Mitchell Bundick - Technology in nature (Ecology of Eden Ch. 26)

Chapter 26 of Eisenberg's Ecology of Eden discusses the use of technology in nature. Eisenberg brings up the two extremist points of view: the takeover of technology will drown out nature, blurring the line between "natural" and "unnatural" vs the benefits of technology to nature will be so great that it will be required for nature to thrive. While both sides of the argument have some validity to them, I think that technology in nature is more of a spectrum rather than two extreme sides like Eisenberg suggests.

Today, there are many examples of technology enhancing nature, but also just as many examples of technology harming nature. Positive examples that come to mind are switching to renewable sources of energy and things like satellite imagery that give humans real-time updates on different areas and communities to make more informed nature-related decisions. Alternatively, there are many examples of human technology not coexisting with nature. An example that came to my mind was noise pollution in the ocean. Things like cargo shipping, which has become regular and is not thought much about in today's society, are very disruptive to the activity of marine organisms. 

While examples from each of these two sides are extreme, they still have to be considered. I think the integration of technology in the future will fall somewhere in the middle of these two viewpoints. In class, the example of prosthetics for animals was brought up. I think this is a great example of human technology enhancing nature without overdoing it. If humans can think of more ways to assist nature such as this one, the relationship between humans and nature will be enhanced. In my opinion, there will never be a scenario when technology and nature completely coexist, but I believe we can work toward an acceptable balance. 

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