Throughout this book, Carson has built her argument step by step from the chemistry of the chemicals with which she is concerned to the development of the soil, the quality of our water and air, and life from its simplest form to its most complex. In this chapter she makes plain her concerns over the toll exposure to DDT and similar chemicals will have on the human population - the development of cancer.
Cancer is an ancient disease which has plague humanity most likely under various names over the course of history. It was only in 1953 that we came to know about the structure of DNA and how it replicates. Cancer is the result of damage to the sequence of genes in our cells which occurs when we are exposed to radiation or other mutagenic materials such as pesticides. In the fifty years since the publication of Carson's work our understanding and treatment of cancer has advanced yet we are still no where near a cure. However, in response to Carson's work and raising awareness of the general public towards the impact that DDT has on human health we are vigilant about exposure to such chemicals.
I think it is ironic that she wrote on page 189, "It is human nature to shrug off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster." One of the most difficult aspects of cancer is that the development of the disease may take years even decades to occur after the exposure to a cancer causing agent. Carson herself worked tirelessly throughout the writing and publishing of her work while battling her own case of breast cancer which unfortunately she lost her life to.
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Rachel Carson was wise beyond her years. Her inhibitions towards chemicals that were meant to do just a specific job were correct. We cannot assume that by targeting one aspect of a problem we will solve it completely; sometimes another problem arises or the problem multiplies and gets worse. The world we are part of is like a complicated equation that cannot be solved. There are many variables, each of which has its own value and cannot be isolated without the assistance of another variable. The key is to live honestly with the people, plants, and animals around us. Carson’s quote on page 189 is spot on; we shrug off things that seem to have no affect on us in the present. But by doing this, we are choosing to be naïve and are preventing ourselves from living a full and successful life.
Sometimes a chemical reacts or combines with another in the body, or magnifies its potency under certain conditions. Dieldrin can have long-term effects such as loss of memory, insomnia, nightmares, and mania. Lindane is stored in the brain and affects its functioning but is commonly used in insecticide vaporizers in the home. Organic phosphates lead to paralysis and mental disorders. Parathion and malathion, used in the garden, can cause muscular paralysis.This chapter is a straightforward analysis of how different chemicals cause “Confusion, delusions, loss of memory, mania—a heavy price to pay for the temporary destruction of a few insects” (p.178). Yet insecticides are so much a part of our culture that most people reach for a can of something potent when they see bugs or pests in the house or garden.
Pesticides are just as harmful to us as they are to insects, and in a very complicated and diverse world, there is never an opportunity to completely solve the problem. I agree with Sarah's analogy, "the world is a complicated equation that cannot be solved". By focusing on one aspect of the problem, we only solve a minute portion of the puzzle. We need to learn to coexist with these insects, rather than pollute the world more than it already is. Humans are so focused on the present, and if there actions don't have immediate consequences they're often disregarded. Cancer proves that this mentality is fatal, and I think we all need to be more aware of the future, and the implications our current behaviors have.
I would first off like to say I think Rachel Carson is incredible, and extremely intelligent. When writing Silent Spring, it was nice to see how much she cared about giving the world knowledge of these chemicals, while she was dealing with something as awful as cancer. And in response to the quote about shrugging things off, as people we really do. The chemicals from DDT and pesticides may not have a present, and an extreme relevance in our life in this minute, but the long terms events are harsh and awful for the environment and human population as illustrated throughout the entire text. Reading literature like this, is helping keep people aware of what these industries are doing and how they are not taking into account the lives and other traumas their causing when creating these products. It's almost a disgrace, and so unfortunate I hate thinking about it to be honest. We've gone from caring about making beneficial advancements that will better the life of man, to wanting to make money off of people for selfish reasoning. And with something like cancer, the risk of doing these things is just too high considering how many people it affects, I've already known 2 people in the past month that have both died of cancer.
The quote on page 189 stated above is extremely true- "It is human nature to shrug off what may seem to us a vague threat of future disaster." If there is a slight threat that could become a complete disaster in the future, humans show no interest at all. Every thing in this complex world we live in is connected to something else in some way. Isolating one would end up hurting another and so on. Humans don't seem to like to look at problems that could arise to disasters in the future- cancer being one of them. The knowledge of pesticides and chemicals that can cause cancer need to be better known so a cure can finally be found. From this book, I think that Carson did a wonderful job of educating the public.
