Frontiers

In class today, we discussed the concept of frontiers and how humans have this innate desire to seek new frontiers. As far as America is concerned, the frontier has moved from "The New World" to the "Western territories." Then it was on to Alaska and other northern reaches of our country. Because we have already conquered each of these, we then searched for a new type of frontier. In 1960, the frontier was the deepest part of Earth's oceans, the Mariana Trench. This lowest point on Earth's surface (6.78 miles down) was reached in 1960 by Navy lieutenant Don Walsh. In 1969, it was of course, the moon with Neil Armstrong. Once again, humans found a new frontier to explore. When the horizontal expansion was complete, we expanded upward (Moon) and downward (Mariana Trench). The point being, we as humans have this innate desire to expand, and find frontiers. Sure these frontiers provide a stage for competition, but they do much more than that. They connect us with the idea of the wild as something we want to test ourselves against. As we "use up" these frontiers, we are manipulating them in ways that make them once again, new and exciting. This is connected with the Red Bull, jumping out of the plane example. "Sure sky-diving is fun, but we've already conquered that... so lets put a new twist on it and do it without parachutes." This is only one example that illustrates our innate desire to find more. Experiencing the "wild" is an addiction that we all own, and its a perfectly natural one.