Lillian Young: Outside Reading: Wilderness and the American Mind

 The first reading, Wilderness and the American Mind, was really interesting to me. Before reading it, I didn’t even think about America’s relationship with nature being rooted in conquest and fear due to its religious roots. There was a determination to “conquer” the land and take control of it—partially because it was unknown. Other cultures, such as Taoism, try to live in harmony with nature and its constant change, which was brought up in the reading as well. It makes me wonder if a culture’s relationship with nature shifts as they grow older. For example, Japan was founded before America, and Japan seems to have a much more caring view about nature, in a sense. So, that begs the question: as a country becomes more developed, does it grow a better appreciation for nature? When starting out, there’s this fear of the unknown, but after they get settled, the unknown is no more. Once the fear is gone, there comes to be a better appreciation for nature.