Exploration may not be as simple a term as many people think. As defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, to explore is “to investigate, study, or analyze: look in to, to become familiar with by testing or experimenting,” or “to travel over (new territory) for adventure or discovery.”(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exploring). One of these definitions is showing more of an inner form of exploration, and the other shows more of an external form. To answer the question of whether exploration is a “good” thing, one must consider many variables. However, exploration brings change and ultimately goodness, no matter what form it is in.
Throughout all of history people have been exploring constantly. Some periods of time had more exploration or discovery than others, like the renaissance. The renaissance was a time period of great exploration of not only the past, but of new ideas and lands. Filippo Brunelleschi was an artist in the renaissance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Brunelleschi). The rich Medici family, the rulers of Florence, posed a challenge. They needed someone to build a dome on the cathedral in Florence. Brunelleschi rose to the challenge, although it was a feat that many deemed impossible. Many architects had been called to explain their ideas of how the dome could be built, and “Filippo alone declared that he could make a vaulted roof without much wood, without pillars or supports, and with little expense of arches. It seemed to all who heard him that what he had said was foolish, and they mocked him and laughed at him, saying he was speaking like a madman. Then Filippo, being offended, said, ‘Though you laugh at me, you will find out that it can be done in no other manner.’” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari5.htm). He went through many dark times; including being thrown in jail, but still continued to persevere and finally reached his goal. He had completed the impossible task of building a dome without and supports on it. It was beautiful, and people came from all over the world to see this architectural miracle. Other occurrences like this happened all throughout the renaissance. These beginnings of new discoveries have led up to what we know today. If it were not for all of these periods of discovery in the past, we would not be nearly as advanced as we are today.
Architectural and art discoveries were not the only type of discoveries made during the renaissance. There was also exploration of land. Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean in 1492, and writes of his trip:
Your Highnesses…determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith.
Instead of sailing to India as he had planned, Christopher landed in the America’s, discovering a vast amount of new land. People spread over to the Americas and slowly made maps and discovered how much land was really there. This was yet another discovery that affects everything we do today. If Christopher Columbus had never tried to sail to India, there is a chance that we would not know about the Americas even today.
When thinking about the people that make the biggest discoveries in history, one can see similarities. Both Christopher Columbus and Brunelleschi were thought to be crazy by many other people of their time. Brunelleschi was going to try to accomplish the impossible feat of building an unsupported dome, and Columbus was trying to prove that the world was round by sailing around the world to India. They both had their mind completely set on their goal, and it is said that Brunelleschi went into the task of building the dome “thinking, as was true, that none but he could accomplish it.” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari5.htm). This was true for both of these men, because no one else would dare to take such a big risk as they did, especially when not many people believed in them. This determination and perseverance is what it takes to make a good explorer, one that actually discovers new parts of the world and mind.
Exploration is the basis of all life. Without people willing to be bold and explore, the human race would have died out. While exploration can occur on a large scale, like discovering new lands for example, it also occurs on a small scale every day. Each and every person explores something every day; whether it is a new thought in their mind or a new way of doing something, the world is a place of constant discovery. Therefore, each change is brought about by exploration, and it is good, because we would not survive without it.
Sources:
"Filippo Brunelleschi." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 May 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Brunelleschi#References.
Giorgio Vasari. Lives of the Artists. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari5.htm.
Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus’ Journal. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html.
"Exploring - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 09 May 2010. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exploring.
Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia, 09 Sept. 2007. Web. 9 May 2010. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Columbus.jpg.
Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia, 05 Oct. 2006. Web. 9 May 2010. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cupola_del_Brunelleschi_ariview.JPG.
Nice use of primary sources to back up your argument.
ReplyDeleteWhat, however, of external exploration of the type done by Columbus and the Spanish following him? Certainly they produced change, but say, from the point of view of the indigenous peoples who already lived in the Americas, would that "change" be defined as necessarily "good"?