The following blog draws reflections on readin, excerpts from Anthropocene by Will Steffen, Paul J. Crutzen, and John R. McNeill, which is part of the book Environment and society by Christopher Schlottmann.
To elaborate on my understanding of this topic, I would like to share an anecdote I heard in my childhood, which seems very relevant to the topic. The anecdote follows: “Years ago, when humans saw a shift in their way of life from hunter-gatherers to settled societies, they also saw a shift in the way they interacted with their environment. Two men stepped forward with different perceptions.
The ground of argument was common for both that we are children of mother earth and she provides to us, hence let's interact with the environment to fulfil our needs, but they begged to differ in their approach.
The first man, who was more intellectual, said let's modify the nature around us, to fulfil our needs. Mother Earth has created man as the most intellectual species and based on this idea the man started to modify the environment around him. This has largely been the practice which we also see in today's world.
The second man, who was more humbled by the gifts of mother Earth, said let's become part of this nature. He based his approach on this primitive idea and said let's take what we need and at the same time return to Mother Earth to maintain the balance. This idea is still reflected in the practices of tribal communities.”
In my humble opinion, the man needs to find a middle path, where we integrate these two profound, but ideal ideas and live in harmony with nature as an integral part of it. It is true that by far man is the most intelligent being to walk on Mother Earth, but this intellect can only be acclaimed if we are able to integrate all species that live on Mother Earth with equal importance that we give to human species. Earth is a complex ecosystem and our understanding to it still limited, given all our scientific advancement.
The current chapter/ reading shares various engagement of man with nature. These engagements have been portrayed as cause and effect of humans with nature.
It is interesting to notice that if we go by the basic definition of Anthropocene, i.e. ‘ The way humans interact with nature’; the effects of it can be traced long back. Starting from all the discoveries man-made, be it of fire, agriculture, the effects of Anthropocene can be noticed. These were local at the time. Beginning of industrial revolution and the era of world wars, these effects could be seen at a more global level.
I beg to differ with the viewpoint which the author offers. According to him, man has reached to an ecstatic state where he can compare himself to the forces of mother nature. This is like putting our ignorance and unawareness to a pedestal. According to Anthropocene, the concept of sustainability and climate is man-made. The parameters set to see these changes are fit for human species but not nature.
If we can learn anything from history, is that nature can withstand a great amount of force and changes whereas species get extinct.
It is important to understand this very point of view, which calls for a paradigm shift in our understanding of changes we see around us in nature.
It is not Mother Nature who is in grave danger but our human species and race which is.