Restraint

   

Growing up, we are always told that we can't always have what we want. We are taught how to restrain ourselves. It is the reason why we don't eat candy and cupcakes for breakfast, it is the reason why we don't blurt out every mean comment that comes across our mind, and it is the reason why we don't spend days lying in bed binge-watching Netflix (sorta). In his piece, "A Measure of Restraint," Chet Raymo illustrates how "an integrity and balance within nature that demands of earth's dominant species a judicious self-restraint" is needed if humans are to live on, but not destroy, the earth. He provides numerous examples where people lack restraint and come to conclusions even when they don't have all the information. His examples include unnamed "young men" as well as famous scientists such as "Marie and Pierre Curie." He does this to show how everyone in society can be affected if their urges are left unchecked. Raymo also shows how history repeats himself with these examples and uses a poem that contains repetition, "she died a famous woman denying her wounds denying her wounds came from the same source as her power," in order to emphasize this point.  It can still be seen today when society, myself included, just mindlessly falls into the current popular trends even if we don't necessarily know what it is for or why it is done. Hopefully, society begins to understand what Raymo is asking for, and we refrain from habitually giving in to our temptations. Sometimes it is better just to let the mystery remain a mystery.