Transcript Homo sapiens

Wilson’s “The Planetary Killer”
HMXP 102
Dr. Fike
Epigraphs
• “Homo sapiens, the serial killers of the
biosphere” (par. 35).
• “When, as subjects, we realize that we too can
be objects, and when we know how that feels,
we change. When we know matter as a subject,
not just as an object, we are no longer the same”
(J. Gary Sparks, At the Heart of Matter:
Synchronicity and Jung’s Spiritual Testament
172).
Edward O. Wilson
http://0-www.xreferplus.com.library.winthrop.edu/entry.do?id=5715019&hh=1&secid
• “Educated at Alabama and Harvard, Wilson taught at Harvard from
1956. He is best known for his remarkable work on social insects
and its wider implications in animal behaviour and evolution. In
developing his theory on the interaction and equilibrium of isolated
animal populations, he and D S Simberloff (1942 - ) experimented
on some small islands in the Florida Keys. They first surveyed the
insect species present (75 of them) and then eliminated all insect life
by fumigation. Study of the recolonization of the islands by insects
over some months showed that the same number of species
became re-established, confirming their prediction that ‘a dynamic
equilibrium number of species exists for any island’. Wilson went on
to consider biological and genetic controls over social behaviour and
organization in a variety of species in his book Sociobiology: the
New Synthesis (1975), which virtually created a new subject,
integrating ideas on the behaviour of a range of species from
termites to man. The work has both stimulated valuable research
and provoked vigorous discussion through its extension of ideas on
animal behaviour to include human cultural and ethical conduct.”
Sociobiology
http://0-www.xreferplus.com.library.winthrop.edu/entry.do?id=4785881&hh=1&secid
• “Sociobiology is one of many theories, or frameworks of thought,
used to describe human behavior in society. Sociobiology is a
recent social theory introduced by Edward O. Wilson (1929-) in the
mid-1970s. Wilson is a biologist and an ethologist (one who studies
animal groups in their natural environment) educated at the
University of Alabama and Harvard University. He has extensively
researched ants and other social insects, applying the results of his
research to humans and other animals and creating the theory of
sociobiology. His theory was first introduced in 1975 with the
publication of Sociobiology: The New Synthesis.
• “Sociobiology joins aspects of biological theory and sociological
theory to create a separate theory that attempts to explains human
behavior. Sociobiologists see a parallel between human behavior
and animal behavior. It is through studying animal behavior that
studies of human behavior can be enriched.”
Wilson
• Our strategy: To discuss things related to
the text.
• Today, perhaps more than ever before,
our discussion depends on your
participation.
Question
• How many “Rare, Threatened, &
Endangered Species” do you think there
were in the following places as of 2009?
– York County
– South Carolina
Answers (as of 2009)
• York County: 48
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/species/pdf/york.pdf
• South Carolina: 730+
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/species/pdf/SC_stat
e_wide.pdf
• Extinction is not just an issue in far-off
Africa. It is literally a problem in our own
back yards.
Question about the Text
• What causes species to go extinct?
• Think here especially about what Wilson
says about the Sumatran rhino and other
endangered species.
Possible Answers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rapid population growth
Big cities
Animals are in our way
Poaching
Overuse in general
Pollution
Global warming
Overconsumption
Group Activity
• 10 minutes: Each of three groups looks at one
of the first three quotations on the handout:
– Genesis
– Gore (think esp. about the word “story”)
– Wilson
• After gaining a firm understanding of what your
quotation says, relate it to the other two. What
insights follow from considering these quotations
together?
• Large-group discussion of your answers.
Timeline
Aboriginal….Biblical….Descartes….Gore
Time
Time*
1596-1650 Today
* This means the time when the Bible was written.
Videos
• Easter Island:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8jNZoi
V97E
• Conversation with E.O. Wilson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w3tnd
TJ-hI
Writing in Class
• 5 minutes: Write about the relationship
between the two quotations on
conservation (the 4th and 5th quotations on
your handout). How do the two quotations
relate?
• Large-group discussion of your answers.
Paradigms
• Brainstorm models and put them on the
board.
• What is the best/most appropriate model
for our relationship to the environment?
Examples of Possible Paradigms
•
•
•
•
Dynamic management
Preservation
Restoration
Do nothing—use natural resources
indiscriminately
• Token acts of environmentalism
• Depend heavily on science
• Declaring that our response to the energy crisis
is “the moral equivalent of war” (Jimmy Carter
during the Arab oil embargo)
ANWR: A Specific Case
http://www.answers.com/topic/alaska-north-slope
• “Region, [northern] Alaska, sloping from the Brooks
Range [north] to the Arctic Ocean. In 1968 large
petroleum reserves were found in the Prudhoe Bay area.
In 1977 the 800-mi (1,287 km) Trans-Alaska pipeline
was completed to carry oil [south] to the port of Valdez,
on the Pacific. Proposals for oil and gas exploration in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, [east] of Prudhoe
Bay, have brought continuing controversy. A 2003
National Research Council report on drilling concluded
that lasting environmental damage had resulted because
the harsh climate slows natural recovery and because
there is little incentive to restore areas where drilling has
ceased.”
ANWR: Pro and Con
• Pro: See
http://www.unc.edu/~money/geography/an
wr1.html
• Con: See your handout.
• See next slide for a third perspective on
human beings’ relationship to nature.
A Very Different Attitude:
Chief Seattle
All Sacred
“Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every
sandy shore, every mist in the woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in
the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees
carries the memories of the red man. The white man’s dead forget the country of their
birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful
earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are
our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony,
and man—all belong to the same family.
Not Easy
“So, when the Great Chief in Washington send word that he wishes to buy our land,
he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve a place so that we
can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So
we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is
sacred to us. This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but
the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred,
and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in
the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The
water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.”
Discussion
• How do you sort this out? Think through
the issues and reach your own
conclusion? Should we drill for oil in
ANWR or not—and why?
Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth
• Orr, par. 11: “Global Warming will degrade the
flora and fauna of familiar places….”
• Global warming has implications for the fauna in
Wilson’s text and for the proposed drilling in
ANWR. It is the larger context in which
environmental issues must be understood and
dealt with.
• Watch Scene 16, “The Arctic” (minutes 41-49).
• Watch clip on permafrost and carbon dioxide
and methane: “Update” (minutes 27:07-30:07).
• Discussion?
Antaeus
From
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/herculespeople/p/antaeus.htm:
• “Antaeus, son of Gaia, was a Libyan giant whose strength appeared
invincible. He challenged all travelers to a wrestling match which he
invariably won. Upon winning he slaughtered his adversaries. That
is, until he met Hercules.
• “Hercules was on his way back from the Hesperides when the giant
challenged the hero to a wrestling match. No matter how many
times Hercules threw Antaeus off and tossed him to the ground, it
did no good. If anything, the giant appeared rejuvenated from the
encounter.
• “Hercules eventually realized that the earth, Antaeus' mother [Gaia],
was the source of his strength, so Hercules held the giant aloft until
all his power had drained away. After he killed Antaeus, Hercules
proceeded safely back to his task master, King Eurystheus.”
Question
• What would Wilson, Orr, and Gore want us
to understand about Antaeus?
• See Lewis Thomas’s essay, “Antaeus in
Manhattan,” in The Lives of a Cell: Notes
of a Biology Watcher.
Answer
WE
ARE
ANTAEUS!
END