171403 One of the largest critiques of Thoreau's portrayal of nature is that it fails to address the interconnections between humans and their surrounding environment. Society's everyday actions and the corporate decisions that embody the economy directly impact multiple aspects of nature, and people lived in ignorance of that for decades. In this regard, there was a noticeable change in perspective with the publishing of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962. As a marine biologist and zoologist, Carson, with her discussion on the adversities of pesticide usage and extensive pollution, directly catalyzed "a nationwide ban on [the] DDT [insecticide]...[and] the movement that ultimately led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)" (Michals). The accessibility and more colloquial language within her book promoted awareness of general ecological principles all throughout society, a scientific viewpoint not well disseminated prior to this time period.]]> 2023-04-30 23:20:45 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573171403 Adversities in the Eyes of Ecology brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573191998 Thus, Carson's work ultimately led to a huge rhetorical shift in terms of how the relationship between humans and the environment was being discussed. In an effort to bring attention to the adversities of human activity, Carson writes "the most alarming of all man's assaults...is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous...materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is...irreversible" (12). This complete rhetorical shift from humans being removed from nature to their direct adverse impact on it highlights how recognition of ecology is essential to social well-being. The goal of her apocalyptic language is to make society aware that actions in/on nature affect themselves as much as anything else. Similar to Thoreau, she is still promoting an anthropocentric viewpoint, as her generation of concern for the environment directly originates in potential danger for humans. However, the actual danger to humans is by association with capitalist socioeconomic practices, as corporations are the ones producing the pollution she describes, not necessarily individuals.]]> 2023-05-01 00:02:25 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573191998 Adversities in the Eyes of Ecology Part 2 brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573207372 She continues to exemplify the potential adversities by criticizing other capitalist practices that are a little more invisibly disadvantageous. With her advanced knowledge on the interconnectedness of species, Carson states "[through single-crop farming, mankind] undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds" (14). She is highlighting that the only reason pesticides are truly needed in farming is due to this capitalist idea that one type of crop can be mass produced without the surrounding ecosystem responding to it. Instead, a simple example of Darwinism is observed. Carson is effectively trying to make society aware of where they fit into an ecosystem by unifying humans and nature. Through this, the hope is that decisions will be made in nature's interest by proxy of it being within human interest as well. With this quote especially, she does begin to highlight a higher order process that, in spite of directly influencing it, humans do not really have true control over: the balance of nature.]]> 2023-05-01 00:26:15 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573207372 Anxiety and Hopelessness Came About Instead... brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573242849 Carson's grand amount of detail on ecology, however, did not have the desired effect of a more environmentally conscious society. Instead, it garnered a widespread level of anxiety and hopelessness, as it was soon realized that higher order socioeconomic structures are what is causing these adverse effects and that it is completely out of one individuals control whether these lethal chemicals are spread into the environment. Thus, the only power that can effectively do something about it is the government; however, as Bullard points out, "waiting for the government to act endanger[s] the health and welfare of...communities" (22), directly demonstrating how society is really not in direct control of this, especially since the government has economic intentions preventing a true green approach to contemporary life. More so than already was done by Thoreau, the propagation of the knowledge of ecology pit industry against human experience, demonstrating a clear shift from taking away a somewhat subjective intellectual experience to endangering everyone's welfare.]]> 2023-05-01 01:17:56 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2573242849 The Presence of Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575228385 Where industrial pollution has gained a significant amount of attention is with the release of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) into nature. Because of the high degree of substitution involving strong carbon to fluorine bonds, nature and humans are unable to break these compounds down, granting them the name forever chemicals. That said, it has been accepted as a fact of life that these compounds contaminate most water sources used for drinking water today, presenting a problem based on their ability to "affect so many parts of the body in adverse ways" (Emanuel). Since the average member of society does not operate a synthetic chemistry laboratory, the industries fueling capitalism are to blame for their spread: "New Hampshire environmental officials largely attributed the pollution to emissions from a factory owned by the company Saint-Gobain" (Emanuel). This continues to illustrate how the new knowledge of ecology posits industry against human health, perpetuating the idea that the harm induced by synthetic chemistry is beyond a community's control.]]