Chronicles of Asu: Establishing a connection with our Environment

Seidita, Miller, Moritz, Hughes

The consistency between the articles we’ve been reading over the past two weeks parallel in astounding ways; astounding because the gaps in time between the publishing of these thoughts and arguments are so great, yet the main ideas have been extremely consistent over the centuries. However, the reality is that things have changed, and with new advancements comes new conditions for survival and ability to thrive as a collective race. These new advancements bring about new questions.

There are kinds of questions, thoughts and experiences that can ‘open the door of expansion’ in our universe. Asking a question, having a thought or living an experience that helps to ‘realize’ the immensity of our world, the limitless energy of the universe, inevitably establishes a connection to the source of energy for that individual. Our world of limitless energy is otherwise known as the ‘environment.’ Essentially, the environment that we live in- the universe of limitless energy (or, Earth)- is the key component of what facilitates the success of humans. It is the role of the environment to be utilized for human benefit. As early as the 5th Century BCE, the concept that nature is at the disposal of man is well exemplified by The Book of Genesis, which justifies this concept through the use of religion. “God created humankind… God blessed them.” This is truly fundamental bottom line of our existence! A higher power, of which we can only name ‘God’ for lack of knowledge on ‘who’ it is, created a whole system for us to thrive in. The system itself is energy, which is code word for our being and the ‘thing’ that every single object is created out of. There is nothing that exists or does not exist that is not made of energy. That being said, God gave us the go-ahead to use this energy and “Be fruitful and multiply.” God gave us the ability to dominate “every living thing that moves upon the earth” and utilize “everything that has the breath of life.” “It was so” that God provided man with earth- with all of its natural glory- so that we can “fill the earth” with economic growth and technological advancement and “subdue [the natural world] for human benefit. Nature’s role is to be at man’s beck and call. This consumable quality of the environment makes human progress feasible.

The Enlightenment and The Scientific Revolutions—both evolutions in the way people think and analyze our environment; they have brought about new questions of importance in terms of our role of ‘beings’, thus perpetuating the role of the environment in relation to the lives of humans. Ideas like the ecological footprint, Global Warming and pollutions emerged from questions of our impact on resources, rather than simply the resources impact on our lives. Our prior argument, supported by many thinkers, says that Earth- the surrounding environment- is specifically our provider. It is here in existence for us. In order for that to be true in the future, we are now faced with the challenge of ensuring that nature’s role remains prominent in the lives of future humans. The best way to do that is to conserve the planet.

And sometimes it feels like a tug-of-war! We strive for ‘this’ but we need to use ‘that’ to make it. There is some sort of limited number on ‘that’ and it makes us stressed that we might not get to make ‘this.’ All over the place, we try to gain and produce and “it creates webs of consumption, as when people clear land to produce corn to feed cattle to turn out beef and leather to make car seats for Cadillac Escalades” (Steven Stoll). So we have an ever rotating circle of production and the means for these resources come Earth. In fact, everything we get is from Earth. We speak of conservation in this section and what we are really getting at is the conservation of energy. There is an unlimited amount of energy in our universe, this much we can rely on. But energy changes form of course- on this planet, at least- and this gives us a couple limitations especially if something like gas cannot be turned back into its original form for second-, third- or even fourth-time use. The idea that we are able to manipulate these forms of energy- the fact that energy is flexible and adjustable- and that energy is here for us to do so to, suggests that it is really here for us.

This is a different thought that we encounter than ever before considered in class. With energy at our hand for use, we see that we have everything we need and want right here, somewhere on this planet. If the world is made for ‘us’, that means something more specific: it is made for me. Just as it is made for everyone individually. The road of thought that we can go down here is easy, a natural belief and the truth of existence on this planet. If Earth is made for me, it therefore gives me everything I could possibly imagine to churn out the most joy possible. It almost seems to be glossed over, perhaps because it is so obvious, or perhaps because we have not reached this stage of realization as a society, yet. In that case, we are moving toward the tipping point of this realization.  

This brings us back to the current process that we are in now. If we are using too many energy, does it matter since this is all apart of the ‘process’ of moving toward a new realization? Well, no. It is all apart of the ‘process’ of getting there- of learning inside the experience of living and being.

Throughout history it can be stated that Earth was created for human enjoyment. Simply put, it’s all based on your point of view. For instance, “the intuition of Columbus and his age that the world was a sphere has become a photograph” (Worster, Vunerable Earth). As a result of that, “what the photograph says to us is elusive and contradictory” (Ewbank). One perspective would suggest that the Earth is ours to do with what we please. In every aspect the Earth was created for man and he for it, as if to say the energy of Earth runs through us, just as we run through it. In a sense, man was the manufacturer and “the Earth was to be a manufactory” (Ewbank) of the ‘energy men desire. With this being stated, it could be deduced that man's role in nature was at one point about equivalence. Man can take resources from nature and make phenomenal things with it. However, we have to ask ourselves one big question, does the cost outweigh the results and effects?
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In addition to what we have explored in this post, we want to be clear with one association. It is this: that realizing the true energy of the environment is a perspective-changing event that people go through individually. Perspective, mindfulness and awareness seem to be three of what could many different ways to connect ourselves and understand the energy and resources given to us from the universe and Earth. But to assume that we can simply 'change our perspectives' is rather narrow-minded, so we'd like to present you with one trusted, secular method to practice mindfulness and experience its benefits of understanding the energy that surrounds us- each other- in our environment. It's called Headspace.