Who Are We?

Who Are We?

What are we doing with ourselves?

Are we asking too much of our bonobo minds to manage a world of consequences from human behaviour?

Our chimp brains have evolved a certain amount, but how far in reality have we come from tree-dwelling apes? Yes, we can walk upright, talk and use fire to make nutrients more available to our bodies.

But how else are we different? Are we different?

I don’t have the answers for any of these questions. For once, I didn’t dive into the rabbit hole of research to find them either.

I want to talk from a human perspective, not a scientific one.

I look at what is happening in this world today and I genuinely question whether we are truly capable of change. By change, I mean exhibiting the kind of consistent behaviour that allows our planet to re-balance, giving us access to safe water, clean air, natural foodstuffs and reasonable temperatures.

The human mind seems hard-wired to ignore any medium to long-term consequences of its own behaviour . I’m assuming it’s an ancient survival strategy that served us well in challenging circumstances.

Those challenging circumstances are arriving in full-on technicolour widescreen now. Many humans are aware of this. Some of those humans are trying to do something about it. Many others feel powerless in the face of such giant consequences. It seems overwhelming. Many humans are also living with other horrors such as war, famine, disease and poverty, which justifiably makes climate feel much less of a priority.

Climate change is not a new thing of course. Mother Earth has always had massive environmental variations over her existence. We’ve only been here for a fraction of them.

As things stand, the world will continue to exist and adapt, whatever we do to her. As most of us know, it’s us that will pay the ultimate price, not her. We still have a choice (just about) in how our story goes. The question I have is - are we genuinely capable of the consistent change in behaviour that’s needed?

I have my doubts, but I hope I’m proved wrong.

I really want to be wrong on this.