Technological advancement, domination of nature, all natural processes? Recently I did a research on biofuels and there are a few interesting ideas I have come across, which i will discuss in the span of a few weeks from today onwards.
First generation biofuels (corn) are biofuels that can be both food crops and biofuels, second generation biofuels (jatropha) are those which are not of any other commercial use and third generation biofuels are genetically modified oil-producing algae. (Generations of Biofuels - Energy
from waste and wood, 2015) Biofuels are of
course, resources of nature and they can be signs of mankind dominating nature.
Third generation biofuels are clearly dominated by us because they are ‘creations
of mankind’. Others argue that domination started before that. Plants are
commonly seen as the basis of life as it is the source of energy for almost all
living things on earth. Yet we are using these resources for our own
consumption in a way that population size and survival of these species are
human-dependent. In other words, domination starts when we start planting crops
consciously, thereby replacing natural selection with artificial selection
through manipulation of nature to suit our own needs. Does that mean discovering
fire and creating tools back in the Stone Age are evidences of domination of
nature? Or are they simply our means of survival? Darwin would say that
technology is a tool mankind used to out compete other species (survival of the
fittest). Evolution will not happen without domination – it is a natural
process. Today, it seems like we dominate other species more than we are
supposed to such that these species are no longer 'natural'. However if
domination and evolution are natural processes, human domination of other
species, domination of evolution or even nature can simply be argued to be the
work of nature herself. Hence every artifact we have on earth today – cars,
societies, economies, technological development, economic development, they are all a result of natural processes?
First generation biofuels (corn) are biofuels that can be both food crops and biofuels, second generation biofuels (jatropha) are those which are not of any other commercial use and third generation biofuels are genetically modified oil-producing algae.
No comments:
Post a Comment