Life or Communication
Some people believe that technology today is what is ruining people’s lives. They have so much nature and life around them and yet they do not look around. Most news heard from anywhere can be proven pointless, but communication is also a great source of learning about anything and everything. In these cases, the idea of living without pointless news, and the idea of actually gaining knowledge from any of it can co-exist but also is highly considered the opposite from Henry Thoreau’s views in his book Walden, to Heitman’s essay “If Thoreau Were to Move to Walden Today, Would He Bring the Internet? Maybe”.
Today, there is a great hype about the world being at the touch of one finger. In Heitman’s essay he argues that Thoreau would bring internet with him, because it’s a much easier way of accessing what he once could not. “Thoreau speculates about how wonderful it might be to have an unobtrusive library of natural knowledge out in the woods, so that landscape and literature are one.” said from Thoreau in Heitman’s essay. Thoreau wanted to be away from all of the pointless superficial nonsense but the thing he studied and loved most was apart of it, so he was forced to travel to get what he wanted, being books.Arguably enough,
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He wants to live life to the fullest and enjoys it but with all of the technology around him, who can enjoy it. In Walden, he quotes, “For my part, I could easily do without the post-office. I think that there are very few important communications made through it.”. In this he is stating that,for the most part, there is no point in that route of communication because most of it is not worth hearing or being apart of. With this information anyone can conclude that Thoreau would not want anything to do with forms of communication at all; however, a laptop might have everything he would ever need or
He argues “most men have learned to read to serve a paltry convenience”, in which he describes “convenience” as being materialistic such as money and trade. I believe Thoreau’s idea on reading is correct.
Thoreau’s ideas and Technology can co-exist if he were to move to Walden today because back then he would of not used technology like he would today in the first text he said “ I went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it what it had to teach, and not, when i had to die, discover that i had not lived.” He went to the woods to see what he was messing out on to see what is in front of him and not stay inside on Technology he wanted to learn from what came to him not on the internet. Thoreau also said “The advent of the railroads had destroyed the old scale old distances so now books can travel further and more safer.now he has the ability to get
Technology can cause huge problems in society by taking over people’s lives and creating separation between
Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and a very outspoken person about society. He discusses his opinions on how people should live in his essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau's philosophy of simplicity and individualism and self-sufficiency poses many dangers for communities as a whole. Although there are many setbacks, his philosophy is, however, still viable today. Thoreau strongly advocates self-sufficiency and individualism in this essay.
In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Thoreau talks about his opinions on communications technology at the time and how he does not believe that it is good for people. Throughout the entire reading Thoreau talks about how people need to keep simple and how communications technologies are no exception to him. However, communications technologies of the times were steps forward in connecting people in ways that would not be possible otherwise. Thoreau talks about how he believes communications technology such as the post office and newspaper are unimportant and unmemorable. He believes that if we read of one unfortunate thing in a newspaper or letter then we do not ever need to read another ever, that news is just boring gossip and there is nothing
There is a thin line between fact and fiction, sometimes we forget to disconnect and provide some distance from our technology geared lives. These days it is hard to have a real conversation with someone else, whether it be at a restaurant or at home. "If there's a digital device nearby, chances are that one or both of you will be distracted or interrupted" (William Powers 85). I'm guilty of this, anywhere I go I take my phone out, check to see if I have any new notifications or just out of habit. " thoughtful people were realizing that, for personal well-being and happiness, it was necessary to restore some of that distance to everyday life (Powers 88).
1) Thoreau is a quite unusual guy that wants to be isolated from civilization/human society due to the reasons that he believes should be obtained by every civilian. Thoreau wants to move to a place away from people but a place where there is nature around. Wild nature that isn’t touched by humans and that they would make. Thoreau wants to leave human society because he believes that there is something wrong with civilization for him. He believes that the world is moving too fast, and technology is growing faster.
He suggests that you might look around yourself and really take into consideration as to how you are spending your short time you’re given in this life. Much like Chris McCandless, Henry David Thoreau looks around him and finds himself to be displeased. To quote Thoreau, “ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Much like McCandless, Thoreau thought very little of money, jobs and other things of the civilized world. Henry Thoreau concluded that to live, not much is needed.
Henry David Thoreau was not afraid to speak his mind and fight for his beliefs. He refused to pay taxes to an unjust government that supported slavery which eventually influenced Mohandas Gandhi’s campaign for independence and still influences many individuals today. Thoreau inspired society to break rules they disagree with, be a unique individual, and criticized people for living only for money and material values. One of Henry Thoreau’s biggest impacts was when he went to live in the woods for about two years at Walden Pond.
I am writing this letter in response to the excerpt from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden that was recently included in your newspaper The Dial II. After reading the excerpt, I spent time analyzing the different philosophies that Thoreau portrayed in his essay and I came to the conclusion that I agree with some of his concepts but disagree with most. First off at the beginning of the essay, Thoreau states that “as long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or county jail.” I partially disagree with this quote because I think it is important that I commit myself to different tasks and duties in order to hold myself accountable.
In the short story "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau's, his tone will switch up in different parts of his writing. Sometimes Thoreau is mystical from time to time and even lyrical, when he describes the blue ice in ponds. When it comes to accounting details of economy he can be stubborn and practical. Thoreau often writes in a journal of what his day has consists of. Some sections of his writing can be very neutral and observational all at the same time.
In Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, the author expresses the immense longing that we, as human beings, need to give up our connection to our ever-growing materialism in order to revert back to self-sufficient happiness. In Walden, the reader is able to infer that Thoreau feels as if we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions, as well as believes that the study of nature should replace and oppose our enslavement, and that we are to “open new channels of thought” by turning our eyes inward and studying ourselves. Thoreau feels that we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions. As stated in the chapter “In the Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau states that “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (972).
Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).
It seems to me that his independence is something he holds of great value not only because it allows him more room to think for himself, but because he can better appreciate the nature that surrounds him, without much interference from the rest of the world. As stated in the text, Thoreau found “The real attractions of the Hollowell farm, to me, were: its complete retirement, being, about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor, and separated from the highway by abroad field; its bounding on the river, which the owner said protected it by its
Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.