Is exploration a ‘good’ thing?
Many things can be explored; a house, a room, a mind, a topic, a country, and so on. To explore something is “to investigate systematically, examine, or “to search into or travel in for the purpose of discovery.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/explore) Exploration is a ‘good’ thing because it can lead to new discoveries, findings, and new understandings.
Discovering a new area of land can lead to a whole new world of possibilities. Things may be found and discoveries can be made when exploring the world. Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator who lived from 1451 to 1506. His voyage and exploration across the Atlantic Ocean led to European awareness of the American continents. Columbus “initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the ‘New World’.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus) Columbus wrote in his journal, “So, after having expelled all the Jews from all of your Kingdoms and Dominions, in the same month of January Your Highnesses commanded me to go, with a suitable fleet, to the said regions of India. And for that you granted me great favors and ennobled me so that from then on I might call myself "Don" and would be Grand Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Viceroy and perpetual Governor of all the islands and lands that I might discover and gain and [that] from now on might be discovered and gained in the Ocean Sea; and likewise my eldest son would succeed me and his son him, from generation to generation forever.” (http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/01-col.html) In the case of Christopher Columbus, his exploration led him to initiate “widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans,” and this was definitely a good thing.
Exploration is also a good thing when what is being explored are sciences and mathematics. Formulas, operations, solutions, and equations can be figured out and solved with this type of exploration. A physicist, author, and philosopher, Albert Einstein is among many people who dove into the exploration of math and science. Einstein is often regarded as “the father of modern physics.” Einstein’s exploration and examination of science led him to contribute to physics which includes “the special and general theories of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the first post-Newtonian expansion, explaining the perihelion advance of Mercury, prediction of the deflection of light by gravity and gravitational lensing,” and much more. Einstein’s research led him to publish more than 300 scientific and over 150 non-scientific works. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein) In a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, Albert Einstein stated the following:
“Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations:
In the course of the last four months it has been made probable -- through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America -- that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.”
Einstein made many things possible with his research and exploring of science, and he contributed to the world of physics that is known today. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_einstein.html)
Exploration is a good thing. More positive outcomes come from exploring something than do negative outcomes. Exploration is what keeps the world changing and why discoveries are found, inventions are made, and lives are improved.
Works Cited
"Albert Einstein." W. Web. 7 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>.
"Christopher Columbus, Journal (1492)." Web. 7 May 2010. <http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/01-col.html>.
"Christopher Columbus." Wikipedia. Web. 7 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus>.
The Free Dictionary. Web. 7 May 2010. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/explore>.
"Letter from Albert Einstein to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt." Web. 7 May 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_einstein.html>.
Picture Source:
"Albert Einstein." Flickr. Web. 7 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/30417084@N05/2959726725/>.
You say that "'widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans,' was definitely a good thing." It could be argued, however, that the disease and war that the explorers brought with them -- things that wiped out entire local populations -- probably weren't the best thing for the indigenous peoples.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you would be better off sticking to the week's topic in answering the weekly; rather than jump to Einstein, I'd suggest taking the lead of one of our dailies this week and looking at the exploration of art in the 16th century.