Question

8 But those lying to the eastward of the Sierra throughout the ranges of the Great Basin waste in the dry wilderness like the bones of cattle that have died of thirst. Many of them do not represent any good accomplishment and have no right to be. They are monuments of fraud and ignorance -- sins against science. The drifts and tunnels in the rocks may perhaps be regarded as the prayers of the prospector, offered for the wealth he so earnestly craves. Like prayers of any kind not in harmony with nature, they are unanswered. But, after all, effort, however misapplied, is better than stagnation. Better to toil blindly, beating every stone in turn for grains of gold, whether they contain any or not, than to lie down in apathetic decay.What happens to prayers that aren’t in harmony with nature? (paragraph 8)

Answer 1

In paragraph 8, prayers that aren’t in harmony with nature are described as being unanswered. This metaphor suggests that efforts or desires that do not align with the realities of the natural world are ultimately futile. The text implies that these prayers, much like the misguided endeavors of some prospectors, do not yield the desired results because they lack a foundation in the truth of nature and reality.