I have never really thought of paper this deeply before. After reading the introduction and first two chapters of Paper: An Elegy, I am beginning to rethink just what paper is.
Samson begins by reminding us of the many uses of paper we have today, and we have a lot. He then poses a thought experiment of what our lives would be like without paper, not just how we would be living our present day lives without paper but how history would have changed without paper. Life would be very different without paper. We use a lot of paper on a regular basis, but maybe not so much now that one, I don’t go out often therefore rarely need paper money, but also, two, that since most classes are online, I am using mostly digital means to take notes, read course materials and complete assignments. That’s besides the point. Paper is everywhere whether we like it or not. Somewhere along the way, paper was used in the production of the items we use regularly, even digital ones, whether it be through packaging, notes and plans for the product itself, toilet paper used by the people making it, paper is in there somewhere. Even with the digitization of activities like reading, writing, drawing, paper is still there as a container for visual thoughts. Paper is just so familiar to us that we continue to emulate our experiences with it through digital products. It is such a staple in culture and history that it would be hard to imagine how our lives would be if paper had not been invented, if the revolutions we have today would even be possible.
Samson also brings this comparison of trees to humans, and the religious and spiritual significance of trees and wood, noting that the destruction of trees is almost a form of self-destruction. Beyond the spiritual comparison of trees to humans and the cultural significance of trees as symbols of freedom, growth, and enlightenment, the destruction of trees is in a sense self-destructive from a simple environmental point of view. Trees take carbon dioxide from the air and emit oxygen. We need oxygen to breathe. Less trees, less oxygen. That’s just a VERY small fraction of the environmental repercussions of deforestation much of which I don’t feel nearly well-versed in enough to explain, but the bottom line is that the paper industry, amongst others, is nearly irreversibly damaging the environment, slowly, slowly, bringing humanity to ruination.