The analysis of the blue marbl
The analysis of the blue marblThe Analysis of the Blue Marble
Throughout history, there has been tremendous progress made on the part of mankind. We, as a species, have been able to tame fire, learn to hunt, survive in extreme conditions, and use our resources to their fullest potential. But do we overuse our resources? I strongly believe that we, as a population, do overuse our resources. This is an issue, which we must now face as we head into the next millenium, for it is there, which we will find the answer to the future. Never has more alarm been raised about the peril that the Earth is in. Some choose to ignore it, most notably Julian Simon as far as this paper is concerned, while others, most notably Norman Myers, speak out against it, imploring the population of the planet to listen. Listen to the sounds of a planet that is overburdened, overused, and overheated. One can only wonder how much more our great Blue Marble can take. I don’t believe that it can endure much more.
One cannot deny the fact that more and more people are inhabiting the Earth every year. This is indisputable. However, the question is, what type of effect does this have on the Earth? Well, for one, more people leads to overpopulation, which in some places on the planet, this is already a huge problem. Julian Simon likes to look at this as a good thing because, as he puts it, “the triumph of the human mind and organizations over the raw killing forces of nature” has increased the number of people the Earth can hold (Simon 6). However, what if you look at the other side of the coin? Mankind has exhibited the ability to wield its gift of superior intellectual ability and with increased technology, more people can now be packed into an area than previously expected. Mr. Norman Myers points out that human beings’ relationship with nature has changed. Humankind is “no longer a part of nature”, rather, society is “now in control of the Earth” (Myers 18). This is an extremely important point when discussing the Earth and its future.
The fact that the relationship between humans and nature has changed is very important in the debate between Myers and Simon. Technology has a great deal to do with this changing relationship. It is in my opinion, that technology, while it has made many things possible that were once only considered dreams, is really masking many of today’s problems. In the short term, technology can almost hide the fact that the Earth natural resources are being slowly tapped, or that the population is going to increase again, but eventually, what happens when the raw materials needed for some of these technological feats simply aren’t there? Much of technology has occurred from an original problem and then...
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