Most of the thoughts that I have had about technology and
ecology prior to taking this class (Technology & Ecology in Literature)
involve the environmental impacts that technology makes as it progresses. I had
never thought too deeply about it, up until we started analyzing it through
this class. I know now more about the benefits and negative aspects of the
growing technology in our world, and how people view that progression. For
example, watching the “environmental” Prius commercial and analyzing it made me
think a lot more about other products and technologies that are advertising as “environmentally
friendly”. Also, the questionable poem that we attempted to interpret at the
beginning of the semester helped me think more about how technology works with
the environment and what it could be like in the future. After taking both this
class as well as an Environmental Sociology, I have learned a lot more about
the intersections between technology and ecology. Both classes looked at advertising
about environmentally friendly products, as well as groups against the ‘environmental’
movement. It was interesting to learn and think about possible technology for
the future in this Ecology and Technology in Literature class; especially with
the advanced technology (robots) in R.U.R., the film Blade Runner and Red Mars.
Many questions about our technological growth as a society have come to my mind
throughout the semester, including: Could technology become so advanced as it
had in some of our readings (controlling themselves)? Will we be able to
sustainably progress with technology in the future? Do most people see technology
growth as positive or negative in terms of our environment? Most of the
readings we had for this class throughout the semester helped me think more about
each of these questions, and even helped me figure out a few answers.
