Some people read the myth of Prometheus as a warning against mankind's hubris. What right do we have to steal the gods' powers, they ask. Should we "play with fire" or try to control things we do not understand? Can you think of an historical or modern example of how our manipulation of the world around us could be seen as a type of hubris? Explain your example in light of the Prometheus story.
One modern example of our hubris, is when we burn fossil fuels for energy. This makes pollution in the air, which will eventually hurt us more than it has helped us overall. It gives us energy for our homes, but it causes acid rain, and kills many animals, and will eventually cause big problems.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of being hubris, is whenever we tear down forests in order to build different establishments for ourselves. This not only affects our environment, but it also will start to affect us. We get so caught up with having the biggest and best of everything that we forget to think about whats best for the environment first. This is an example of how our pride gets in the way.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of how our manipulation of the world aroud us is a type of hubris is when people do not recycle paper. Some people are very lazy and do not want to recycle, so they just throw away the paper in the trash can. Since some people do not recycle, it effects the world around us beacuse we keep on killing trees. If we were not to recycle, we would be killing trees, which are homes for some animals, so by killing trees we are taking away homes from some animals and then they might go extinct one day.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of manipulation of the world around us that could be seen as hubris is the BP oil spill in the gulf. People referring to Prometheus and mankind "playing with fire" could be compared to drilling at extreme depths in the Gulf of Mexico and not having the foresight to take proper safety precautions. The word "hubris" is sometimes interpreted of thinking oneself above or equal to gods. When that rig was built it could be seen as thinking ourselves above the consequences of messing with nature. Prometheus did not understand the consequences of his act when he stole the fire, and neither did we when we decided to drill 5,500 feet down and install a malfunctioning blowout preventer.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of hubris is whenever a human litters. This shows no respect for our environment. Since some people are to lazy to throw away their waste in a trashcan, our environment is affected by the total sum of all the waste every human being litters.This shows that humans think that they're more important than the environment. This is an example of how humans, at first, used the environment and depended on it, and now how they litter and disrespect that same environment years later.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of hubris and trying to control something we don’t understand is global warming. We do not fully understand global warming, but we do understand some parts. And the part that we understand is about environments. We are destroying ecosystems for our current needs, and that is killing off many species. The burning of unclean energy sources like gasoline is crippling our current world.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of hubris is polluting the ocean. Especially if you have ever been to Galveston you have probably seen litter wash up on the shore but some places use the ocean as a big dumping place to get rid of waste that can harm the creatures that live in the ocean. The ocean is supposed to be a part of the world we take good care of not pollute it because one day it could backfire on us, just like prometheus stealing the fire it was sure to have consequences at some point.
ReplyDeleteOne modern example of hubris would be Nuclear Bombs. Nuclear Bombs when used end up making their target lifeless for a long time. This ends up killing many plants and animals and makes it seem like we are placing ourselves over the earth as if we are gods. Similar to the Prometheus myth, humans are trying to use power that they don't understand. This is showing how human are putting themselves on a close level to the gods when they can destroy an entire city easily.
ReplyDeleteA modern example of of hubris is deforestation. When we cut down trees and forests for personal needs, like building buildings, we are destroying something that we need to live. We have so much pride that we think that we can destroy forests without any punishment. When in the end, the trees are what give us oxygen. We think we know what we're doing and that nothing can possibly go wrong. This relates to the myth about Prometheus because Prometheus thought he could steal fire from the gods to give to humankind, when most people said he should not have messed with the gods.
ReplyDeletePeople tend to believe they are above the law when they have either great power and/or wealth. This feeling is a great example of hubris. Politicians are commonly thought to lie or make empty promises in order to be elected. This is a perfect example, because they should be trying to really help their voters and others, but they continue to use the power of the standing in the government for personal gain. An example would be President Nixon, and the watergate scandal. He used his power as President to rationalize taping the meetings of the Democratic Party, so he could look better infront of the people at the next election. That was time he and whoever in the government helped him should have been using to improve our country not his own career.
ReplyDeleteA modern day example of hubris is the amount of plastic currently being used by people. People continue to use extensive amounts of plastic even after they have been told about the terrible consequences. People are using plastic so much because it makes there everyday life easier, but, little may they realize, every piece of plastic they use will stay around gathering in landfills for many years to come.
ReplyDeleteA current example of hubris is in the NFL lockout. Hubris is often shown as having to much pride to step down and do the right thing. This exact situation happened between the owners and players over the course of the summer. The owners proposed drastic cuts to player earnings and also proposed a longer season. Resulting in the players refusing to play in the upcoming season. This led to a summer full of the two sides refusing to settle. This caused nothing to happen or to get done for a couple of months. Eventually a deal was struck when the owners overcame their hubris and settled to an agreement.
