Nature and Ethics
This particular exhibit of the extinct Wooly Mammoth caught my attention due to its awesome size. I have a keen interest in prehistoric times and learned from the exhibit that Wooly Mammoths died off because of humans. We hunted these animals for their pelts and meat and eventually hunted them to death. It just goes to show how other remarkable creations that we SHARE the world with are punished due to our greed. People all around stared at this exhibit in awe. Instead of perhaps being able to still observe these amazing products of the natural world, we are now stuck looking at what was. It instilled in me the thought that we as humans have a responsibility to protect endangered species throughout the world and need to learn that we are not the only things occupying this beautiful Earth. The natural history museum did an excellent job of bringing extraordinary terrains to a tangible light. Whether it be the world of the present or past, the museum gives people who visit an opportunity to feel connected to an environment nothing like the one they are actually in.
Nature on Display
The museum brought me into many different worlds I don't normally get to experience. This exhibit stood out to me because the ocean is something we as humans know very little about, due to it being so vast. I have been scuba diving in many different places around the world and have seen many colorful, weird, and intimidating species. However if I saw something this big I would be frightened to death. Thankfully nothing that we know of is this big and dangerous today. Though it does make you wonder what could be in the darkest depths if all this life is just hundreds of feet off the beach. This exhibit taught me how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. If it weren't for our intelligence we would be a lot lower on the food chain. This museum was such an enjoyable experience for me because it humbled me as well as taught/showed me what beauty lies in the world I live in that I often take for granted.
Nature and the Human Spirit
When entering the butterfly garden, I felt like I was stepping into an Eden of sorts. The sun was shining through the thick vegetation, children were laughing, and beautiful butterflies of all shapes, colors, and sizes flashed before my eyes. Like many other exhibits in this museum, this uncommon terrain almost felt like home to me. It brought me back to Earth and helped me lower my human bias, realizing that I am not the only special creature on this planet. We are all interconnected in the grand scheme of things and though there is no certainty about there being a higher power, we (plants, animals, and humans) seem to coexist almost perfectly and have something to offer towards the bigger picture.
Credits:
I took all of these photos except for the ones that I am pictured in which was taken by a fellow classmate.