I need an essay done by 04/25/2020

With  the  rising  concern  about  the  future  of  our  planet  due  to  human  actions,   debates  are  emerging  about  whether  or  not  humans  are  justified  in  using  nature  to   meet  our  ends  and  needs.  Some  argue  that  there  should  be  limits  placed  on  human   use  of  the  environment  to  avoid  its  misuse  while  others,  like  David  Veksler,  argue   that  we  should  be  free  to  use  the  environment  without  constraint.  In  this  essay,  I   will  analyze  Mr.  Veksler  argument  to  determine  if  his  view  on  environmentalism  is   convincing.    Mr.  Veksler’s  argument  is  as  follows:  

“Human beings have evolved over millions of years to survive by using their reasoning mind. It is human nature to think and use technology to enrich our lives. To clarify and illustrate, we are as much part of the natural world as any other creature, but instead of claws, fangs, or the heightened senses of animals, we have our minds and hands. The difference between our comfortable lives and the short, dangerous, and miserable existence that our ancestors eked out in trees, caves, and caverns is continually made possible by application of reason to the problem of survival. Shackling man’s mind by preventing him from applying it to improve his condition would ultimately lead to our extinction. For example, genetic and biochemical tools feed billions of people; farming machinery feeds billions more.”

After diagramming Veksler’s argument, it can be restated as follows:

1. “Human beings have evolved over millions of years to survive by using their reasoning mind.”

2. “It is human nature to think and use technology to enrich our lives.” 3. “The difference between our comfortable lives and the short, dangerous, and

miserable existence that our ancestors eked out in trees, caves, and caverns is continually made possible by application of reason to the problem of survival.”

4. “Therefore, shackling man’s mind by preventing him from applying it to improve his condition would ultimately lead to our extinction.”

To summarize, Mr. Veksler’s inductive argument is trying to convince me that in

order to avoid human extinction, humans must have the freedom to evolve and survive by using reason to develop the necessary technology to live the comfortable lives that distinguish us from other animals. This argument is fallacious: it is an appeal to emotion. In an appeal to emotion, a person deliberately provokes emotion in people to try to convince them of a claim. Emotions can include fear, anger, pity, etc. In particular, Mr. Veksler is trying to provoke fear in readers by comparing the “comfortable lives” humans live to the “short, dangerous, and miserable existence” of animals. He argues that unless we embrace the use of technology, humanity will perish. The error is that emotions are not relevant in making decisions. Evidence must be given proving that technology is necessary for survival.

The information presented by Mr. Veksler is not correct. Premise one is false. It is stating that through the use of reason, humans have evolved for the purpose of survival. Human evolution and survival, however, are not necessarily dependent on the use of reason. Evolutionary psychology informs us that it is the use of reason that has gradually evolved with humans, not the other way around. In other words, it is believed

that the use of reason has not been the causal factor for evolution, but its product (Heyes 2012). Premise two is also false. Although currently most humans in civilized countries do use technology in order to live comfortable lives, this capacity does not define human nature. There are primitive tribes around the world that don’t use or rely on modern technology. The Sentinelese Tribe, for example, still implements a hunter/gatherer lifestyle and is hostile to modern world intrusion. Despite their lack of dependence on modern technology, they are still human (Blazeski, 2016). Premise three is also false. There are many differences between our modern lifestyle and the lifestyle of our ancestors. Some of these differences are not necessarily the result of a human need to survive. There are human customs and practices whose purpose is to entertain, not aid in survival. Examples include practices such as watching movies, going to amusement parks, playing sports, etc. Mr. Veksler himself recognizes this fact when he identifies “comfortable” as the distinguishing feature of our modern lifestyle. The use of reason to propagate the advancement of technology does not necessarily address the problem of survival; it can address the problem of comfort. Finally, the conclusion is also false. Mr. Veksler is stating that by limiting the use of technology to help us improve as a species, we will parish. With new technology, it is difficult to establish whether its use will actually help us improve as a species. The development of nuclear weapons is an example of how technology that was supposed to improve the present conditions ended up having disastrous effects. In this case, limiting the use of technology was actually beneficial. By limiting the use of nuclear weapons to avoid nuclear warfare, we can actually ensure that we survive as a species. Furthermore, Mr. Veksler is implying that it is only through the use of technology that survival can occur. If this were the case, then humans would be the only ones who could survive. There are, however, many species such as chimpanzees, dogs, roaches that don’t use modern technology and yet, they continue to survive.

After analyzing his argument, I am not convinced by Mr. Veksler because all the information he presented in his argument can be falsified. He also relies on an error in reasoning, appeal to emotion, to convince his readers that the use of technology should not be limited if it is meant to ensure human survival.  

  Works  Cited  

  Blazeski,  Goran.  “The  Most  Isolated  Tribe  in  the  World:  The  Sentinelese  Tribe  is  the  

Last  Stone  Age  Tribe  in  the  World.”  The  Vintage  News,  Nov  5.  2016,   https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/05/the-­‐most-­‐isolated-­‐tribe-­‐in-­‐ the-­‐world-­‐the-­‐sentinelese-­‐tribe-­‐is-­‐the-­‐last-­‐stone-­‐age-­‐tribe-­‐in-­‐the-­‐world/    

Heyes,  Cecilia.  “New  Thinking:  The  Evolution  of  Human  Cognition”.  Philosophical   Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  B:  Biological  Sciences,  vol.  367(1599),   2012,  pp.  2091–2096.