ReplyDeleteA historical example of hubris is during The Vietnam when we used Agent Orange. We discovered how to create this chemical that we though could help us in the war but it greatly affected the world. Agent Orange caused the death of many soldiers and locals. The chemical also destroyed many forrest, and because of the chemical the plants are not able to reproduce other plants. Agent Orange also caused many birth defects. It causes babies to be born deformed and with mental disabilities. Although we thought it was a quick, and easy way to fight against our foes in the Vietnam War, it greatly damaged certain aspects of our world.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think a good example of trying to control things we don't understand would be how we discover and use military technology. Even going back to the Byzantines, man developed weapons such as Greek Fire, which continued to burn, even underwater. When they tried to develop it further...well let's just say they got a taste of their own medicine. But very a modern example could be nuclear energy. It's obvious we are unable to control it, yet we still try. We believe we can control things that are far beyond our spheres of influence, and I guess that could be an example of mankind's hubris.
ReplyDeleteAn example of hubris in our daily lives is pollution and what people are trying to do to prevent it and what not. Most people think that they do not have to help the environment with things such as recycling and water conservation because other people are doing it but that is not the truth. If everyone thinks someone else is doing something to save the earth so that gives them an excuse not to, then in reality, no one is doing anything to help prevent pollution. People may think that they are helping the environment by doing nothing and that shows arrogance or people think that they are doing the right thing by doing something that is hurting others around them and the environment.
ReplyDeleteHubris is visible throughout history, and when hubris is present, chaos often follows.Like the time people created a ship that they thought was so mighty they claimed it to be unsinkable. These people were so full hubristic that they did not bother to include enough life rafts for all passengers aboard the ship, and as a result, once the ship hit a giant ice-berg, most of the passengers died aboard the vessel. The Titanic was overestimated as an unsinkable ship, and thousands of people died because of it. And not too long ago, the US thought it was so powerful that there was no way t could ever be defeated, and participated in every war possible. They were proven wrong during the Vietnam war, which ended with the US retreating and Vietnam becoming a communist nation. Because of the hubrictic attitude of the United States government, America looked weak in the eyes of other nations and another nation succumbed to the power of communism. The moral of the story? Pride cometh before the fall...
ReplyDeleteI believe a historical example of hubris was the race to the moon. We were competing with several countries to be the first to the moon(the country that automatically comes to mind is Russia). The United States wanted to get to the moon in such a expedite manner that they didn't take the time to build the proper space ship. This resulted in the failure of several ships. Using the ideas of the Russian spaceship Luna 9, the Americans built a more improved ship. Thus allowing the US Apollo 11 to carry the first manned spaceship to land on the moon. Just as Prometheus stole fire from the gods, man stole ideas and plans from other men to become successful and to say "we were the first."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA modern day act of being hubris was the NBA lockout. Even though these professional athletes get paid millions of dollars to do something they love, they would refuse to play unless their salaries were raised. Soon they came to an agreement but still i feel that these players were very selfish .
ReplyDeleteI think a historical example that shows hubris was when slavery was practiced. The whites' hubris led them to believe that they were supreme, that the african americans had no rights, and that they could manipulate their lives and have them work for them. The african americans had every right to live a free and happy life, but the whites manipulated them unfairly. This could possibly relate to the Prometheus story where the whites would be like Prometheus unfairly stealing fire, the african americans' rights, from them.
ReplyDeleteAn example of humans' hubris is the hunting and abuse of animals. I believe that all things were created equal, but some people can't understand that. The innocent animals don't deserve to be killed for sport, as if taking their lives away from them is an accomplishment. We are "playing with fire" because not much is known about life, but what we do know is that life is a gift. So all beings should be allowed to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteAn example of hubris is the Nfl lockout. The players were already being payed a lot and had a lot of pride. And the NFL owners thought they were all being payed too much. And the players having to much pride said they wanted more money. So it took the NFL over 100 days to come to an agreement with the players
ReplyDeleteOne way that humans act with hubris is during politics. Even in America everybody wants to be in control of great power. Usually the person does not know how to really act if they do win or they do it for the money that comes with the jobs. It gives them a feeling of self-importance. They then go and try and manipulate the law to their wantings. The way that they act without caring for the people is like how the god Zeus did not give the fire to the humans in the first place.
ReplyDeleteA historical example of how humans act with hubris is the american revolution. England was the most powerful nation in the world at the time and had the best military. They were too prideful and when America declared war England thought they would easily be victorious. They lost the war and never returned as the most powerful nation in the world. Prometheus thought he could overcome Zeus just as England thought it could overcome America.
ReplyDelete