03 January 2010

A must read

The article linked to the title of this post is a must read for anyone who is intellectually responsible to one's own development. Understanding the position we are in the world we live in, understanding how human has accumulated the knowledge that makes us the most powerful organism on this planet and understanding of the process which has contributed so much to human development are things we should really have a handle on.

The only comment I have with the article relates to 2.2 As of now, life is known to exist only on Earth. And in this life chain, we humans have evolved to be at the top. [my emphasis]

The way I see the relationship of human with other organisms is a co-existence co-dependence. Yes, human has mastered tools, methods to exploit energy stored in fossil fuel (and hopefully and quickly renewable energy sources) and has moved mountains, altered the flow of rivers, built unique habitat for our living. However, without other life, e.g. plant to produce O2, clean the water, food, micro-organisms to break down waste, fixing nitrogen and so on, our existence will be short-lived. We should be humble enough to acknowledge that nature will continue with or without human. (Nature here refers to the process of the continuous increase of entrophy.)

We have been smart to utilise the knowledge we have accumulated over centuries of development. But are we too smart for our own good? In the last 150+ years, we have messed up the environment on which our own survival depends. Are we smart enough to revert the damage and save ourselves? Time is running out. IPCC climate models have been too conservative. All new data indicate that time is shorter than predicted. God does not exist. A non-existence god will not come to rescue us from our own destruction. We have to depend on ourselves to save ourselves from the destruction we have created.

No comments:

Post a Comment