Damn You Wood Stove and Your Newfangled Consequences!

As my fingers hover over a metallic, silver board and mash a multitude of identical keys, I think back to a simpler time – a time when I would reach for a school notebook and fountain pen and physically begin to scribe each letter down by hand. I think back even earlier and picture myself with a chisel, methodically hammering into stone each and every letter. I get a feeling of astonishment when I realize the leaps and bounds we, as humans, have taken in the technology of just simply writing.

The technological advances of each facet of our lives seem to keep coming at an exponential rate. Everything is being improved upon, sped up, conveniently sized, and abundantly placed. As I described earlier, the image of someone sitting down to “write” has drastically changed over a hundred years, not to mention a thousand. A major player of the changes happening in today’s world is the ever-expanding internet, a facet of our lives that is continually weaving itself into our social fibers. This vast web has made it possible for me to completely bypass the pencil and paper route and enter my homework assignment, as well as turn it in simultaneously, in the form of a blog instead.

But as great as these eases are in making all of life’s errands more convenient, are we unknowingly taking step after step backwards from a life that is more fulfilling? It is an interesting dilemma to ponder; are things happening for better or worse? Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to think for the worse in his 1846 essay “Fire Worship”, where he brilliantly analyzes the domestic transition of the opened, hearth fireplace to the closed, wood stove – a switch that I had never in my life thought upon, much less even recognized. Nevertheless, Hawthorne’s juxtaposition of the two is immensely heartfelt and admirable, as he beautifully praises the warming and overly rewarding qualities of the hearth and the home and blatantly condemns the unpleasantly cold and bleak aspects of the wood stove. “Truly may it be said, that the world looks darker for it. In one way or another, here and there, and all around us, the inventions of mankind are fast blotting the picturesque, the poetic, and the beautiful out of human life” (Hawthorne).

To imagine, in this day and age, that someone would speak out so harshly against a wood stove! Surely Mr. Hawthorne has already rolled himself silly in his grave by now. For if the wood stove was what began killing family circles, then Instant Messenger must definitely be the broom and dustpan carrying off the now ashy remains. But I tend to disagree with Hawthorne. Humans progress by nature at a rampant rate. Our ability to adapt and prosper is the one thing that truly sets us apart from all other walks of life. To discredit the benefits and lasting qualities of human invention, for instance the wood stove, is to curse the ingenious and intuitive abilities humans have held and utilized since the dawn of their time.

A certain rhyme or reason does exist within Hawthorne’s essay though. The man is merely worried over the effect that such technological advances could leave in their wake: a disconnection with what is true. I believe Hawthorne detects and embraces certain universal truths, one of which being the needed correlation between nature and humans, the ability to recognize and appreciate our roots. But we must take this and our nature to progress hand in hand, especially in today’s world. It is highly important to have a sense and appreciation for what once was, so we can better appreciate what we have gained up to now. The internet is a highly beneficial tool to human existence, and, unless the world ends, will continue to play a spinal role in each and every one of our lives.

Vannevar’s Bush essay, entitled “As We May Think”, is a terrific piece from the mid-forties forecasting where twentieth century technology can take us. Bush takes a bit more of a brighter attitude in the possibilities that we have at our grasp, pointing out all that we have achieved thus far and almost clairvoyantly planning out such gadgets as the calculator, cameras (functioning at a caliber similar to today’s), and word processors.

There must exist a healthy medium where we can involve all of humanity and nature, moreover, creating a progression of benefit. There is no stopping humans from progressing, so the least we can do is stay educated, in touch, and smart to what was before and what could be. As Bush timelessly states in his closing paragraph: “[I]n the application of science to the needs and desires of man, it would seem to be a singularly unfortunate stage at which to terminate the process, or to lose hope as to the outcome”.



Bush, Vannevar. "As We May Think". Atlantic Monthly 1945

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Mosses from an Old Manse. 1846.