“Mans destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he’s done-almost. He hasn’t quite made it and it looks as though this may be his undoing. The problem is that mans conquest of the world has itself devastated the world. We’ve poured our poisons into the world as though it were a bottomless pit- and we go on pouting out poisons into the world. We’ve gobbled up irreplaceable resources as though they could never run our- and we go on gobbling them up. Only one thing can save us, we have to increase our mastery of the world” Page 80
“Id say that gravity is what organizes things on the macroscopic level. Its what keeps things together- the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. And the law were looking for is the law that keeps the living community together. It organizes things on the biological level just the way the law of gravity organizes things on the macroscopic level.” Page 101
“Here is a puzzle for you to consider. You are in a faraway land and find yourself in a strange city isolated from all others. You’re immediately impressed by the people you find there. They’re friendly, cheerful, peaceful and educated and they tell you things have been this way for as long as anyone can remember.” Page 113
The idea of a community has worked well for many years as far as three billion years. Today, our nature is being forced into a shifting world where we have changed our focus. In turn we have reached a point where we do not even understand ourselves. Ishmael proposes a wonderful representation of the world we live in today and the people we have become. Overall, this novel will allow one to understand an in-depth portrayal of humans an evolutionary biology, the world and perhaps even understand each other more. In a biological perspective, we learn that power of evolution and its roots to recognize our environmental crisis.
Ishmael allowed me to recognize that most of us don’t understand what has happened to us. We are assured that we know our evolution and our trails, but the truth is we don’t. We are adapted to a lifestyle, live by certain expectations until we are told to change our ways. Instead, we develop new methods to survive for the time being and fail to acknowledge what the future has for us.
It seemed as if Ishmael had a better understanding of human nature than we do as humans, and yet we continue to make decisions that we are uneducated about. Through evolution we have seen a dramatic change within primates up to the “Homo” species. The size of our brains has changed, yet our grown knowledge has made decisions, which are not relative to who we are. Ishmael can make us understand how his portrayal of human nature finds us a new solution to living. He allows us to understand that we are just captives and we are forced to destroy our own world to maintain survival. We are able to understand this through his theory of “takers” and leavers”. This theory shows how one part of society may believe it is necessary to take as much as you can get, while others believe it is necessary it take the necessities. This can be compared to the idea of the myth of scarcity.
We live in a society of social norms and are petrified to lose anything. Just like we have become hoarders of the environment, we have grown greed that has caused us to deplete our environment. This idea can be tied into the cause of climate change, carbon emissions and change in human pattern. Take the example that is used in the myth of scarcity; where there was this “sacred wood” that everyone wanted. Everyone knew that there was a limited amount, yet people began to believe they needed a piece of it. Signs were posted which presented an idea that you do not want to lose “your wood” and made people link this wood to their heritage. However, when pictures on individual people stealing wood rather than groups stealing wood, the rate of theft decreased. Overall, we are manipulated by the people of our own society and have allowed ourselves to lose the significance of survival.
Ishmaels story is different then what we are exposed to today. He allows use to have a step-by step analysis of how our culture has become what it is today. Rather than being buried in “green ideas” for long-term effects, we should be provided with step-by-step ideas. Just like Goleman shows us how Good Choice can give us a better understanding how that exact step-by-step path our products taken. Ishmael shows us how things could be different by explaining the evolution of man back to the time of Adam and eve. He allows us to get out of the “taker” mindset and merge into the “leaver” mind set. Leave the water bottle, use the sink- perhaps we can realize that it’s the takers that cause our crisis today. But, it is difficult to stop believing in a taker belief, because overall we are apart of nature and nature was made for us. But, this will cause us to believe that if the world is ours, we have all the power to do as we please.
However, this state of mind will ultimately lead us to the “end of the world”. It will not be a mythological end of the world, like the Mayans believed about 2012, but an end that is solely brought upon by human beings. But how can we make a change and avoid hearing “green this and green that” everyday. Just like a child gets frustrated when he hears his parent bug them to clean their room everyday, people will begin to get frustrated with the idea of changing their lifestyles. In the long run, you are left with a child that hides all his toys and clothes in the closet, and a society that will continue to deplete.
This book allows us to understand that is man that becomes the enemy. If we were to transform to a leavers society, we would be able to maintain a lifestyle that will sustain the earth and create a better understand of what a community and family is. With this, we will be able to stop consuming and avoid a routine taker lifestyle.
If our evolution has brought us to the extremity of being bright creatures, why do we give up at trying? Ishmael reminds us that we cannot save the world by feeling guilty for what we have done, but instead we need inspiration and courage for change. But we are consistently reminded of this cliché lifestyle that we must maintain. We are manipulated and pressured by the ones around us to be socially accepted. Overall, we are pressured to change our ways and be more civilized. The idea of being civil makes us think of showing consideration, courtesy, and good manners. Where does greedy taking and depletion fit into that definition?
But, we can’t change people. You can’t always teach old dog new tricks. However, instead you can inspire someone with new ideas and knowledge. We can touch each other how the world really is and what changes are necessary to make. We must give people a reason for believing, a reason that seems meaningful to them. If we are capable of changing out mindset, we could stop fighting over dominance. We need to recognize that we are considered the “last species on earth” and this should be savored. We are the species of the world and even if we believe that the world belongs to us because we built much of what we have, we should recognize that it is not ours to keep. We live a life through evolution, we die and we pass on our genes to our future children. We begin to depend on these future children to make the changes, but if we teach them our habits, how can we ever expect change?
Can we really blame anyone? Can we say it’s the takers fault even though they just lived a life of routine? One interesting topic of the book states, “ I failed because I underestimated the difficulty of what I was trying to reach.” Just take a minute to try to relate this to our current issues. Do we stop our habits for a short time and give up because it is to hard? Do we give up water bottles for a week to make an impact but to back to them because it is too hard? Clearly, most of us do. However, if you take one look at this topic of environmental biology and evolution, you will begin to recognize that people are begging for a change. There are commercials everyday, signs all over college campuses, bills being passed by the president, conventions formed. But are the voices heard? It is sad to say, that they are heard but are we considering the words we hear is the question that lingers. He reminds us that every story is based on a premise and is a working of a premise. Everything takes steps, and everything could be a work in progress.
Ishmael wonders which people in the world want to destroy the world, but that question cannot be answered because there are no specific people we can point out. This is why his belief of thinking that we are captives is valid.
“You’re quite sure about all of this. There is simply no way to obtain information or any certain knowledge about how peoples ought to live? He responded, “ I am absolutely sure” he believes it is strange that he does not think you can find information because it is the most important fact for mankind to solve our problems. So, instead we created a catastrophe and are watching it turn three hundred and sixty degrees, coming straight to us.
The ending of the book inspired me greatly because it shows us how knowledge from someone can greatly impact our perspective. His ending quotes “Ishmaels dead.” “ That’s too bad, we could have saved him.” Point is- will we be able to turn back and say the same words?
Ishmael- Daniel Quinn
Social Norms- Professor Hirsch November 17,2009
Primate Evolution- Professor Hirsch November 12,2009
Ecological Intelligence- Daniel Goleman
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