Northern Arizona University/Environmental Ethics/Journals/Adam's Journal

Journal #1 - September 3, 2010

In this first entry I will discuss the initial impressions that are striking me about Aldo Leopold, his book A Sand County Almanac, and the entire topic of Environmental Ethics as a whole. The first reading assigned was The Land Ethic, which is a short treatise written at the end of the book about the development of a new way of looking at human decision-making in respect to our environment. This new approach involves an enthusiastic effort at preserving the dignity and stability of the ecosystems we are members of.

The author suggests that ethics are a mode of guidance for living a moral life. Thus, Leopold’s proposed “land ethic” is a set of standards which encourage each member of an ecosystem to review possible decisions in terms of their responsibilities to the community, not merely their own self-interest. This ethic is not something that must be explained often. Rather, it is a fundamental value upon which all other values rest. Thus, once the individual has developed this ethic fully, it informs his thought processes on a more automatic, instinctual level. Of course, every individual must look after himself before all else. However, there is often a way to reduce the impacts of the satisfaction of one’s own needs on one’s neighbors and community.

One thing that concerns me about the time period in which I am a part of is that with all the capability that humans have, we have a very disconnected relationship with the environment. Our relationship with the world we live on is one in which we are masters and we subject everything else to our will. We view the land as a venue for our own satisfaction, and not as a diminishing commodity that we need to work hard to preserve. Nowadays, at least in the United States, it is possible for someone to pack up and move to another location at will. Thus, there is not the sense of dependence on the land that humans once had: the same sense that is so natural for every other living organism. I worry that this is the root of our ever-expanding disconnect from our environment, our Earth.

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Journal #2 - September 10, 2010

In class this week, I was exposed to a very new and interesting idea. For most scientists who work with the environment, especially biologists and ecologists, the key relationships in nature that sustain ecosystems are those of competition and predation. These relationships seem to maintain stability and homeostasis among different species in a region. Leopold, however, is presenting a different way of viewing these interactions between species. In the land pyramid, which has the predators at the top and the plants at the bottom, the final effect of competition can be viewed as cooperation after all. When two species in one level of the pyramid are competing with another, and a bear preys on one of these species, it is effectually cooperating with the other species. Viewing relationships in nature in this way makes it clear to me that the community of life, not just the individual, is a living organism itself. These interactions between individuals occur in such a way to reinforce the stability of the ecosystem as a whole. This living thing, the community, is trying to preserve its own life just as an individual organism does. It should be a goal of humanity to recognize our role in this system and attempt to contribute to, and not defile, this equilibrium that has been naturally established. We discussed the inherent value of nature and where this value originates from. I have a hard time with this question and many philosophical questions lately. I think this is because of the scientist in me. I have become so accustomed to seeking an answer that can be explicitly known and explained. Questions like “What are ethics?” and others, where the response is different for every soul-searcher, now make me a bit uncomfortable. I suppose that is why I am in this class, so that I can develop that side of myself.

A key theme I will be pondering for the duration of this semester is the reason why I seek to be an engineer, since that is the path I have finally decided on. What is the purpose for which I am learning these methods such as Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics? Merely the process of becoming educated and empowered is a great challenge for me. I am starting to realize now that the greater challenge in my life is likely to be the challenge of discerning the best way to spend my days. To what end will I use this flesh and blood, this life?

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Journal #3 - September 20, 2010

Since my previous entry, I have finished reading A Sand County Almanac. Interestingly enough, the question that was raised at the end of my last journal entry was addressed explicitly by the author. In the section of the book entitled November, Leopold discusses certain reasons for wielding an axe. On the surface, the discussion concerns Leopold's opinion of which tree is preferable to cut between the Birch and the Pine tree. On a deeper level, Leopold is attempting to delve into the unique relationship that humans have with the land. As those who can control the shovel and the axe, we have the capability to give life and to destroy life. According to Leopold, this is a divine ability we have achieve, and I agree with him. Most men learn how to utilize one narrow set of tools and specialize in the type of work that is associated with those tools. Leopold seems to believe that every individual should consider the vast ways to contribute to this reality, this world. Operating machinery without using your intellect to guide your hands is bound to lead to destruction.

If I want to leave a positive effect on the world, I must keep a commitment to participation in the ongoing debate over the moral way. Though the answer will likely never be explicit and easy to recognize, as I would like it to be, the process and the search will be a guiding light for me.

