word life? nah, son. it's 'word, Life.'
winter in alberta really abandoned its sense of subtlety in arriving this year. within a matter of days we went from +7 to about -30 degrees Celcius. a lot of places on earth don't experience that large a swing between january and july. it's kind of crazy, when you think about it - living in a place where the temperature reaches quite near to +40C the odd day in the summer months, and quite near -40C, windchill not accounted for, during the winter months. it's amazing that floral and faunal life survive it all. it puts the miracle and majesty of human technological and scientific achievement to absolute shame. and gracefully so, at that.
it seems that sometimes we as humans entertain the thought that we can "conquer" nature, and show that we truly have risen above any and all taxonomic relatives of ours, both close and distant. that we've harnessed the knowledge and power to tame and control the surface of the earth and atmosphere as we wish.
but the thing is, if we succeed in destroying the earth, making it unlivable for even the vast majority of plant and animal existence, we probably still couldn't completely eradicate this world of life. somewhere - be it in the ice at the apex of a remote mountian peak, or in the jets of boiling water streaming from the ocean floor, heated by tectonic movement - life will remain. nature will always be greater than us, and greater than anything we can hope to become. at the very essence of the thought, it seems ridiculous to think that we ever could; how can an element become greater than the sum that it's necessarily just a part of? (think "sum of positive real numbers," all of you math-loving trouble-makers out there.)
still, even though life will persist despite the human race's best effort to quench it, it's a scary thought that we're slowly poisoning an entire planet. an entire planet. so what are we to do? revert to the life and functioning of some pre-industrial era? shun industry, technology, and most of what the western world seems to thrive on and stand for? not at all. we should use our heads and exhibit the creativity and resourcefulness that we're so proud of to make things right again. sustainability. environmentally and ecologically compatible technology. hell, even recycling, not wasting water, driving less, driving cleaner-running cars, composting. i'm sure we're all smart enough to make our effort where we can.
so, then. if you have the time and inclination to read any of this (thanks for that, by the way) then you might also be able to find the time to read the weekly articles by Dr. David Suzuki, aptly entitled, as a collection, 'Science Matters'.
then go out and join the green party, recycle more, start a compost in your back yard, and buy a hybrid car.
alright, i'll be more than happy if you just read the articles.
word, Life.
jh..
it seems that sometimes we as humans entertain the thought that we can "conquer" nature, and show that we truly have risen above any and all taxonomic relatives of ours, both close and distant. that we've harnessed the knowledge and power to tame and control the surface of the earth and atmosphere as we wish.
but the thing is, if we succeed in destroying the earth, making it unlivable for even the vast majority of plant and animal existence, we probably still couldn't completely eradicate this world of life. somewhere - be it in the ice at the apex of a remote mountian peak, or in the jets of boiling water streaming from the ocean floor, heated by tectonic movement - life will remain. nature will always be greater than us, and greater than anything we can hope to become. at the very essence of the thought, it seems ridiculous to think that we ever could; how can an element become greater than the sum that it's necessarily just a part of? (think "sum of positive real numbers," all of you math-loving trouble-makers out there.)
still, even though life will persist despite the human race's best effort to quench it, it's a scary thought that we're slowly poisoning an entire planet. an entire planet. so what are we to do? revert to the life and functioning of some pre-industrial era? shun industry, technology, and most of what the western world seems to thrive on and stand for? not at all. we should use our heads and exhibit the creativity and resourcefulness that we're so proud of to make things right again. sustainability. environmentally and ecologically compatible technology. hell, even recycling, not wasting water, driving less, driving cleaner-running cars, composting. i'm sure we're all smart enough to make our effort where we can.
so, then. if you have the time and inclination to read any of this (thanks for that, by the way) then you might also be able to find the time to read the weekly articles by Dr. David Suzuki, aptly entitled, as a collection, 'Science Matters'.
then go out and join the green party, recycle more, start a compost in your back yard, and buy a hybrid car.
alright, i'll be more than happy if you just read the articles.
word, Life.
jh..
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