I found the article by Lynn White, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” very interesting, and the theme made me want to reflect back to the Jared Diamond piece that we discussed last week. What was so ironic to me is that in this week’s article Lynn White describes 18th-century scientific knowledge and technological power over nature as one of the greatest events in human history since the invention of agriculture. This was so humorous because this is an entirely different idea compared to Jared Diamond’s ideas concerning agriculture.
I never realized the impact that war had on early ecology. Like when the cannons were fired, in the 14th century. The cannons sent the workers into the forests and mountains for sulfur, iron ore, and charcoal, this caused erosion and deforestation. These war-like materials eventually lead to urbanism, and deposits of sewage and garbage. This eventually leads to this medieval view on man versus nature that we still embrace in today’s society.