Response to the Transparent Eyeball

In answering the first portion of the question, I would guess that his contemporaries didn't react to his commentary in a positive nature. I would imagine that they may have taken some offense to the manner in which Emerson spoke about the nature of man. I can't see how his contemporaries would have agreed to his claims and I would hope that I would be safe in assuming that they may feel betrayed or deceived that a writer could express such sentiments about mankind. In this passage, Emerson claims that in the world there exists chaos and uncertainty in faith. His exact words were "In the woods, we return to reason and faith", which insinuates that people are naturally unreasonable in their "world" and misguided in faith, or possess a lack of the latter. I can't imagine that these comments would be favorable in the least, to his contemporaries.
The implications of his ideas for social life would be that they may sound completely absurd to the society that he lives in, and his comments towards living among nature might cause some social unrest or conflict among the people in the society. I haven't read Emerson yet, so my opinion stems only from the passage I've read on the forum, however what he's suggesting from the passage alone gives me the idea that he urges people to let go of their daily routine and revive themselves through a visit to nature. He seems to be saying that all the troubles one may have, or all the suffering and pain, may dissipate after spending some time away from the ordinary ups and downs of life, by going into nature. I think his idea suggests life amidst nature, in order to truly feel like one is alive. Once you step away from the ordinary, and walk into a place where you have only your thoughts and the beauty of nature to consume you, it provides for a totally different experience. It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me!