Reading the introduction into this article, I couldn't help but immediately think of another essential - at least, essential to me - question in addition to the three already given: How are we here? Scientifically, this question can be answered quiet easily by using the well known Big Bang theory and then the empirical data of human evolution from ape to man. Or, God creating Adam and Eve; the work of intelligent design. On an individual sense, "How am I here?" can just as easily be answered with an explanation of the union of man and woman. However, personally, as a young adult in knowledge of the possible answers given above, I somehow feel that the answer to my existence, and others, to be so foreign, vast and overwhelming that there never will be one or two answers to explain it all. The thought of my own existence leaves me dumbfounded and in awe of life itself.
Having lived in a small town and a home surrounded by wilderness then experiencing a new life in the fast-paced city of Seattle, I very much agree with most everything that this article has thrown at me. I agree that technology, even though it has made communication and transportation faster, has also helped us forget, ignore and become increasingly distant to the more earthly ways of connecting to another human being and Mother Nature. Most of us don't take the time to appreciate our surroundings, but living life in this modern day and age has also made it difficult to do so. To get anywhere, the majority of people jump in a car and pump the gas peddle; everyone is in a hurry to get nowhere. Once you're at the wheel, you don't have the time to gaze at the sunrise or sunsets, at the majestic mountains, or at the birds riding thermals in the blue sky. You're far too busy avoiding an accident moving at a rate of 30 to 70, sometimes 85, miles per hour. Cell phones provide us with communication at it's fastest and therefore half of our conversations are done by hearing a voice transfered from a line through technology; it doesn't help that cell phones are now equipped with mp3 players, internet, msn, and games to further neglectfulness to our surrounding place.
The last paragraph is definitely rings true, "people who care about a place are more likely to take better care of it. And people who take care of places, one place at a time are the key to the future of humanity and all living creatures.
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2 comments:
... please omit the is before definitely and after paragraphin my last sentence! slight error in grammar :P
I'll have to agree with the fact that moving to a big city like Seattle really makes me understand this article more. As oppose to the simple suburban lifestyle I lived in Olympia, everything here seems to be city like. Eating at a restaurant every night, living off of a bus schedule, walking down the street to go see a show, buying food from a farmers market, even making conversation with strangers on a bus. Everything we do here, even the simplest of things, are affected by the fact that we live in the city.
It’s kind of funny how we are forced to change our lifestyles, even if we do not notice it, to live productively in our community. But we just do it. We buy thick jackets in right before fall. Say we lived in California; we’d probably just invest in a light sweater. All I’m trying to get at is that as minuscule as the effect might be, it’s there. Because of the weather, because of the environment, because of the people, taste, and culture of our region.
I’m just waiting to see how this big city life will change the way I feel and think.
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