Caroline Dillard Class Reading 5: 4/17/23 (Illusions of Independence)


In chapter 4 of Humans in the Landscape, Lee et al. (2013) discusses the “illusions of independence”. The illusion of independence shifts the human perspective of what is valuable. In today’s world we find the importance of things through markets and technology. The internet creates a world without edges and offers experiences previously inaccessible. A quote by Gifford expresses that we gained independence through our dependence. We are independent such that we have access to a vast amount of knowledge but we are reliant/dependent on technology for that information. We are also independent for what kind of food we eat even if it is out of season, but dependent on markets that offer these goods. So, independence is not really that free and instead we live in a world of interdependence. This leads to a world of misunderstanding and ignorance. We take things for granted, harm the land, and do not realize the impact we are having. This independence which seemed so free and good has negative effects. We become disconnected with items in our everyday routine such as the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the water we drink. We are dependent on those items, yet we use them like they are nothing. I hope I can think about things more deeply now that I have read about this concept.

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