- I find it all alarming, Will; and very depressing. But the uncertainty of the upshots remains true. Archived Message
Posted by Rhisiart Gwilym
on November 9, 2019, 10:40 am, in reply to "Re: For those who've actually read the whole piece, the main thrust is clear:"
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We just can't tell in detail how it's going to pan out. The Earth has been in some pretty extreme situations before, some of them materially worse than what now seems to be hoving up. But life survived every time. And when you're facing the truly appalling conclusion that hom sap, despite all the inourfaces evidence, isn't going to do anything more about the Synergising Global Crises than too little too late, then that thought about Mam Gaia's incredible toughness and regenerative will is some sort of comfort for the existential angst - which - er - I've been feeling constantly about the fate of the natural world, probably since before you were born, Will, if you're a youngish man. I've mentioned here before the utter distress that the thought of the extinction of my beloved brothers and sisters causes me; tigers gone forever, for example - oh god! Nonetheless, rationality and intuition - Hugin and Munin - both suggest that uncertainty about the immediate future is the only unmistakably accurate stance to take - whilst we nevertheless continue with the precautionary principle of doing all we can to head off the worst of the Crises, as much as we can. I remain, as I have been all my adult life, emphatic that we need to act decisively, and to clean up our entire self-important attitude towards the living world... despite the inherent uncertainties. Why do you think that I keep boring on about the critical importance of planting trees - which anyone at all can do dead easily, to great advantage for the Earth? As I said to dan, it's tricky.  Cheers, W!
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