Not facing this problem is leading to many preventable deaths. If we took more action instead of acting like it doesn't exist we could save innocent people. Carson wrote this book to try to help people become more aware of chemicals and the problems in the world regarding pollution and things in everyday products that can cause problems in the short and long run. By avoiding using chemicals such as DDT we could help lengthen people's lives. Carson teaches the readers that educating yourself about products you buy can prevent sickness and internal damage that you don't even know is happening.
If it is human nature to shrug off diseases and other sicknesses which many people did and still do, it is contradicting many humans beliefs and struggles. Carson does hit what us humans say spot on because even though these current issues may not seem to have much of an affect on us, in the long run they can certainly do some substantial damage. Just like the DDT issue where many people shrug it off but Carson is one who sees the negative effect on daily life all around it and trys to address the issues. Many of these issues that are exemplified by the DDT are similar to the ripple effects that small diseases and larger scaled diseases have.
It's crazy that we only see the environmental and species-related damage when it comes to pesticides and chemicals. I honestly wasn't completely aware that these harmful chemicals could be a cause behind cancer, which gives us humans even more of a reason to act fast and work to eliminate them from our an environment. I think part of Carson's urgency stemmed from her sickness, which allows the reader to feel sympathy and connect with her. It's also extremely frightening that anyone could be carrying the cancer causing agent for years before knowing it
Carson is right we can not ignore the problems that we have. Humans do not pay attention to the problems that are not a big deal now. We like to wait until they have a big impact on us. The problem is once there is two big of a problem we cant and will not be likely to solve it most likely. Like John said pesticides are just as bad as the insects they are used to kill, and the in a negative way. Pesticides just affect us more than the insects. We need to see what is going on and not to ignore it. We need to be honest with our selves, see what the bad is and fix it. Like an example would be instead of using pesticides higher people to pick all of the bad bugs off the tree and put them in soaping water. That's a lot more work but is a lot healthier for everything on earth.
Over the years, people's fears have changed. People used to be weary of certain diseases that more or less they felt like they had control over, could limit their exposure to, and knew where they came from. Now people are overwhelmed with the belief that they can't elude these complex diseases because they’re everywhere! – In the food they eat, the air they breathe, etc. Not being able to understand these conditions but knowing that they’re difficult to develop cures for, leads some to live in constant fear, especially when the possibilities seem so limitless.
Something Mrs. Rotelli said was that "One of the most problematic aspects of cancer is that the development of the disease may take years or even decades to occur after the exposure to a cancer causing agent." and it's exactly this which creates a misconstrued thinking among the majority. People are more afraid of an abrupt disease coming about when instead they should be concerned that a health problem could build up over a period of years. After all, it’s more likely that an accumulation of small exposures over time will create a glaring problem than just facing one from the start, as we all know that sometimes little things can create big consequences.
Sarah's words about "the world we are a part of is like a complicated equation that cannot be solved" is perfect. Humans focus on fixing one problem at a time, not thinking of what this "solution" might do to eventually come back and bite Earth is the butt. Humans like to have instant gratification, we do something to solve the problem at hand and we think we are done. We don't take the time to step back and look at the prognosis of what we just did. If it helps us in the immediate future we are content. For every solution we put into this "equation" for Earth, we get out thrice as many problems.
Carson was one of the few lucky people on this planet with the gift of insight. Luckily we are now aware of cancer and the various forms and how largely it impacts human life and the amount of deaths it causes yearly. Although we are far from a cure, I think that without Carson's wise and helpful incentive, we would be even farther from the cure. DDT has cause a lot of damage to our lives here on earth but imagine what it would be like if Carson didn't painstakingly bind together this book of facts for us to reference. We should thank Carson for helping us come this far, unfortunately there was no one to help Carson in her time of struggle through cancer.
"We are accustomed to look for the gross and immediate effect and to ignore all else," (190).
So many people are looking for only two things, faster and cheaper ways to accomplish the tasks they need to do. As Carson described in the above quote, humans are only concerned with making money as quickly as possible, ignoring most consequences. In the industrial age, humans pumped millions of gallons of chemicals into rivers because it was the cheapest and quickest method of disposing the hazardous materials. Little did the industries acknowledge the environmental impact they had by dumping chemicals into rivers and cutting down trees for new buildings and other similar acts. It is sad how inconsiderate so many people are when money is on the line.
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