Adapt Nature or Adapt To Nature?
Please excuse my diarrhea of the brain while I ponder and pander.
Who is smarter - the human or nature? I’m talking about the modern, civilized cultures. You may remember the movie from the 80’s called “The God’s Must Be Crazy.” There is a particular part of that movie where then introduce the western culture and compare it to the aboriginal culture. The aborigine adapts to his environment. The aborigine protects nature and lives in harmony with nature. The modern human adapts his environment to suit his needs. What is the measure of wealth here?
We are habit forming creatures who are seeking comfort and something bigger and better all the time. I think that might be the problem. Rarely are we satisfied with life. If you’re not always striving for what society deems as a better life (mostly material goods and thoughts), you are then somehow a bad person. There is no way you could really be happy. The book, The Paradox of Choice talks about this phenomenon. Sometimes enough should be enough. There comes a time when there is too much choice because we chasing pipe dreams of what life should be. I think this is why chain restaurants like Chipotle and Potbelly’s thrive, actually. They have 10 menu items. This is what you get. It’s quick (which ties into our culture). It tastes good. Finally, there is very little choice. There is little room to always second guess your choice (I’m sure many still do, however).
This brings me back to my first question. Are we as modern civilized humans smarter than nature because we change the environment to suit our needs? Or is the aborigine (with little carbon footprint, mind you) the smarter human? Can we out-think nature? We obviously try all the time. Personally, I feel that we have a lot to learn from nature. For instance - did you ever notice that leaves aren’t dusty and dirty? Most leaves have microscopic bumps on them and the dirt teaters on the top - rain comes and washes away the dirt easily. The lotus leaf is the main one that is usually referenced - a paint company makes exterior paint that mimics this.
Think about a bird. A bird finds a mate. The bird then builds a nest and lays eggs. Can the bird survive in a nest made out of toxic materials? Will the eggs hatch and produce healthy “children” in this nest filled with chemicals and “un-natural” materials? Will the offspring of the offspring survive or will nature lose in this toxic world? I’m betting on the latter. Is this the same world we’re bringing our children into? Is it the world we were brought into?
I am not even clear in my own head what I am trying to communicate here. I’m obviously a bit frustrated. We can’t change the past, but we can make positive strides towards improving the future. I hate this euphemism, but, yes - changing a light bulb can make a difference. Using healthy, clean, safe products can make a difference. Buying local and organic food can make a difference. Drying your clothes outside can make a difference. Raising our children with these values passes this on to other generations. These kids need to learn that life shouldn’t be about materialism. That’s all they’re taught from birth, though.
Someone I heard speak recently put it into a context that many of us can relate to. In the 70’s and even early 80’s, it wasn’t uncommon to see someone chuck a bag of fast-food trash (with the Styrofoam Big Mac container) out the window of a moving care. Littering was almost accepted. Since then, there have been a ton PSA’s and people generally look at litterers as something that is bad (give a hoot, don’t pollute). We have the power to start that chain reaction now./ Green doesn’t have to be a fad. I hope when my children are my age, they won’t have to teach anyone to “go green.” Green will be normal - it will be unthinkable to do it another way. Of course, this assumption provides that there are resources available and not 10billion industrialized people in this world.
There is no way we can look out for and take care of our future generations. We can only take care of the container they will be born into.
The Gods Must Be Crazy : The civilized man part starts at 5:35
and this is why we need sustainability standards, to keep the constant innovation moving in the RIGHT direction instead of the wrong one.
Jason — what a thought provoking post - thank you. I completely remember folks throwing trash from their car windows, and thought then my god - that’s horrific! For those of us who have a tad more of life behind us I feel, age and wisdom has it’s perspective. I cringe at what I thought was important during my 20’s and 30’s. I respected the peace I experienced in my elders and wondered how they achieved it. I am beginning to get an inkling at what I am willing to let go of. More than ever before and an inkling of what I am willing to fight for. You are striving in many wonderful directions. Persevere, continue searching for clarity and keep believing. I met a man and woman about 20 yrs ago who decided not to have children because of how horrible the world was. In my opinion they missed the opportunity to foster the leadership of our future. My nest was as polluted as my kids nest was in many ways. However they have a much stronger chance to create future than I ever had. The problems are different but the generations to come are astounding. I know I raised 2 of them. Watch out world!!
is this comment all over the place ? I got caught up in your stream of thoughts - good stuff
From the HKung and the Tassaday tribes, i’ve learned that we need not make life a nature spending spree to be happy.
may your progeny feather their nests with sustainable love and pride.
your devoted reader, nadine
thank you for the glimmer of hope on a friday, and reminding me of a great movie. (btw is it just me or does the guy on the left look like kofi annan?)
I definitely have great hope for the next generation. Our daughter frequently points out things I never thought of, ways to reuse, ways to use less, and she is 8.