Why does Leopold include this discussion of axe-wielding specifically in the month of November? He states that because it is in the transitional period between fall and winter that one can clearly see where the trees are intertwined. Also, it is cold enough to help the wood break, yet still warm enough to be comfortable in the process of chopping it down. November is a time where the mood shifts dramatically from warm, sunny days to several months of cold and gloom. In periods of transition, where one can clearly see what is happening to the structure underlying the color of the trees, you can make the most informed cut.

Hmm... it seems I could go on and on about the axe as a symbol in Leopold's writing. I think I'll save the rest of my thoughts for paper one.

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Journal #4 - September 29, 2010

This week in class we discussed the writings of Mary Austin. Specifically, we examined a number of short stories from her book Land of Little Rain. Her writing is focused on a region very familiar to us, the deserts of Arizona and the Colorado Plateau. I find it interesting that the same reasons that I disliked about the desert when living in Phoenix are some of the major reasons why Austin is so fond of such a region. The desert has the impression of being lifeless, dead, and uninhabitable due to the harsh heat and lack of water. In Phoenix, AZ, humanity is forced to engineer their own habitat with the use of electricity and water redirection canals. Nevertheless, humans and wild animals alike have found ways to live within the constraints of this harsh ecosystem. Even though water is not found gratuitously in this land, it can be found by the trained eye. Frugality and discipline in the use of resources like food and water will allow a plant or a critter to sustain life.

Mary Austin seems to suggest that the extraordinary beauty of the desert lies in the strong will to live that is seen in all animals that inhabit it. Not a single drop of life, or water, is wasted in the desert. Should one animal miss a drop on the surface, some form of vegetation will put it to use as the water travels through the ground. Native Americans, as a result of many years of living in a sustainable manner, have developed a unique cultural relationship with the land. Their spirituality is deeply intertwined with the spirits alive in all worldly things. These people recognize their dependence on the land more than their power over it. Thus, a major goal for Natives is to respect and nurture the land so that it will continue to foster their livelihoods.

One more main point seen in Austin's writing, specifically in the small section entitled Water Trails of the Ceriso, that any source of water in the barren lands of the Southwestern American desert becomes in essence a gathering place for nearly all life. Unusual increases in vegetation hint to insects, rodents, and other small animals that water is nearby. It also points out to coyotes and birds of prey that food and water are close at hand. Additionally, the increased vegetation provides shelter for small organisms and food for others. This oasis in the desert is a thriving marketplace of life, where all gather in search of freedom from want and/or fear.

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Journal #5 - October 10, 2010

Since my last entry, the class has moved on to a new author, John Muir. Muir seems to have a similar outlook regarding humanity's role in nature as the ideas Leopold promoted in the Land Ethic and A Sand County Almanac. In Man's Place in the Universe, a part of Muir's book A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, he discusses the common perceptions of the majority of how humanity is related to the Earth. The perspective he evaluates is the Christian/Anglo outlook, which rests on the belief that humanity is the ruler of God's creation, since humans are made in God's image. He offers the existence of man-eating predators, natural diseases that man succumbs to, and irritating plants with stingers and thorns as evidence that humans are just one species in a greater divine schematic. The existence of such pests and threats to human life is proof, he suggests, that man is just one more organism subjected to the laws of life, just like the rest of the biological community. He also makes the point that though nature would be incomplete without the existence of humans, it would be just as incomplete in the absence of the most minute and "insignificant" microorganisms whose functions and importance humans generally overlook.

Muir seems to be saying that in overestimating the importance of our own existence, we fail to notice the majesty of the life around us. We do not see that humans are just one part of a greater mystery, and that by taking the delicate balance of life into our own hands we are really taking away from our own experience of real life as it was meant to be. I think that Leopold was likely a student of John Muir's, because these sentiments are similar to Leopold's plea for a Community Ethic, in which humans consider not only the world in terms of how it can be utilized in human society. Rather, this Community Ethic takes into consideration the responsibilities that humans hold because of their intellectual understanding of the world.

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Journal #6 - November 3, 2010

The ideas of Henry David Thoreau in Walden have become the primary focus of our class. My favorite portion of this book is Economy, which discusses Thoreau's hypothesis that participation in the human economy is a destructive force in the life of an individual. He says that the many material needs of a human being can be satisfied in a more efficient manner than by participation in the market. The common economic viewpoint in Thoreau's time, which is still the predominant outlook today, is that through specialization in each individual's efforts, every member of the economy is better off because the quality of each product is increased and can be made more efficiently. Thoreau critiques the idea of specialization, stating that through specialization, the experience of the multiple dimensions of life is taken away from the individual. He says that every man should have the experience of carpenter, farmer, cloth-maker, etc.

