Chapter 15: Nature

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"the belief that humankind has the right to impose its will on nature may in fact be a base cause of our present environmental crisis." (Janaro and Altshuler, 2017)

In our past, we used to be much less capable of doing things that can harm the planet than now. When we gained the ability to cause harm to the planet, humanity did not consider the harm we were doing. We overfished, hunted animals to extinction, destroyed land in war, polluted the air, land, and seas, and it has become a habit of ours. It is only recently that environmentalism has become mainstream, and only because we have gone very far down the path of destroying the planet and need to find a way to reverse it. I find it interesting how humanity's advancements may just lead to their extinction.



“[Beethoven]: '(music is) the most romantic of all arts, one might almost say the only one that is genuinely romantic, since its only subject matter is infinity.” (Janaro and Altshuler, 2017)


I think this quote is true, but also a bit exaggerated. I agree that music can have many subject matters, and this makes it able to be truly romantic in nature, yes. However, there are other artforms that have many different subject matters. Sculpting, for example. Sculptures have few limits to what they can be made out of and what they can be made into. You can make a sculpture of anything, and they can also be interpreted in many different ways. Theater is another example of this. Stories can be written about anything, and the stories can be portrayed in a number of ways. To me, these artforms can be just as romantic as music can be.



(25 Couple figurine ideas | statue, sculpture, sculptures (pinterest.com))

“...nature as a force that is both terrifying and majestically beautiful.” (Janaro and Altshuler, 2017)


I agree that nature can be both beautiful and horrifying at once. When I think of tsunamis, two things come to mind. They are quite deadly, a single one capable of killing 225 thousand people, and are a force to be reckoned with. The second thing that comes to mind is their awe-inspiring nature. The mere size and amount of water and force that goes into a tsunami is amazing and fascinating. Another instance of nature being both deadly and beautiful are tornadoes. Tornadoes rage across the land, damaging property and killing people and animals. But the mere fact that wind can cause this level of destruction is kind of beautiful and shows how powerful nature is.



(A tornado outbreak killed 64 people in Pennsylvania 35 years ago. We still know terrifyingly little about the storms. (inquirer.com))


Sources


Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C. (2017).The Art of Being Human: the Humanities as a Technique for Living, 11th edition. Pearson Education, Inc.


OneOcean


Pinterest


Inquirer

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