> 2023-05-02 13:50:50 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575228385 The Human Knowledge of PFAS brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575258849 Knowing the adverse effects of PFAS, and the lack of control that embodies their spread, the only emotion left is hopelessness and feeling of inability to act. For Wendy Thomas, a New Hampshire resident who relies on well water for daily life, she already accepted that industry has contaminated her source; however, she was unprepared for the results of her PFAS blood test. Considering her result illustrating her levels of perfluorooctanoic acid were 99% higher than other Americans, she exclaimed "the only word I can come up with is gobsmacked.... Numb. Raw" (Emanuel). Based on this and the lack of control over, first, the ingestion and, second, the removal of these substances, Americans like Thomas can only feel a looming, inevitable danger. The buildup of these compounds could strike at any minute, and the health effects are dangerous, leaving one feeling both anxious and out-of-control. It, then, does not help that mitigation is out of one's control in spite of higher structures (capitalism, governments, etc.) knowing that efforts in this realm would be in the best interest of human health.]]> 2023-05-02 14:11:14 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575258849 The Generational Impact brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575276709 Such ecological connections between humans and nature begin to provide additional consequences for all our actions. Yet, the pure scope of the pollution and number of corporations relative to the individual lends to an anxiety over how much humans directly contribute or how much their efforts to combat it matter. This is captured perfectly within Weather by Jenny Offill: "Young person worry: What if nothing I do matters? Old person worry: What if everything I do does?" (17). The ecological thought-process, widespread by Carson, proves to place humans in a realm of feeling smaller than every higher order process and socioeconomic establishment around them. In addition, she highlights a generational aspect to it; younger people, knowing their time on this Earth is in its mere beginning, worry that the future is grim based on the apocalyptic language that surrounds climate change and pollution in general. The same rhetoric affects the older generation, inducing the thought that they are contributing to the downfall of Earth, something their generation will likely evade. Regardless, being aware of this potential lends to everyday anxiety over things outside of individual control.]]> 2023-05-02 14:22:55 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575276709 Communicating This Through an Allegory brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575305366 The apocalyptic rhetoric, and lack of industry efforts to mitigate such detrimental pollution, also has contributed this idea that the conditions are ever worsening. Without any remedies, there exists the potential for severe irreversible damage, as Carson describes, to be done on Earth forever. Offill also alludes to this through a diagnosis the main character, Lizzie, receives. Lizzie describes her visit with a doctor as follows: "The doctor comes back after a while. 'Good news,' he says. 'Nothing to worry about'...Osteoarthritis develops slowly and the pain it causes worsens over time" (Offill, 35). Offill introduces another component of awareness of ecology: the knowledge of some and continued ignorance of others. The latter introduces another level of anxiety in the former, as, just like industry, people refusing to acknowledge the adverse effects of pollution only continues its spread, as there appears no reason to take an economic loss for mitigating emissions, once again, positing controlling chemical safety outside of one's control in spite of it being within society's best interests.]]> 2023-05-02 14:41:35 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575305366 Ohio Chemical Disaster: Why This Is The Industry's Fault brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575327020 Another example of industry directly working against human health appeared in the more recent cargo train explosion in the state of Ohio. This serves as a direct illustration of how people are connected to the chemical and natural world without consciously thinking about it. On February 3rd, the explosion occurred along tracks nearby the Ohio River, lending to spills into what is both an ecosystem and a water source and measurable changes in physical health throughout the surrounding community. The Earthjustice Legislative Counsel Julian Gonzalez describes the adversities in regard to the water source: "When important source waters like this are contaminated by spills caused by corporate greed and lack of protective regulations, the impacts reverberate downstream and