How's this for a bizarre article?
"Biologists have shown that it's a natural tendency of living creatures to fill up all available habitat and use up all available resources"
says William Rees, who is apparently an ecologist.
Now, pardon me while I scratch my head, here.
When did you last see salmon using up all the available water in a river?
Pied Crows using up all the available air? Or trees? Or even food, for that matter?
And the last time you saw a pride of lions slaughtering all the available game in its area was....?
Dr Rees is obviously mistaking all living creatures for humankind.
Ah, but we get a glimmering of understanding as to where he's coming from in his next utterance:
"That's what underlies Darwinian evolution, and species that do it best are the ones that survive, but we do it better than any other species"
Well, given a certain reading of the word better,I might be inclined to agree with him there.
The article's author continues ploughing on with this alarming statement:
Although we like to think of ourselves as civilised thinkers, we're subconsciously still driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion.
Is this truly how some people still think and write?
That we're 'subconsciously' driven by an impulse for survival (!) and that one can include the words domination and expansion in the same sentence?
Talk about slipping your assumptions past the reader!
As if it's nothing more than our instincts which causes these symptoms of Wetiko disease.
The expansion and domination symptoms have been displayed by humankind in the last few thousand years - and not all humans, just the civilised ones. There have been, and still are, populations of humans living in cultures which do not have hierarchical control of everything natural as their prime objective. But the author doesn't seem to be aware of these facts, preferring the picture he has in his mind of civilisation as the apex of all humanity - just as most of us were brought up to believe.
Yes, he DOES have a very simplistic approach to the subject. Truth is, when Gaia is generous with rain, sun, and weather, then graze and fodder benefit, which allow for more prey, which naturally allows for more predators, until such time Gaia ISN'T generous, which begins the winnowing down of numbers due to the shortage of resources, thus you have checks and balances which even out over time. Humans who live WITH nature instead of against it of course will not outstrip resources and suffer accordingly.
ReplyDeleteGaia weaves her web of life delicately.........
"Is this truly how some people still think and write?
ReplyDeleteThat we're 'subconsciously' driven by an impulse for survival (!) and that one can include the words domination and expansion in the same sentence?"
I hate to say it but at least here in America I think a very large number of people actually do act that way. With no thought about the impact. And there are other parts of the world that do too. They might not be the majority but with that kind of world view, they do tend to get their way. And yeah, it's going to their downfall but they're taking us down with them.
and nice new look to the blog btw!
ReplyDeleteYeah, good example of how this Wetiko disease can twist one's perception of reality.
ReplyDelete