I HAVE BEEN PUZZLING OVER A PUZZLE since April
'Earth Day' got me going. Earth Day has been around for 40 years, with a different theme each your. I had been unaware of Earth Day but, as you know, in this Internet Age we ae frequently surprised to learn of things we did not previously know about. The theme this year was 'Restore Our Earth'. Then, in May, 'New Yorker' offered an article, Is Mars Ours?'
“Whoa,” I thought, “how could Mars be 'ours'?”
'Ours' here refers to the human race. Evidently we think we already own Earth. There was a time when Europeans would land somewhere and assume it for their nation. When I visited Anchorage, in Alaska, back in 1992, the locals told me that in 1778, James Cook had left a note in bottle, saying “I claim this land for King George III.” The Russians and the Spanish previously had done much the same (for their nations); that is, claiming what is now 'Alaska. The Inuit people do not take much notice. At any rate, Anchorage is located at the top of Cook Inlet, where has been a statue of Captain Cook for all to see.
Today,
some hope to make Mars the 'second home' of the human race.
Personally, I think that a somewhat long shot, not only by reason of
distance. So...what is THE PUZZLE?
Has it something to do with how humans, just because we are some place, jump to the conclusion that it belongs to us?
We forget our place as a recent addition to the primate branch of the mammalian group, havingbeen around for only two million years or so. Most species were here before us. Earth, the inventor of Life and the Great Collaborator with Evolution, was here much, much longer. Humans are no strangers to the enigma of our being. Learning to work with fire was the beginning of the great adventure in which we find ourselves but have not yet understood.
Coincidentally,
I have discovered two very clever chaps, Peter Sterling, a
neuroscientist , and Simon Laughlin, an information scientist, who
have worked together on the design of brains. Designing brains!!! What on earth could that be? I think they mean, 'If you set about designing a brain, what principles are important?' This has kept them busy for two decades.
By comparing predictions of ideal brain performance with actual, using very delicate measurements, they have shown that brains are about as efficient as could be expected. This prompted me to venture that this must apply to all the parts of biological bodies. So, what goes for brains goes for the body overall. Running wild with this line of thought, species also have an excellent fit to the environments within which they have evolved. Evidence for the efficiency of the evolutionary process seems very strong.
Reaching even further, is it possible that species develop collaboratively to become collectively exactly what the environment 'needs'? According to this 'mad notion', taking some large environment as a whole (such as the Amazon rain forest), with all the plants and other living creatures, this entity in turn would be just what adjoining regions 'need', and so on?
Evolution fashions the best fit all round. Nature is not chaotic; instead, exhibits perfect harmony.
The other side of this coin, the source of my puzzlement, is that we happen not see ourselves as part of Nature. Rather, Nature is to be possessed, conquered, plundered, developed, or bent to our purpose, which seems to be to dominate.This view prevents us from seeing the harmony; from seeing ourselfs as part of nature. We have become powerful, but not humble; as would awareness of our place in the 'web of life'.
Lately,
we have been discovering that our way of living has us in a mess. I
have read that, for all the people on earth to live as we do in the
developed nations, would require three Earths! Part of the mess we are in is our mess. For all other creatures, what is not put to work in their bodies, gets passed on. As the famous biologist , Lyn Margulus, once quipped, "What is leaked, others eat!" We are exceptional; as a instance, consider plastic. When others eat it, it does them no good.
If that is our history, it is a puzzle to see how things might ever be different.
It seems to me that restoring
Earth would involve accepting that we are of the earth, earthy. When we
are gone, doubtless Earth will restore itself, as it has ever done. Restoring means 'giving back' as well as 'making good'. It means making room for other critters, we need each other!
This is becoming a 'hot issue' (I hope you will notice the pun). Will we awake in time to take effective action?
Dream on, Roberto!
