Transcendentalism in the 21st Century Now Ralph Waldo Emerson created this philosophy that he called transcendentalism over 150 years ago. There are many ways people can represent these ideals of transcendentalism such as being a nonconformist, rebelling against things that contradict one’s opinion, living a simple life, appreciating nature, accepting the circumstances in life, searching for the meaning of life independently, and standing up for personal beliefs. Now with technology sweeping nations all over, some people might argue that these ideals are not valued anymore while others disagree. In small ways, all over the world, people are doing simple things that pertain to the transcendentalism philosophy. Transcendentalism still exists …show more content…
Rebellion is the act of disagreeing, in short. Things such as protests are a great example of rebellious action because it is a bunch of individuals who are going against the things they do not agree with. Schools commonly face small bursts of rebellion from students who don’t do what they are supposed to. In the first chapter of Into the Wild, Gallien is talking to Chris McCandless about a hunting license when he states, “ ‘how I feed myself is none of the government’s business’ “ and then afterwards says, “ ‘Fuck their stupid rules’ “(Krakauer 6). McCandless feels that he does not need a hunting license to be able to kill animals in order to feed himself. Simply put, rebellion will continue to sweep the nation with technology around or …show more content…
Unbelievable amounts of people of all nationalities visit huge national parks like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone each year. To say that people don’t enjoy nature at all is a complete lie. Even Chris McCandless said himself that “ ‘the Grand Canyon’ “ is “ ‘something every American should see at least once in his life’ “(Krakauer 57). Enjoying nature does not mean having to go big national parks, it can be things such as camping out in the woods for the night or even picking up trash to help the environment. There will never be a time when nature is not being admired by at least one individual on the earth, and for that reason the transcendentalist values will only succeed to flourish. To conclude, transcendentalism is still present in the 21st century. In ways this philosophy has died down, but it has also grown greatly. Even in the smallest ways, without even knowing it, humankind has been following these practices of transcendentalism. Technology has greatly influenced the world today and it will continue to advance, but this will not necessarily kill the small actions some take that represent transcendentalism. Nonconformity, rebellion, appreciation of nature, etc., will prove the existence of transcendentalism even in the 21st