Emerson

Yesterday in class we discussed authors Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne's opinions on 19th century trains. I found that although each author spoke about similar aspects of trains, their interpretations were quite different. When we formed groups of three with each person representing a certain author that they focused on, it became clear that each author had their own thoughts about trains and what they mean for the future. Although I focused on Thoreau during the assigned reading, I found Emerson to be more interesting and certainly more positive about the future of trains in America. Emerson presented a unique look at trains because he felt that their existence proved the correlation between trains and nature. I thought that Katie brought up an interesting perspective when she said that she didn't think that Emerson would like the influence on internet on today's society. Most other groups in our class (mine included) thought that Emerson would have a great appreciation for the social connectedness found in today's civilization. Even though the internet does not seem to incorporate nature, it psychologically connects us to other people across the world. I think the true question is whether Emerson would consider nature or connectedness of people to be more important for society.