The End Of Anthropocentrism

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 Sturm Enrich 0 Comments carbon emissions, climate change, degrading the soil, End Of Anthropocentrism, factory farming, Industrial agriculture, Population Growth, threaten biodiversity, wildlife habitats

There are many definitions of anthropocentrism. Wikipedia for instance defines it as the belief that humans are “the most important entity in the Universe”. Science Direct is more specific and states that anthropocentrism is “the ethical belief that humans alone possess intrinsic value. In contradistinction, all other beings hold value only in their ability to serve humans.”

For generations, we believed that we are at the top of the food chain. Even today, there are still a few individuals who gleefully post picks from their trophy hunts. (Usually featuring them with a huge wild animal they personally killed.)

Well, we are not the #1 on Earth. The Earth – a complex system – is #1. And within the complex system, we are way down. Our main distinction is not our intelligence, mind you, but the fact that we are dangerous and destructive.

(I strongly suspect that in the grander scheme of things, the human is much less valuable than the bee. The bee pollinates plants that feed all land life. The human is quite useless to the ecosystem at large. It certainly isn’t among its major contributors.)

Any school of thought that’s anthropocentric (human-centered) should be considered with a grain of salt. To think of yourself as powerful, wise, and in charge is healthy for the purpose of personal development. To think of yourself as powerful, wise, and in charge of “lower” life forms is ignorant. It gives us a sense of power that, in reality, we don’t have.

The correct view of the world has us as members of the Earth TEAM; not a supreme specie. All our achievements rolled together cannot substitute for the complexity of our ecosystem.

Every single thing on Earth; every form of the natural environment; every living organism consists of its own micro-ecosystem that depends on its own biodiversity. There is no soil without the microorganisms that nourish it. We couldn’t digest food without the bacteria present in our digestive system. The ocean isn’t just water; it has its own flora and fauna.

Without a healthy ecosystem, we are not viable: we don’t control the natural environment; it controls us. It doesn’t depend on us; we depend on it.

We often hear how we’re saving this or that specie, or a forest, or the ocean with the implication of human nobility. No, we’re not noble. We are exterminators who became regretful and are trying to reverse the damage we caused. We are not saving anything out of the goodness of our hearts. We are desperately trying to indirectly save ourselves.

No specie, forest, or ocean needed saving before WE endangered its survival. (There is an expression for it: “anthropogenic hazards” or manmade disasters.) Long story short, we are only now repairing the damage we caused while CONTINUING TO INFLICT MORE DAMAGE. We are doing this in the mistaken belief that climate change can – and will – be reversed without us making major changes in the way we live. That’s not possible.

The longer the delusion lasts the more sudden and catastrophic the climate crisis will be.

You don’t have to be an expert to figure this out. Think about it, for as long as we know there have always been two frozen solid poles: the North Pole (Arctic) and the South Pole (Antarctica). Because of these two, we developed the concept of the equator and furthermore the division into climate zones.

Now both of the polar anchors are melting at a record speed. Without them, there cannot be an imaginary equator, much less climate zones.

Remedying any one ecological problem we created, solves nothing as long as we continue along the current trajectory.

Let’s imagine that we manage to significantly reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Great. But it won’t make much of a difference.

Out-of-control population growth will demand more food. Industrial agriculture and factory farming will continue degrading the soil, threaten biodiversity, encroach on wildlife habitats, and contribute to carbon emissions. Our trash heap will continue to contaminate and pollute. Plastic will continue to be a curse to the natural environment. Toxic industries will continue pursuing profit to meet ever-growing consumer demand…

It seems as if we are bent on destroying the ecosystem while claiming that we’re saving it….

Well, until now most of the Evolving Show reflected my views. In the near future, I’ll be speaking with experts in Science and Technology, Conservation, and Sustainability. Let’s hope their views are more optimistic than mine.

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