Another major tenet of Thoreau's argument in Walden is the idea that the chief end of man in economic pursuits should not be the accumulation of wealth and luxurious goods, as many people seem to believe. He argues that the more material items and tools an individual comes to own in his lifetime, the more he becomes a slave to such things. When a man spends his time and effort seeking to earn money to buy things, he is actually selling away his life in the attempt to earn luxuries. Instead of this pursuit, he says, one should focus on providing the necessaries of life (food, shelter, water, and clothing) with as minimal effort possible. In saving one's time and energy in this way, the individual will have more freedom to partake in the more worthy pursuits of man, such as searching for personal and spiritual fulfillment.

In Economy, Thoreau is attempting a scientific inquiry into the topic of the true necessities for a full human life. His hypothesis is that a more satisfying and rewarding lifestyle is one in which the individual is able to accomplish every need he has with the efforts of his own hands. He publishes his book, Walden, as a scientific record of his successes and failures in trying on this unique lifestyle.

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Journal #7 - November 10, 2010

In this journal entry I will discuss the affects that the reading of Walden has had on my personal thought regarding my purpose in life. A key component of Thoreau's argument in Walden is that the chief end of man is not to live an extravagant material life, but to life an extravagant spiritual life. Thoreau's suggestion of the proper life is one in which the individual squeezes every kernel of fulfillment, truth, and happiness out of every moment in life, wasting as little time as possible on staying alive. I interpret these sentiments to mean, in more basic terms, that the chief end of man is to find happiness and enjoyment in every day of life. As I read these pages, I am compelled to evaluate my own life through Thoreau's lens, to see how well I am living according to his terms.

In my honest evaluation, I think I am failing miserably at the goal of spending my days deliberately. I have spent this semester feeling like a slave. I foolishly took the risk of taking 18 credits this semester, knowing fully that my job would also demand a great amount of my time and effort. For the majority of this semester, i have been working 3 or 4 shifts a week and spending most other waking moments desperately trying to catch up on my schoolwork. As a consequence, I find myself spending what little free time I have in trying to relax and unwind. The result of this lifestyle is a sacrifice of myself in the process of all this work! It is rare that I have the free time and necessary energy to go out and accomplish a lofty goal that I have set for myself. I work at a restaurant and bar downtown, and while the money is great, I certainly get very stressed out at times at this job because of it's fast-paced nature. I also am most often scheduled to work on the weekends and holidays. The combination of this job and being a more than full-time student means that I rarely have a day that I don't have to work or go to school.

The point of this journal entry is not to complain about the difficulty of my life, because in the end I am glad that I have the opportunities to get a good education and to earn a comfortable living at my age. The point is to use my personal experience to evaluate the claims that Thoreau makes in Walden. I believe that his argument absolutely valid. Spending the bulk of my time working on securing a better future for myself is not a fulfilling lifestyle. I know this because I often wake up reluctantly, knowing that I will spend the most of the day doing what other people want me to do with my time, instead of making my own decisions. I have taken some steps to change this predicament, such as taking a more proactive approach at finding enjoyment in the work I do. Also, I refuse to work more than 2 shifts a week, and I will never again take more than 5 classes in one semester. Thoreau's ideas on the chief end of man are so compelling, that once they are in your head, they are impossible to merely push aside. His points have certainly taken hold in the way I approach my days.

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Journal #8 - November 16, 2010

This month in Philosophy, we have turned to the works of a new author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. I must first of all say that his capacity to pack meaning into every phrase of his writings never ceases to amaze me. I continually find deeper layers of meaning with every read of a paragraph, and I am certain that more than half of the intended ideas have evaded my limited mind. He put eloquent words to a feeling I have had, but never really been capable of expressing verbally, in his discussion of the one mind that is common to all mankind which can be found in the essay titled History. He says that any man who has committed himself to reason receives the key to the entire estate of human realization. Every advancement made by every scientist, philosopher, and artist in history is equally made in each individual. The feelings that are felt by every grand figure in historical accounts resonate with equal magnitude in the hearts of the historians that read the account.

