Writing brief 7/ ch 9
In "Stepmother Nature and her Redheaded Stepchildren", Paula Mathis claims that humans are constantly trying to outsmart and even conquer nature. It implies that we seek out entertainment in nature as if it were there to conform to our needs. In many cases this is true. Development of once desolate areas for housing and industrial complexes is a perfect example of how people expect the environment in which they live to cater to their wants and needs.
However, unlike what the essay tells us, humans need to realize that nature is neither our friend nor our enemy. Hurricanes do not occur simply to knock down homes and reclaim beaches to nature. It is a natural occurence in nature that cannot be prevented and shouldn't be feared. Although it is ill advised to repeatedly rebuild one's home in a flood zone, that is just one of the results of another type of nature, human nature. Humans want the hope of a happy ending almost as much as they want land to pursue that hope on. They can be blamed no more for having hope than nature can be for sometimes attacking that hope with disastrous storms
The relationship between humans and nature is more dysfunctional than it needs to be. People argue that our careless actions are to blame. They say natural disasters are mother nature's way of getting even for things such as pollution, endangerment of species and rainforests and the like.
However, unlike what the essay tells us, humans need to realize that nature is neither our friend nor our enemy. Hurricanes do not occur simply to knock down homes and reclaim beaches to nature. It is a natural occurence in nature that cannot be prevented and shouldn't be feared. Although it is ill advised to repeatedly rebuild one's home in a flood zone, that is just one of the results of another type of nature, human nature. Humans want the hope of a happy ending almost as much as they want land to pursue that hope on. They can be blamed no more for having hope than nature can be for sometimes attacking that hope with disastrous storms
The relationship between humans and nature is more dysfunctional than it needs to be. People argue that our careless actions are to blame. They say natural disasters are mother nature's way of getting even for things such as pollution, endangerment of species and rainforests and the like.