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Man's attempt to control nature

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I need some help with the following two questions:
The phrase "familiarity breeds contempt" is sometimes used to describe how the humansâ?? view of nature changed from the 15th through the 20th centuries. As humans learned more, the mystery and awe they once experienced was replaced with attempts to control and manipulate nature. Do you accept this explanation of the relationship between humans and nature? Give examples why or why not.

What types of books were printed in the vernacular in the 16th through 18th centuries? What were their social, political, and philosophical effects?

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Solution Summary

Beginning with encapsulating quotes, this solution attempts to explain the origin of man's need to tame and control his natural environment. The Age of Reason is used as a starting point to show the change in man's view of the natural world. Literature of the period is discussed in the context of its effect on worldview, with relevant quotations from Thomas Hobbes and Dr. Carl Sagan.

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the shift in worldview-------

If "familiarity breeds contempt" is chosen as a label for the changing view of nature held by 20thC mankind, this would assume that we bear hatred toward the natural world. At least, by definition, this would mean nature is "held in low esteem" or secondary and separate from the creation of man. Since the 15thC, when man's attempts to conquer the seas and find his earthly boundaries began in earnest, mystery, mythology and monsters have failed to satisfy his need to know. Rather than hatred, this search for answers represents man's love, for himself, as an integral part of nature. Man is reaching for the core of nature, seeking the connection to the creator. Even craving its power. Of course, this period was preceded by one that could be similarly encapsulated by the phrase "ignorance is bliss," when the natural, and supernatural, dominated and predestined man. Bliss was not a byproduct of the Dark Ages. Terror, fear, superstition and self-loathing on the other hand, were. Man acquires knowledge and "sees the light." After seeing that the light is good, he attempts to focus the light, to control it and make it part of himself. It brings power and progress, further promoting his own place. The next catch phrase, for the period begun in the 20thC, would have to be "knowledge is power." Logically following, man would attempt to use this power to control and manipulate not only the natural world, but the very forces that brought it into being.

"The sublime was potentially ...

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