According to Emerson, every individual has the capacity to experience the entirety of existence. Thus, every event that occurred in the past in every different part of the world, can be known by one individual. In this way, the reasonable man is able to transcend the finiteness of his own existence. While the body of a human being is confined to time and space, the mind is free to travel throughout eternity. Emerson suggests that the universe exists for the education of every individual. In life, our purpose should be to seek truth and understanding of every aspect of life, because the more familiar we become with the truth of the past, the more informed our lives will be in the present.

Another point made in History is that nature is made manifest through the many laws that we find through observation. Emerson suggests that just as a poet is able to explain one idea in many different ways, through various plot lines and sets of characters, Nature presents those that live with truth in many different forms. He states that every attempt at reaching an understanding of one of these forms is worthwhile, because the same truth is bound to interact with our lives again and again. The more educated a man is, in terms of his awareness of the truth around him, the more empowered he is to have an influence on his own life.

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Journal #9 - November 29, 2010

The essay entitled "Self-Reliance" has caught my attention in the last few days, as I seek to develop and narrow down a topic for my short paper on Emerson. In this piece, Emerson argues for nonconformity and self-guidance. According to Emerson, the greatest gift of life given to each individual is the ability to influence and create the future. He suggests that most people spend too much time dwelling on the past and fearing the consequences that loom in the future. Instead, Emerson argues that one should trust his capability to correctly act in the present. He says nothing happens by mere consequence, that the eye of the individual is placed in a unique ray of light so that he may give witness to the world of the truth he has been shown. Nobody but the single intended recipient of that truth can properly and fully understand it.

Another point made by Emerson in this section is that one should not live a life based on the approval or disapproval of his peers and critics. He who should seek to create the world of his dreams should not fear retribution, because criticisms based on time and space are lacking in true depth. The real lessons we gain from life experiences may come about from unclearly-linked or even contradictory evidence. Yet the honest contemplation of the correct path and the pattern of the decisions made over time will show the genuine intentions and insights of the bold man. Emerson offers the image of an excellent sailboat, whose path is not straight and determined but wavers back and forth with each tack. In this way, we can come closer and closer to the truth even as our opinions and perceptions of the real world waver. It is in the whole of this experience that the meaningful lessons of life are illuminated to us.

I have been struggling with this concept of late, as I seek to confront the habits of my own mind. I often look to the future to explain or justify to myself my shortcomings in the present. For example, when new opportunities are in front of me, I have a tendency to mask my fear of going out and seizing those opportunities by rationalizing a reason that such an action could be harmful in the future. For instance, the idea that the girl that catches my eye will eventually misuse me as a rationalization for my fear of initiating any interaction. My anticipation of the future robs me of not only the excitement of the win or lose situation, but also of the experience of living in the present that will inform the remainder of my future decisions!

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Journal #10 - December 16, 2010

Today is the last day of school, and thus, my last journal entry will be a reflection about the semester as a whole. I learned many valuable lessons in this course that I will take with me through the rest of my engineering classes and into my adult life. The most important of these is the realization that in order to be a more complete person, it will be necessary for me to continuously evaluate and adjust my lifestyle in terms of the long-term, higher purpose in my life. I tend to get very absorbed in the trials of the day-to-day, losing sight of the ultimate goal. I have learned to recognize that without keeping an eye to my deeper goals in life, I will find that all my individual efforts were wasted for lack of a common direction. It will be important for me to consider the purpose of all my actions, particularly because of all the tools I'm gaining in the scientific and mathematical degree that I am pursuing. Without the proper direction I will undoubtedly fail to apply my abilities where they're best suited.

Another main theme of this class for me was bringing out the philosopher in me. Being able to see multiple different perspectives on the same topic is pivotal to understanding. As Leopold pointed out in his discussion of history, a tree's history can be seen in multiple different ways. It can be viewed from the top down to see the rings all together, viewed from outside to inside to see changes in a chronological order, or it can be wedged to see different components/fragments of the entire whole. In the same way, I need to learn to see things from all possible perspectives in order to have a holistic conception of them.

Finally, I learned more about my ultimate purpose on Earth. As a member of the living community, I have an obligation to do what I can to foster the interconnectedness and stability of my environment. Throughout millions of years, life developed to reach the point of stability that it has reached today. As a human being, I sit at the pinnacle of these millions of years of evolution. With the power to recognize what can be done to help or harm this balance, I have a crucial responsibility to use that power to be a steward of the land.