homework 5

I was interested by the middle of the story that the narrator told. He said that man for a long time acted like any other creature without any control over the environment. This is because they could not settle down in one place and begin to take control. Instead, humans were hunting and gathering and essentially following their food wherever it went. But, when humans began to figure out agriculture was the turning point. After this, followed the rise of technology and humans began to take control over the environment. It was also very interesting to listen to Ishmael as he was explaining the duty of humans on earth as they see it. That duty is to hold dominion or to rule over all the creatures and create order in the world. As people believe, without the humans there would just be chaos throughout the world. But, I was a bit confused as to what Ishmael means when he says that humans have paid the price that casts humans as the enemy of the world.

homework 4

In this third reading I was most interested by the "beginning" of the creation story that the narrator told Ishmael. At first he was confused as to what story Ishmael was referring to. He thought about the one that was told in Genesis. But, then he said that if he was teaching a school class about the creation story he would definitely not tell the one in Genesis. So, the narrator told a story that had to do with evolution and how things came to be after millions and millions of years. I was actually very unfamiliar with this story, or at least the details of of it such as how many years it actually took. I am different than the narrator in that if somebody asked me to tell the creation story or myth, as Ishmael referred to it, I would not have even thought about the one that the narrator told, but I would tell the one in Genesis because that is what I believe.

In this reading of Ishmael another thing that had a big impact on me was a point that Ishmael made to the narrator. He said that as humans tell the story, the climax or the ending point is the creation of man. Humans believe that they are the most important and should rule the world or have dominion in the world because as they tell the story, evolution ends with the creation of man. I began to think about if I have fallen into this trap and believe the the world was created for me, or humans. I also like the point that Ishmael made when he was talking about what would happen if the world was created for jelly fish and what if evolution ended with them. But, neither of these ideas are the case. Ishmael points out that evolution did not stop with the creation of jelly fish and it certainly does not just stop with the creation of human kind.

Homework 3

The second reading of Ishmael was of great interest to me. I enjoyed learing about the past of Ishmael and how he got to where he is now. I was not surprised that the same man, Walter Sokolow, who had told him that he was not Goliath was the one that ended up being his caretaker. I am fascinated by the relationship that this gorilla, Ishmael, and Walter shared. For example, Walter would just sit by his cage and speak to him for great periods of time as if he could understand everything that was being said. Ultimately, over time the gorilla and Walter were able to communicate with each other somehow. This shows a great bond between them, but sadly the wife of Walter did not really like Ishmael.
When the gorilla tells the narrator that his subject is captivity some things went through my head. I was trying to figure out what exactly did he mean by that. My thought was that he was referring to his own captivity from the wild in Africa. I think that maybe he is referring to how humanity is making the Earth its captive and how it won't survive much longer unless something is done. I believe that Ishmael is trying to teach humans to treat the world better so that it can be preserved instead of being destroyed like it is now.

Homework 2

The first reading from Ishmael was very interesting to me but also a bit confusing and difficult to understand. I really have never read anything quite like this before. But, this first reading did cause me to think about some things that I usually don't. It caused me to think about how animals, in this case the gorilla, feel when they are taken out of their "home" or natural environment by humans and put into cages in zoos or menageries. This does not seem right to me and I felt bad as the gorilla was telling his story because he once had a family and lived in basically a paradise in Africa. This was all taken away from him by humanity. I ask the question, what right do humans have to do this? I have also thought about what might be the meaning of the sign on the back of the wall that says "WITH MAN GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR GORILLA?" (9). My first thought was that it meant if humankind was gone, then gorilla would have their chance to be dominant and not subject to anyone's power (such as humanity's). But I was confused at the end as to what the man meant when he told the gorilla that "he was not Goliath".

Homework 1

Hello, I am Charles and this is my Environmental Science blog.