Week 13 Reflection by Patrick Gehan https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen Made with a wish on a star en-us 2020-11-17 00:39:58 UTC 2020-12-04 23:48:50 UTC hello@padlet.com Why do you think this Colorado River video was done in the first person, with the river speaking for itself? Did the first person perspective surprise you (or not), and why? Did you know that treating rivers like people under the law is a legal strategy being used around the world to protect rivers? What are some of the ethical implications of ascribing “personhood” to rivers? patrickgehan https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929769322 I think the video was done in first person to explain about the Colorado River without preamble since the river is explaining itself. I did surprise me at first to hear a river metaphorically talking. I did not know that ascribing personhood was being used on things other than companies. If a river is a person, then we must not excessively exploit it for our own benefit.]]> 2020-11-17 00:42:26 UTC https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929769322 What aspects of your everyday landscape do you take for granted as “natural”? This may be on campus, at home, or somewhere else. Going further, do you know where your drinking water comes from? If you do know where your water comes from, how did you learn this information? If you don’t know where your water comes from, why don’t you? And would you call that an engineering success, an engineering failure, or something else entirely? What are some of the ramifications of not knowing where your drinking water comes from? patrickgehan https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929771380 I take things such as grass and trees as nature. I have never known specifically where my drinking water comes from. This is because I have always lived in a world where you can get an unlimited amount of tap water for nearly free. I personally would call this an engineering success, a problem solved so thoroughly that people don't realize there was ever a problem to begin with. Not knowing where your water comes from can easily create a disconnect where we forget all the work that went into creating this modern miracle and what impacts its having in places we can't see. ]]> 2020-11-17 00:43:34 UTC https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929771380 Imagine a geographic scenario where the Colorado River ended in Southern California rather than across the United States border in entirely different country (Mexico). If the community of San Luis Rio Colorado were instead Los Angeles or San Diego, would the condition of the river’s delta be different? Why or why not? Work the concept of “environmental justice” into your answer. patrickgehan https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929772874 The condition of the river's delta would certainly be different if people with money were directly feeling its effects. The reason that environmental justice is important is for situations where vulnerable people feel the negative consequences of other's actions. The environmentally just thing to do would be for the people benefiting from the river to ensure their use of it does not negatively impact people without the power to make then change what they're doing. ]]> 2020-11-17 00:44:23 UTC https://padlet.com/patrickgehan/z4tt9uc19n6hdpen/wish/929772874