Assignment 3

Taking Thoreau's lead, can you imagine ways in which our technologically

affected lives can be wedded with a sensual acuity for nature?

Thoreau foresees the revolutionary technology and compares the sound of the locomotive to a comet in chapter 5. He was able to find a connection between nature and technology. After the locomotive passed by he describes the silence that occurred and he surely admires. This comparison is important, because without the inescapable industrial revolution - nature could not be so appreciated as it is with. Therefore, industrial improvement is always in contrast to nature. The definition of nature and its value depends on the development of the technology. For example, one would think the more technology improvement the world accesses the less nature becomes the center of interest in the world.

Technology affected lives seem not to be compatible with nature. Nevertheless, both elements seem in many ways influencing each other. According to Thoreau in the Chapter "Sounds" the noise of the locomotive reminds Thoreau of a comet, which extended his ability of imagination. In contrast it can also happen the other way around as in a person life that might be inspired by the sounds of the waves, thus is able to create an invention or simply be more productive by observing the switcher of the birds. In these cases the person is inspired by nature to develop a technological idea. Furthermore, this way would be more favorable to Thoreau since he criticizes the fact that through the invention of the locomotive the people are controlled by the locomotive, in contrast now the nature in forms like waves or sounds of birds would influence the thoughts of people. Nevertheless, the remote would still not be in the hands of the humans, in spite it would be partly managed by nature.

Nature and our contemporary lives. Our lives are affected by technology and surrounded by nature that becomes more invisible. But in few cases it seems to merge together. For example, technology accelerates the production of food on the farm and serves many people of survival. Another example is the invention of a heater or a candle that keeps people for dying in the winter. In fact, technology can prevent death and assures people to survive around the world. The number of population would have decreased without the technology since many babies died because of unhygienic circumstances. But with the assistance of technology this issue and many more could be solved.

What if Nature and technology is not to tell apart anymore. We live in a time, where technology is able to copy nature in every detail. It starts by recording the sounds of birds that are flying through the branches of a tree and goes on by creating plants that look exactly like the bushes in the forest or even clone some creatures. Nonetheless, we may be able to depict nature to a certain extent, but we will never be able to replace nature with technology. In result, we will always depend on nature no matter how much developed our technology is, but technology will never be fully wedded with nature.