Summary Of The Grand Canyon A Whole New World

In today's society, the world revolves around technology. Technology has become the basis of life for a large portion of the world, and it is depended on in everyday society. As great as technology is, complete dependence on it could be problematic. The word technology covers a broad aspect of topics. It applies to everything man made in the world. When a new invention is unveiled it is called a technological advancement, which are taking humanity further away from nature. Many of the great breakthroughs of technology are purely for personal entertainment. Society relies heavily on the phones, computers, televisions, and countless other devices that, while helping mankind be more productive, are designed mainly for user performance and entertainment; thus creating harsh consequences for humanity’s relationship with
the natural world.
From the time people are born, they have a personal connection with the world. It is something inside of them. Humans learn this as they grow up, from watching their first sunrise to traveling and experiencing the beauty that nature offers. Nature is a very raw and powerful force, which is explained in Walter Kirn’s short story “The Grand Canyon: A Whole New World.” He explains that “The canyon seemed to make human emotion irrelevant” (Kirn 40). Since the outside world is so vast, it makes it difficult for mankind’s simple minds to grasp. It is a massive and unforgiving thing that demands respect and attention. Naturally people love the world, but technology pulls them from that. When using a cell phone, it is a tool that demands all the attention from one's mind.It is designed to occupy as much time as possible. Everyday life is surrounded by different types of technology that are designed to draw attention, and living in this distracting
world pulls people away from the natural world. It draws one’s focus from true beauty to a false sense of attraction because society convinces people that it is beautiful. In its real sense, it is a distraction from nature and the true raw beauty of the world. Technology is a selfish thing that allows for no competition and therefore, takes true nature out of life. Humans are fooled by beautiful pictures of nature on computer desktop backgrounds so that mankind feels that connection is still there. As Jonathan Jarvis, director of national park service, expresses in ‘Can the Selfie Generation Unplug and Get into Park”, “The national parks risk obsolescence in the eyes of an increasingly diverse and distracted demographic” (qtd. in T. Egan and C. Egan). The beauty of nature is being taken away by the selfish, dependent demands of technology. Since technology has such a strong hold over society, there is an enormous pressure to “save the moment,” that way memories can be forever captured. This immense pressure to preserve every moment, effectively pull mankind from the moment altogether. The only joy felt comes from the videos or the pictures that were taken, since that is the only recollection one has of the moment. People never live in the moment, or experienced the emotion of the event. Life becomes an endless string of moments captured by Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter that have no true meaning to society. They do not live for the experiences, they live for the likes and the repost. Instead of enjoying life and the blessings they receive from the world, mankind drowns itself in social media post and the demands of a technological life.
Society and nature are two raw, powerful things that must learn to coexist in harmony. Technology has the ability to completely distract one’s attention to the outside world. With little to no effort, mankind is entirely occupied with saving the moment they are in and not truly experiencing the spectacular occurrences of nature. People do not focus on the advancements and demands of technology, rather that how beautiful the natural world is. As the gap between nature and technology increase, the harmony of man and nature gets severed.