Island of Civilization Overview

Ernie Robinson

20 August 2012

ENG 101: Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium

Over time our civilization has made valuable advancements that initially had the potential to make life easier and more productive. From early beginnings colonizers had aspirations of developing a socially constructed society, and sought out to civilize early inhabitants of America. With this new world order, enforcement of personal beliefs and culture were instilled into natives forcing their wilderness persona to vanish. In this reading, “"Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium" by Rodrick Frazier Nash, Nash goes into depth discussing the transfiguration of early America into present day and gives his personal theories of what the future has to bring. Nash states the positive as well as the negative effects the human society has placed upon this Earth throughout the three millenniums; preservation, pollution, wilderness, and social construct were some of the several topics established through this text. 

            Nash opens up with stating his purpose of writing this article by saying, “My mission in this essay is to review the history of human-nature relations and to extend the discussion into a quite distant future” (Nash 372). To begin his discussion he examines the first millennium and focuses on the term wilderness and the common perception of this term. Nash defines the term wilderness to be a personal belief of civilization which is built around the view of what is normal in society. This belief served to be the foundation of the early building a new country and attempts in trying to tame the elements of nature.

            The second millennium was the time of technological advancements that were viewed as be achievements, but came with harmful effects like pollution and endangerment of wildlife that took its toll on Earth’s ecosystem. These happenings produced high concern and appreciation for the preservation of wildlife and resources. Efforts to notify and persuade the population in aiding to preserve the Earth ranged from museums filled with countless unique art work, national wildlife parks, and the creation and passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. The quest to put an end on environmental harm flourished throughout the second millennium, but little progress was made entering into the Third Millennium.

            Nash concludes his argument about the results of human control of the world by giving his personal beliefs of what he suspects to witness in the future. Nash introduces and discusses his four beliefs of the wasteland scenario, garden scenario, future primitive, and Island of Civilization, The Island of Civilization was elaborated more on by Nash (Nash 377). Throughout history humans have managed to create an environment that is more suitable for them by altering natural events and resources and failed to fully examine the negative results of their inventions. (Nash 377). In this scenario humans are now in agreement with nature, reducing societies’ harmful effects on society, revealing that positive advancements in technology can aid in the preservation of nature.

            "Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium" by Rodrick Frazier Nash is an article that provides an overview of the development of the human society and the effects on Earth.  Nash goes through four time periods and reveals each important event that took place in each time frame. The thoughts of what is to come for our planet are still an unclear sight, but theories similar to Nash have been formulated to add some form of enlightenment.

            After reading this article by Rodrick Frazier Nash the history of the human race’s impact on Earth became more obvious. During each millennium humans manage to make some sort of positive advancement that brought along unforeseen harmful outcomes. These outcomes have shaped each time frame into their own unique status and have been continuous throughout time. After reading this reading one will see that by each millennium introducing its own epidemic and changes the wonder of what will time be like in the fourth millennium and how will the human race live will soon develop.

Nash discusses the act of civilization of the wild by the colonizing of America’s native people. This action is an initial notification that humans tend to alter elements in order to be more suitable to their likings and comfort zone. Nash expresses this in the article by stating, “More precisely, humans stopped adapting to their environment and began to create it” (Nash 379). The advancement and production of technology has one sole purpose, to make life and production easier. These advancements sometimes fail to comprehend with the ecosystem which has a negative effect on the Earth’s resources and wildlife. Even though problems have developed from human influences on the environment, the vision of more eco-friendly methods and technology has been the most beneficial outcome; Nash development of the theory of The Island of Civilization has the same theme.

In conclusion Rodrick Frazier Nash goes through an overview of the last three millenniums. He reviews critical events that were the most influential in each time frame. He includes the events of civilization, environmental issues, and preservation of wildlife. All of these topics are important happenings that produce a reoccurring wonder of what the future holds. From the reading one can conclude that the fourth millennium has the possibility to improve the environment with the help of technology if it is used in the right way. The critical component of change is the willingness of the human population to place restrictions on daily usage of resources in order to preserve and have peace with nature.