E.O. Wilson Talk and Ishmael
"There may be the temptation to treat biosphere holistically and the species that compose it a great flux of identities hardly worth distinguishing one from the other, but each of these species, even the tiniest, are masterpieces of evolution. Each has persisted for thousands, even millions of years. Each has adapted exquisitely to the environment in which to live, interlocked with other species, to form the ecosystems upon which our own lives depend in ways we have not even begun to imagine. We will destroy these ecosystems and the species composing them at the peril of our own existence. And unfortunately, we are destroying them with ingenuity and ceaseless energy."
The connection between Ishmael and E.O. Wilson's TED talk is simply summed up by the excerpt above from Wilson's talk. Humans constantly place ourselves in the center of everything. We believe that the world was made for man, and man was made to conquer it. And so, we set out to conquer. We exterminate everything that we think will threaten our survival. We do not realize that everything plays a role in the world. We do not realize that if we destroy our ecosystem, we will not be able to live. We do not realize this, for maybe it is our nature not to realize. Or perhaps it is Mother Culture whispering in our ear, telling us that the world was made for humans, and humans alone.
We are much too proud to realize that our lives are dependent on things that are not under our control. Take for example, the 500 species of bacteria living symbiotically in each person's mouth and throat. These bacteria are necessary to each person's health as they hold off pathogenic bacteria. In our vanity, we do not explore the vast domain of hidden biodiversity. Why? Because there is no need to. We believe that in no way are these tiny organisms related to us.
Instead, we choose to destroy these species. We believe that man is set out to conquer, and achieve glory. Hobbes believed that the nature of man is comprised of competition, diffidence and glory. We conquer for gain. We conquer for safety. And lastly, we conquer for reputation. Humans are so set on what we believe is our destiny, and our survival, that we will do anything to make sure we achieve our goal and fulfill our destiny. We don't realize the harm we are causing to the world and the other species of the world.
Our ethnosphere is disappearing, our biosphere is disappearing, our world is falling apart. What we do not realize is that man is a part of the world. We exempt ourselves from the laws of life. So we do not see that with the collapse of the world, man will follow. We do not realize that it is "the law that fosters life for all - life for the grasses, life for the grasshopper that feeds on the grasses, life for the quail that feeds on the grasshopper, life for the fox that feeds on the quail, life for the crows that feeds on the dead fox," or that it is the law that has been followed for centuries by all the living organisms.
We need only to look at the concept of the A, B, C society to see interconnectedness. The As depend on the Bs, the Bs depend on the Cs, and the Cs depend on the As. The same can be applied to the human world. Everyone, and everything is interconnected on some level. Humans just don't realize it, and so we set about destroying the Bs and the Cs of the world (Of course humans consider themselves the As, for A comes first) without any thought for the consequences.
We are free-falling, experiencing the thrill of freedom of air, without the realization of what is to come, and, as Wilson said, "flying blind into our environmental future."
Labels: global ethics
Laws for Building Civilizations
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I think firstly that man is unaware of these laws. However, it is not to say that we have not been warned. We need only to look in history to see civilizations passed, civilizations that have collapsed. Man is too ignorant and naive for his own good. And in some ways, we are too vain. We think that we can conquer everything.
We can only look so far ahead of us. We are exhilarated by the freedom of air during our flight. We can see that the ground is rising towards us, but we can't see further than that. We can't see that it is going to keep rising. We choose to live in the moment. We don't consider the future. We don't consider consequences. All we care about is now, the thrill of this freedom of air, and the marvels that come with it. We can't see that at the rate we are going, the world is going to be deplete of all its resources, and our civilization will collapse.
We can only look so far behind us. By looking back at our recent history, we see all the wonderful achievements we have made, and we therefore assume that we will continue this trend. We think that all we need to do is continue what we are doing, perhaps work a little harder, pedal a little faster, and all will be well. We will continue to conquer, to achieve great things, to enjoy the freedom of air. Soon, man will rule the universe.
We refuse to look further, either forwards or backwards. Maybe it is because we simply can't see so far. Maybe it is a deliberate attempt to ignore the past and the pending. Humans are afraid of what they don't know. So maybe we don't want to see what's coming because we are afraid. Maybe we want to outwit fate, to prove that we can conquer everything. Or maybe it is Mother Culture, whispering in our ears, telling us that everything will be fine. Things have been fine with the way we have been doing things, why then, do we need to start changing?
I have never considered that there be a law for building civilizations, or about how to live, but now, I am just worried for us humans. I hope that we can realize what we are doing, and that we can't wait anymore. Things are going to get worse, and they are going to get worse at an accelerating rate. I hope that we realize there is no way we can defy a law, no matter how hard we try. I hope we realize that if we don't do something now, our civilization is doomed.
Labels: global ethics
The world was created for us
I am a cat. The world was created for us. We have an account of how we came to be, but it certainly is no myth. We are very rational and incredibly intelligent. We accept only ideas that are proven by indisputable evidence.
About ten or fifteen billion years ago, the universe was created. Then our solar system was created about two or three billion years ago. Nothing happened for a long time. Then after a billion years or so, life appeared on Earth. At first, it was microorganisms and bacteria. Microorganisms evolved into higher and more complex forms. Evolution continued. More and more complex forms were created. Life spread to the land and evolved into amphibians. Amphibians evolved into reptiles. Reptiles evolved into mammals. And then, the cat appeared!
The universe was obviously created for us. The Earth revolves around us. Night was created for us, so that we may prowl and explore. Land was created for us, so we could live on it. Trees were created for us, so that we could climb and perch on them. The sea was created for us, so that fish we feed off could thrive in it. Mice, birds and other animals were created for us, so that we could entertain ourselves by chasing, hunting and feeding off them.
We are the most advanced race. Humans may think that they are more advanced than us, but in Ancient Egypt, cats were widely worshiped as a cult. To them, we were and still are, a symbol of grace and poise. We were also mummified to the same degree as humans. Humans have also done their part to create a lot of things for us. Cat food was created so that we could enjoy eating it. High buildings were built so we could jump off them. Wool and string were created so we could play with them. This is only to name a few; a lot of human-made things were created for us because we are so important.
Not only are we advanced, we are also a diverse race. We are spread all over the world, from the lions in the jungles of Africa to the cats that live with humans in cities. The cats that live with the humans choose to do it. We are not enslaved in any way by the humans. We can leave them any time we want. We live with them simply because they entertain us or we enjoy their company. In this way, humans were created for us too.
Evolution stopped once it reached the cat. There is nothing more to come. Things that are made after our creation are merely things that were created for us, to help fill various aspects of our lives such as food, shelter, entertainment and so on. We are the center of the world; there is no evidence that disproves this.
Labels: global ethics
