Titus Lucretius Carus’s “Of the Nature of Things” Book III - Nature and Composition of the Mind (Translated by William Ellery Leonard): “But mind is more the keeper of the gates, Hath more dominion over life than soul. For without intellect and mind there's not One part of soul can rest within our frame Least part of time; companioning, it goes With mind into the winds away, and leaves The icy members in the cold of death. But he whose mind and intellect abide Himself abides in life. However much The trunk be mangled, with the limbs lopped off, The soul withdrawn and taken from the limbs, Still lives the trunk and draws the vital air. Even when deprived of all but all the soul, Yet will it linger on and cleave to life,— Just as the power of vision still is strong, If but the pupil shall abide unharmed, Even when the eye around it's sorely rent— Provided only thou destroyest not Wholly the ball, but, cutting round the pupil, Leavest that pupil by itself behind— For more would ruin sight. But if that centre, That tiny part of eye, be eaten through, Forthwith the vision fails and darkness comes, Though in all else the unblemished ball be clear. 'Tis by like compact that the soul and mind Are each to other bound forevermore.” In this paragraph, Lucretius argues that the mind is the governing principle of the soul, not a mere function of it, acting as the central power by which life is animated. However, he claims that the absence of the soul means the death of the body, presenting the mind as consciousness and identity themselves instead of simply equating mind and life. He further insists the mind is a primal element of the mortal, more material aspect of humanity. Through the paragraph, then, Lucretius intends to create a hierarchical structure of the human being, where the soul rules the body, yet is commanded by the mind. This is an utter rejection of dualist views of the mind and body that consider the soul to be an independent entity, as Lucretius entirely embeds the soul in the physical realm and denotes its function as the activities of the mind. Establishing the mind as the “keeper of the gates” where it impacts life more profoundly than the soul, is a deliberate subversion of life being simplistically identified by means of some vague spiritual force. Indeed, as in Epicurean thought, the soul exists as atoms finely distributed throughout the body to guide it, while the mind guides it. Lucretius’s imagery elucidates that the mind's departure incurs an inability of the soul to linger, as he says its elements scatter, like breath or wind. These details serve to emphasize material dissolution above the metaphysical. Concomitantly, when Lucretius discusses the mangling of the trunk as a metaphor for the human body, he adopts an experimental tone to postulate that life may persist despite physical trauma if the mind remains intact. He challenges the idea that life is equivalent to what soul is distributed throughout the body in a calculated manner. This means that life continues so long as mental faculty remains, acting as an empirical argument where the observation of the body’s state being disjoint from that of the mind leads to the conclusion that life is governed by that which resides in the mind. Lucretius’s metaphor with the eye is equally telling. Just as the eye cannot see if its very own pupil is destroyed, the soul is unable to function if the mind is gone. Though the body may still breathe or twitch, life is nonexistent in its fullest human sense. Life is not a mere biological function, but also a coherent perception and awareness, only found within the mind. This underscores Lucretius’s materialist epistemology, with belief stemming from the idea that one may damage the periphery without full loss of function, but the entire faculty fails if the center is done away with. The image he creates suggests that the relationship between mind and soul exists in a parallel manner; the mind is the functional core, while the soul is a dependent structure. Vision simply does not survive without the pupil, just as the soul cannot exist without the mind. Finally, in the paragraph’s closing line, that the soul and mind are “bound forevermore” appears to posit an indissoluble unity until further interpreted through Epicureanism. The claim Lucretius makes is not metaphysical, but about life as a whole, suggesting that the soul and the mind must work closely in tandem while one is alive, for this life to function. Consequently, the “compact” is natural and temporary, not one of eternal, spiritual nature. At the same time, it is a reminder that the illusion of immortality stems from a misguided conflation between mind and soul through which one may conclude their divine invincibility. Thus, Lucretius denies the immortality of the soul while simultaneously separating it from traditional spiritual notions. His claim remains that the soul is wholly dependent on the mind, which in turn relies on a body. In his prose, then, Lucretius is assuredly contending metaphysical dualism as a philosophy, declaring that life itself is rooted only in a physical sense. The mind is not the spawn of heaven, let alone any other ethereal realm, rooted within humans, and, by proxy, subject to nature as is all else.

With my camera and binoculars in hand, I take every chance I get to explore the natural world. It is all too common for me to lag behind in a group as I try to follow a moth to where it lands or kneel to examine the leaves of a particularly interesting plant. Every day I get to spend outdoors, the more I realize the incredible scale of all I have yet to see. From photographing the 1st iNaturalist record in the world of the flower-loving fly Apiocera haruspex, to an finding assortment of avian county records, I have come to understand how special every moment I spend with wildlife is, as well as the unlimited possibility for learning that exists. My recent focus has been on native bee species, as I’ve helped to confirm the presence of the endangered Anthophora flavocincta at a local nature preserve and enjoy searching for all kinds of unique endemic species. The deep love for nature that I have developed through my experiences outdoors fuels my vision to pursue its preservation. After majoring in environmental science at a university, my ideal career is one focused on leading habitat restoration, particularly of vital environments that are generally overlooked. I see the potential for so many areas to be turned back into the biodiverse outdoor spaces they once were. Ultimately, I want my future to directly alleviate environmental problems, reflecting my care for life on this planet. However, this influences my current decisions as well. Being the longest-standing member of the Cool Irvine Student Steering Committee, I planned a competition among all of the high schools in my city to encourage sustainable actions: The Cool Irvine High School Green Challenge. My motivation to contribute to the planning and execution of this project was borne of my passion for furthering environmentalism. I was driven by a desire to make a difference against climate change, despite the limitations of my age. This ideal was shared by the three other committee members who helped our project achieve greater reach at their schools. Over a single month, an estimated 33.6 CO2e and 45,968 gallons of water were saved as a direct result of student participation. While contributing to a social media campaign to increase participation, I also logged the most actions in my school’s team to model for other members and explained the environmental impact of seemingly innocuous activities. Soon, decisions like prioritizing reusable products and relying on public transportation to and from school fit into normal parts of my peers’ daily routines. One student in my team began bringing utensils from home for lunch every day and taught their brother to do the same, instead of using the plastic options at school, illustrating the ripple effect of change through which I led my team to 2nd place in the city. Through my position in this program, I have seen students become more educated citizens and grow more aware of the consequences of their actions. Alongside the direct tangible impacts of this initiative, I also helped set the framework for organized youth climate action throughout the city, a change that will continue for years to come.