I found each of the projects that David Dunn worked on in this reading very fascinating. Especially as he discussed the hardships he faced trying to capture a pure, natural habitat in the reality of a human-imposed world. It is a sad reality that these habitats are dying off or changing in the face of human influence. However, I liked Dunn’s take on this reality. Instead of being pessimistic about these places not meeting his expectations, or getting frustrated when he couldn't capture the exact sounds he came to record, he embraced the fusion of nature and human technology as one, and embraced this reality. As he mentioned,
I think this can be more meaningful than presenting the masses with an idealized version of what nature should be like, because the truth is this is no longer the case. Presenting people with the reality of nature today (or the lack thereof) may make people more aware of their role in the environment.
Dunn’s commentary on animal language in the section: Chaos and the Emergent Mind of the Pond was also very interesting. The way he compared it to alien sounds was funny to me. This is because when you think of aliens, we all have a similar picture in mind: the humanoid green creature presented in science fiction tales. However, alien just means foreign, and these insect’s languages are completely foreign to us. The article mentioned that we have only discovered a few insect species that actually engage in language, but now I am sure there are plenty more that we just have no capability of ever discovering or understanding. I loved this quote from that section: “Now when I see a pond, I think of the water’s surface as a membrane enclosing something deep in thought.” This statement painted a vivid, magical picture of a sort of underwater fantasy world, and it makes me wish I could experience such a thing.
This reading really makes you think about our roles on this earth as humans. How we have the power to both beautifully capture the uniqueness of nature and simultaneously eradicate it little by little. While we would like to romanticize the pureness of nature, that is not the reality and we are forced to embrace that as the new norm and find beauty in this newness when it is in fact a tragedy.
