Human Society

The shedding of primeval instincts is taking too long. We still react as if all approaches are a threat and find it difficult to accept anything that doesn't conform to our own tribal insignia. The problem is that we no longer fight man-to-man with sticks or animal bones we now have the ability to destroy the planet and all life thereon and have already come close to it on several occassions. Gesturing and adopting aggressive poses, as did our warrior ancestors, is still a major tactic employed by politicians and professional war mongers in order to get the opposing side to back down. It's when neither side will that the sparks fly and the planet dies! We still carry that primitive instinct to protect the food store, the family and the pouch full of pretty stones from other tribes instead of making the species stronger by pooling resources and working together. If and when we venture away from the tribal home (Earth) we could regret the internal bickering that made us so weak, intellectually and physically.

It's now some eight years on from when I first posted this website. Unfortunately, mankind hasn't yet accepted what lies in the near future. The affects of global warming are gathering momentum and are now beyond the point where humanity could have made a significant difference although there is still the opportunity to lessen the changes to our climate. We, humanity, continue to destroy the ecosphere, upon which, life on this planet depends. It's interesting to note how we all accept the scientific reports of how life on this planet is going to change yet do nothing. The predictions are nothing short of catastrophic. Major shifts in weather patterns, at least a 2 metre rise in oceanic levels, increases in harmful radiations penetrating the damaged ozone layer, the destruction of rain forests and their important contribution to the balance of nature. The list is long and frightening. Admittedly, we are in effect, trapped by the way our societies operate and would find it almost impossible to abandon the artifacts that produce the pollution and damage to the planet's environment. This is compounded by the fact that we do not yet feel threatened by the changes in climate. The adjustments needed in the way humans expoit and abuse the planets environment, are not going to happen in time to avert worldwide catastrophic damage and human fatality. By that time, humanity will no longer have a choice. Not a popular view and one which many find unacceptable, these events will go some way to redressing the balance in what I consider to be the fundamental cause of humanities problems, that of an unsustainable human population on planet Earth. It is the sheer size of the human global population that is generating the problems. The planet's natural systems can no longer recover from the damage done by human exploitation and consumption of natural resources. This is perpetuated by the relatively undeveloped human intellect, which still places wealth, possession and greed above survival. We arrive at one of my primary beliefs. I firmly believe that all species, here and elsewhere in the universe, reach critical times in their evolutionary development, when their survival is threatened by self destruction. This results purely from their own advances in technology and discovery. Their ability to survive these 'moments' depends on the level to which their intellectual capabilities have developed to enable them to prioritise and adapt.