Moodle Forum Post 2:
The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis
Lynn White gives a very accurate and in depth recount of the different historical innuendos which contributed to our ongoing modern environmental problems. I find it fascinating how in her article she peers through history and identifies specific events as having a tangible impact on demographic development, religion, mindset, or technological understanding and uses that to justify the change in ecological treatment. One of the largest factors she identifies as having an impact is technology mainly of the west.
While I don’t disagree with her claim, technological development and inventions like the car, plane, and manufacturing infrastructure have had monumental impacts on the ecological health of the earth, her view of technology as a whole is very dark and negative. While yes, historically, technology has been used to exploit the environment or has led to increased use of resources, it has the potential to promote and entire new field of green development. Perhaps this was just not included in the part we read, and she was focused on the impact of long held Christian attitudes in regards to environmental mindset. Which compliments this and explains why technology is often held in such a negative light when talking about the ecological crisis instead of embracing the potential it has to adapt and solve many of our impending problems.