After we have successfully evolved to conquer all competitors and threats, Nature has became our next target of conquest. As what we have done to other survival threats before, the entire history of civilization can be summed up as our attempt to combat Nature. With the aid of modern technology, the mode of combat has elevated to the level of mass-destruction.
It is time for us to recognize that if there is a survival threat between Nature and us, it can only be us ourselves. It is obvious that our "achievement" has jeopardized our ecological balance and thus our own existence. It will be the saddest prank we can do to ourselves if we should give up on Earth and waste our meagre resources on colonizing an unfamiliar distant planet. We are not the first and certainly not the last human civilization on Earth. Like any other species, we either continue to evolve successfully or we will be gone. Before we fantasize our grand intergalactic expeditions, we must first learn how to transcend our aggressive nature, befriend with Nature and with one another. Without securing a sustainable existence HERE, there is no THERE to go.
Brother: I am going to the property agency tomorrow.
We had better move out of here.
Sister: Why?
Brother: The water pipes are clogged in this building,
and the electric cables must be replaced.
Sister: Other tenants aren't going to pay for that.
Brother: Exactly! Besides, a nasty fire just broke out on
the second floor and is spreading fast.
Sister: How terrible! Shall we start packing now?
I often imagine that Nature is an enterprise and we the employees. Whatever we take from Nature is our salary. We can spend it as we wish, but let’s not forget good employees must contribute to make themselves worthy. We must then ask, are we a worthy employee? If Nature could speak, the answer would no doubt be, “You are fired!”
The growth of economy is the sum of growths in possession and wealth of individuals. The funny thing is, it is not a zero sum game! In the global scale, we are all getting richer, isn't it nice? Have we ever wondered where does all that come from? For every merchandise we bought, certain natural resources are being consumed. Sadly, the money we paid is wholly devoured by the commercial parties on the supply chain. Nature is rarely on the list of beneficiaries, and even when it does, she is at most receiving a humble tip of grace with a “clean up the mess and leave us alone". The richer we are, the more poor Nature is. That is the constitution of our "growing" economy. Eversince the invention of engines, we have been wiping the credit card issued by the "Bank of Nature" like there is no tomorrow. It looks like the banker has finally decided it is time to collect the debt.
Our behaviours are products of millions of years of evolution. But the emergence of modern civilization has practically cut outselves off from the mechanism of natural selection. The sick and the weak are all being taken of equally and only the "uncivilized" are being rejected. So much so that civilization has become the prime factor of evolution and our fate rests in our own hands now. To be or not to be, that is "our" question. Nature does not give second chances to the unfit. Nature will sustain. She always has and always will. She will heal herself in no time after we have tipped the ecological balance and wiped ourselves out from the surface of the Earth, leaving only the plastic bags and nuclear wastes to tell our tragic story for eons to come.
There is no LED clock to show a countdown, but we all know too well that it is imminent by the signs. If we want to avoid a pre-mature undoing and prolong our existence as long as Nature permits, our arrogance and hostility against Nature must be replaced by the most solemn respect! Transcend or be extinct!In subsequent blogs I will try to explore the distinctive nature of being human, especially our unique "projective" intelligence which enables us to construct a hypothetical reality on top of the "real" reality. This projective capacity is the root of our current predicament. By understanding our true nature, perhaps we will know better how to facilitate the changes needed for our self-salvation.
I have no intention at all to convince anyone about anything I believe and I dare not believe I am wiser than anyone in any way. My only wish is to reach out to people who share my concern and that they would allow my participation in making the change before it is too late - if it is not already too late.