harm communities for years" (Ahmad). Such rhetoric creates a feeling of helplessness, as it is clear that such tragedies are not due to small mishaps, but rather corporate profit intentions that can be counterintuitive when it comes to social health and safety. This is only aggravated by governmental support of these industries based on the potential economic gain, something that measures a country's success from the world view: "In 2018, the federal agencies charged with regulating hazardous materials on trains actually removed safety rules requiring modern braking systems. But they failed to conduct mandated safety tests" (Ahmad). With the massive corporations and governments failing to proceed with actions in the best interest of human health, it is only justified that knowledge of the adverse effects of chemical pollution generates anxiety throughout those who believe in it. ]]> 2023-05-02 14:54:53 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575327020 brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575341997 Although the shift from the wilderness paradigm to an ecologically conscious one preserved anthropocentrism as the justification for respecting the natural environment, the consequence of the ecological paradigm, with its apocalyptic language, has manifested itself through severe anxiety based on the inaction of corporations and governments to act such that human health is at the forefront. The concept of wilderness places complete control in the individual whereas the ecological paradigm removes said authority. ]]> 2023-05-02 15:05:11 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575341997 Usage of PFAS brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575354314 Why are perfluorinated alkyl substances such a common environmental pollutant anyways? Due to the presence of strong carbon to fluorine bonds throughout their structures, PVAS are known to especially heat tolerant. Therefore, they are "found in many products, including food packaging...and nonstick cookware" (Ross). Also, considering the overwhelming capabilities in regard to their structure, PFAS have widespread applications; they can also be found in "grease-resistant microwave-popcorn bags, carpets that resist stains, and pipes and wires that resist corrosion" (Ross). However, regardless of the numerous applications, the carbon to fluorine bonds cannot be broken down by nature or humans, terming these compounds forever chemicals. Increasing studies after their usage throughout industry reveals these compounds can be cancer-inducing, among other adverse health effects associated with them. Yet, based solely on economic greed, PFAS can still be found throughout products today, in spite of the knowledge gained over their potential health effects.]]> 2023-05-02 15:13:29 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575354314 Jenny Offill: An Author Writing about Climate brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575385421 Unlike Rachel Carson, Jenny Offill does not hold any credentials in regard to academic biology aside from a standard education. Thus, how does Offill successfully write about climate without this knowledge. As a result of her more societal perspective, she is able to effectively use rhetoric to hit upon points that matter to the everyday member of society. She does this in Weather using some drastic allusions and metaphors, some of which may even be missed by those unaware of her intentions of the novels. She claims "You want to know how to get the comfortable white Americans to do stuff?...The only thing that matters to them is their children’s welfare" (Sehgal). Through her portrayal of Lizzie's family in Weather, she is able to do just that. Her lack of a scientific background actually serves to be in her favor, as she says "I am those people. They’re not going to worry about me. I don’t look very radical" (Sehgal), claiming her appearance as an everyday author helps distance her from arguments of conspiracy theorists of the underlying intentions of those a part of climate activism. She is a parent who is also trying to advocate for the future generations.]]> 2023-05-02 15:36:09 UTC https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575385421 Works Cited brandonddavis https://padlet.com/brandonddavis/48u55dc7oyedq6i3/wish/2575404312 Ahmad, Zahra. “Environmental Advocates Call for State of Emergency in Ohio Chemical Disaster.” Earthjustice, 20 Feb. 2023, earthjustice.org/press/2023/environmental-advocates-call-for-state-of-emergency-in-ohio-chemical-disaster.

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Hanson, Amy Beth. “Montana Judge Restores State Wolf Hunting Regulations.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 30 Nov. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/travel-montana-parks-national-hunting-7fff0c868f085d24ba5982b1b8497099.

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“Perfluorooctanoic Acid.” Sigma Aldrich, https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/171468. Accessed 2 May 2023.

Ross, Rachel. “What Are Pfas?” LiveScience, 30 Apr. 2019, www.livescience.com/65364-pfas.html.

Sehgal, Parul. “How to Write Fiction When the Planet Is Falling Apart.” The New York Times, 5 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/magazine/jenny-offill-weather-book.html.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walking. 1862.

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