Thanks always for the work you are doing.

Please take a look at the link below regarding the CALL OF LIFE:FACING THE MASS EXTINCTION, based upon the work of some of the most brilliant scientists I know.

http://www.speciesalliance.org/video.php

With every hope that telling the truth as it is seen will not look like some sort of strange and revolutionary activity,

Steve

Please find just below a link to a trailer for the CALL OF LIFE.

http://www.speciesalliance.org/video.php

Hope you and the E & S Community find something of value in what looks to me like remarkably fine work by some of our most wondrous scientists.

Sincerely,

Steve

But, then, it’s possible or even probable that the very act of striving has been part of the human condition all along.

At any rate, I am dedicated to science as an important component of the present and future world. I’m also dedicated to many other things … like connection with each other and the Earth. I believe that, in some profound sense, the way forward is through connection.

Have a great Sunday!

Deborah

Thanks, yet again, for resolutely being a clear voice for science.

Because you and many other people who are dedicated to science, change in terms of open discussion of good science and intellectual honesty with regard to The Human Population is in the offing. Signs of openmindedness and expressions of support for the apparently unforeseen scientific evidence are surfacing in different places, even though the new, unchallenged evidence regarding the human population is menacing to the Masters of the Universe and their many minions in my not-so-great generation of elders, all of whom are unaccustomed to sharing resources, making changes, and appreciating the importance of maintaining the integrity of the planetary home in which we live.

Always,

Steve

Yes, yes, I understand your points and have no objections. We really agree on so many things. I am a bit embarrassed to have focussed so often upon what I see as points of difference between us.

Deep within me there dwells a keen sense of foreboding as well as a dynamic urgency that results from what I see, already visible on the far horizon, as an ominous and looming, distinctly human-driven predicament, one that could threaten life as we know it and the Earth as a fit place for human habitation.

Subjecting certain global “overgrowth” activities of the human species to careful, skillful and timely scientific examination appears to be plainly and immediately required of those with expertise in science. Scientists could be unknowingly making one of the most colossal mistakes in human history by not considering good evidence of human population dynamics and the human overpopulation of Earth. Even in the next three to four decades, increasing human enterprise associated with economic globalization and continously growing absolute global human population numbers could become patently unsustainable on a planet the size of Earth.

Scientific investigations related to the scale and growth rate of human consumption, production and propagation activities worldwide appear to be woefully inadequate. As a consequence, silence has ruled over science. Perhaps a sensible case can be made for changing this situation so that where there is now silence, soon there will be open scientific discussions, rigorous scientific inquiries, critiques/interpretations of scientific data, and advancement of scientific knowledge as it relates to the way the world in which live works and to the placement of the human species within the natural order of living things.

If we do not make some changes SOON in our unrestrained consumption, untethered production and unbridled propagation behaviors, then I fear for global biodiversity, original wildlife habitats, wilderness spaces, environmental health, the integrity of Earth and its resources……and, as you put it above, for the survival of our species.

With thanks to all,

Steve

The advent of democracy, human rights, women’s suffrage, equal rights for minorities, and environmental awareness, are all indications of our maturing consciousness. Humanity does have the potential to improve upon these ideals, to learn more about systems and sustainability science, and to grow up (so to speak).

Every ecosystem on Earth is impacted by human activity, the choices we make determine the fate of all life. Hopefully we will stop being selfish adolescents, taking what we want without thought for the future. Hopefully we will become mature adults, stewards of life on Earth.

But I agree this analogy isn’t about literal age — as in a maturing population demographically speaking. Nor is it about biological evolution. It is an evolution in awareness, of ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

I agree with Deborah that this evolution is possible. I disagree with the assertion that it definitely *will* happen. I hope it happens. But, nothing is predetermined. It is up to us to make it happen.

My first science was astronomy, so I tend to think long-term. Like many, I suspect this century will have some truly serious challenges, especially for those in the developing world. But, unless we do mature as a species - unless we learn to recognize and honor our profound link to the Earth itself - unless we bring our burgeoning population under control - I just can’t imagine how the human species will survive. I know you and I agree on that.

I also think we might be using the word “evolution” differently. I’m not necessarily talking about an actual evolutionary step for humanity … although I don’t think that’s out of the question. For now, though, I’m talking about an evolution in our thinking, much like the evolution from Citizen to Consumer (after World War II) that Orion has spoken about in his blog. I’m talking about an evolution from Consumer back to Citizen … hopefully Global Citizen this time.

I believe the groundwork is being laid for this, on the Internet!

And I think humanity will survive, will bring its population under control and will learn to recognize its link to Planet Earth. A hundred years from now, it will be a very different world, I believe, and a better world. I only wish I could be there to see it …

Deborah

I believe we are evolving toward something better. No doubt about that, at least in my mind. But that does not mean human species evolution can be adequately viewed or understood as a process by which our species is to soon arrive at a mature adult stage of development. The idea of maturity, as I understand Joel, appears not to have anything to do with the general evolutionary process.

As ever,

Steve

Eleanor, I see your point. I wouldn’t call the ancient Greeks babies or toddlers. But I suspect the Greeks were a bright pinpoint of civilization in an otherwise uncivilized world. Perhaps we can imagine human civilization evolving toward something better if we consider it as a whole? Average out the ups and downs?

I believe in the idea that all things evolve. I see that in nature and in science … even in astronomy, on the scale of the giant galaxies, on the scale of the universe itself … everything is evolving. Why would human civilization be exempt from this truly universal process of evolution?

Maybe it is a pipe dream. But, if so, it’s a dream I’m choosing to follow … in a sense, I’m choosing to “just say yes.”

But I’m still curious, Eleanor. What’s your idea of what’s happening with the human species? If we’re not evolving toward something better … what then?