It is a sad sign of our times that people have completely lost touch with their connection to nature. We view all non-human life forms (and even some humans too, if they live far away and look or sound different) as resources to be consumed. Our society has forgotten the interconnected nature of life on our little planet. We are not aliens imported into a warehouse of resources; we too are living people and are part of the web of life.
We used to talk about "food chains" in science class when I was a kid. The imagery is clear: a straight line where the smallest species is eaten by the next smallest and so forth. My younger brothers learned about the "food web" in which more complexity is introduced. The reality is that ALL of life is interconnected. Nature is a vital part of who we are.
When the bees aren't around in their usual numbers, it affects not only bee-eaters, but many plants that depend on bees for pollination. In turn, other animals are affected as the food normally produced by those plants is no longer available. This spreads not only up and down a food "chain", but also to other chains. Animals who miss their usual food will need to adapt by eating something else, or die out. Should they begin eating other plants, this now affects another "chain", and so on. The repercussions may extend for years or decades, and as such, are little understood by a science still in its infancy.
We have lost many of our songbirds to tropical forest destruction. We are losing our coral reefs to climate change and ocean acidification. Every loss affects us in ways we may not yet comprehend.
And yet, despite the extreme consequences that can arise from the disruption of even a single species, we continue to tamper with the web of life with little thought about the consequences. From material waste, climate change, genetic modification, pharmaceutical and industrial pollution, nano technology, and overpopulation, we are causing a huge decline in biodiversity on our planet. It is a huge experiment in which we play both Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, except in this case, it affects all of life as we know it.
Perhaps part of our problem stems from the terminology we use when we refer to species survival. I suspect that if Charles Darwin were here today, he'd want to rethink the words he used in his description of the process of evolution. In stressing the competitive nature of survival, we've missed the point that nature is a closed system with its own mechanisms for maintaining balance. A "successful" species, meaning one that increases its overall population, can only remain as successful as its food resources allow. Humans are a very successful species, but if we continue to grow our population will crash as more and more species are crowded out and our food resources diminish. Growth cannot continue indefinitely. In one way or another, balance must and will be reached. The difference in humans is the terrifying tendency we have to destroy life for reasons other than food.
So while we all sit here staring at our screens (yes, I am guilty), our children learn about technology, politics, consumerism, perhaps some human rights lessons, and are rushed from program to activity. They learn to view nature as something that happens "out there" independent of them. We are robbing ourselves and our children of our natural heritage and future. Life on earth is a closed system, and we are on a path that both stretches it to its limits, and destroys much of what makes life worth living. And in our rush for more, faster, better, most of us have forgotten how to live.
This is all very bleak, but it is also an opportunity. I challenge myself and you to make the time to spend outdoors in a natural place at least one day a week. Take as much time as you can possibly spare, and share it with a younger person. Learn to observe. Learn to relax. Learn to listen, and learn to just be. And eventually, we will learn once again how to live.
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