Living under the illusion that the survival of the human race, and consequently its massive reproduction, is the most important thing in our universe has led to catastrophes, both humanitarian and ecological. Our insatiable thirst to ensure the survival of our families, communities, countries, races, and ultimately of the individual will lead to our own destruction—unless Elon colonizes our galaxy...
Recognizing that we are wrong is hard. Fighting what has been encoded in our DNA to avoid our own extinction is nearly impossible.
But there is hope if we start caring for others, including eliminating feelings of superiority towards other races and countries, but most importantly, putting our race on par with animals, the soil we step on, the oceans, rivers, mountains, trees, plants, and the air that gives us life.
It’s time to start working together and set aside our egos, fears, vain desires, and anything that could lead to indifference towards the continuous destruction of Earth’s ecosystems.
Thank you for such informative and eye-opening article, Claudia!
What I love about this essay, @ClaudiaBefu, isn't just the amazing depth of research in bringing resources and a coherent story to life for a topic which is rarely explored within mainstream education and science outreach programmes, but also how you intimately portray the lifestyle of ancient humans through various fictional vignettes.
"I wonder why history is not taught in a more engaging manner."
Claudia, we need more passionate, curious writers (like you!) to create "living" books for students as an alternative to the dry textbooks written by committee. Passion is contagious, and children learn best through storytelling--rather than rote memorization. I think there is a growing interest in the hybrid text format.
Dec 5, 2023·edited Dec 5, 2023Liked by Claudia Befu
Great read Claudia! And creative use of headings by mingling in some subtle pop-culture references like Peter Gabriel, Cypress Hill, Snoop, the recent cancelled, and the less subtle GoT, great way to add some beats of humor to break up the seriousness of the subject. I was struck by the reality of the statistics in regarding major pandemics in the past 1000 years and the correlating decrease in CO2 PPM and the devastating impact in the population. I have always known the stats but in light of our own contemporary pandemic it carries more weight. Additionally, your There is Hope fiction highlights a reality that human resilience will be utilized as reasoning to allow the model of production and consumption to continue to reign, regardless of consequences.
so enjoyed this and the playful playlist of course it makes me want to dive into bookshelf and dig out "Sapiens" again but your piece fills in so many blanks ie where he goes into what transition and epically from hunter gatherer to agricultural meant to the survival of species you go into the climatic repercussions of that very same human population by this i mean the nod in your scholarship is towards all species and living things as well as inanimate objects this shift is needed if we are to leave this place in another 30,000 years as a space where anything can exist let alone thrive without some kind of artificial intervention uhohhhh theres the AI WORD LOL
The planet doesn't need us, and obviously would be better off without us 😅. Wrecking another planet won't change the narrative. I wonder, though, if it is even possible to get general awareness for this on a scale where it would matter. Some say it's already too late, anyway. Doom Sayers! It's never too late. We keep learning from our past, so here's to finally learning enough to prevent the same mistakes.
Very interesting Claudia, thank you for the time you've taken to read, research and write about all this. I knew some of these details, but not all (the critical importance of the needle?! Had no idea, hadn't ever considered it! Amazing.)
The planet's f$&+'ed, is my generally takeaway from the last decade or more. I'd love to hope there can be a turnaround, and I try to make small changes as much as I can, but the disappointing lack of action by governments and world leaders just derails my hopes. Look at cop28, look at New Zealand, who have just rolled back a coal/oil ocean exploration ban introduced by former PM Jacinda Ardern ... It's just heartbreaking.
Wow. I feel like this is the type of history that needs to be taught to kiddos. And maybe it will be soon enough? I'm an adult, with a three-year-old of my own, and it's the first I'm learning about so, so much of it. So, thank you very much for that. I'm certain that it has taken hours and hour and hours to read, digest, and package your own learnings into something that is accessible, entertaining, and insightful. It's a special talent you have, Claudia.
Claudia, when I homeschooled my children years ago, I followed the advice of educator Charlotte Mason, who, in the early 20th century was a proponent of using “living books” for children’s learning rather than textbooks.
One book we enjoyed. It was called the Burgess Bird Book for Children, which was a charming antique book written in 1919. He taught the children all about different bird species in the form of a story book in which the different birds were characters with personality traits based on their particular species’ habits.
It’s an old idea, but one that’s being revisited. People think it’s a new concept because it now has a term to define it called “hybrid text” or “storybook text.”
So well written and researched. Such a creative way to talk about an important and difficult topic.
Also, you are the queen of subheadings!
Living under the illusion that the survival of the human race, and consequently its massive reproduction, is the most important thing in our universe has led to catastrophes, both humanitarian and ecological. Our insatiable thirst to ensure the survival of our families, communities, countries, races, and ultimately of the individual will lead to our own destruction—unless Elon colonizes our galaxy...
Recognizing that we are wrong is hard. Fighting what has been encoded in our DNA to avoid our own extinction is nearly impossible.
But there is hope if we start caring for others, including eliminating feelings of superiority towards other races and countries, but most importantly, putting our race on par with animals, the soil we step on, the oceans, rivers, mountains, trees, plants, and the air that gives us life.
It’s time to start working together and set aside our egos, fears, vain desires, and anything that could lead to indifference towards the continuous destruction of Earth’s ecosystems.
Thank you for such informative and eye-opening article, Claudia!
What I love about this essay, @ClaudiaBefu, isn't just the amazing depth of research in bringing resources and a coherent story to life for a topic which is rarely explored within mainstream education and science outreach programmes, but also how you intimately portray the lifestyle of ancient humans through various fictional vignettes.
"I wonder why history is not taught in a more engaging manner."
Claudia, we need more passionate, curious writers (like you!) to create "living" books for students as an alternative to the dry textbooks written by committee. Passion is contagious, and children learn best through storytelling--rather than rote memorization. I think there is a growing interest in the hybrid text format.
Great read Claudia! And creative use of headings by mingling in some subtle pop-culture references like Peter Gabriel, Cypress Hill, Snoop, the recent cancelled, and the less subtle GoT, great way to add some beats of humor to break up the seriousness of the subject. I was struck by the reality of the statistics in regarding major pandemics in the past 1000 years and the correlating decrease in CO2 PPM and the devastating impact in the population. I have always known the stats but in light of our own contemporary pandemic it carries more weight. Additionally, your There is Hope fiction highlights a reality that human resilience will be utilized as reasoning to allow the model of production and consumption to continue to reign, regardless of consequences.
so enjoyed this and the playful playlist of course it makes me want to dive into bookshelf and dig out "Sapiens" again but your piece fills in so many blanks ie where he goes into what transition and epically from hunter gatherer to agricultural meant to the survival of species you go into the climatic repercussions of that very same human population by this i mean the nod in your scholarship is towards all species and living things as well as inanimate objects this shift is needed if we are to leave this place in another 30,000 years as a space where anything can exist let alone thrive without some kind of artificial intervention uhohhhh theres the AI WORD LOL
loved this
The planet doesn't need us, and obviously would be better off without us 😅. Wrecking another planet won't change the narrative. I wonder, though, if it is even possible to get general awareness for this on a scale where it would matter. Some say it's already too late, anyway. Doom Sayers! It's never too late. We keep learning from our past, so here's to finally learning enough to prevent the same mistakes.
Very interesting Claudia, thank you for the time you've taken to read, research and write about all this. I knew some of these details, but not all (the critical importance of the needle?! Had no idea, hadn't ever considered it! Amazing.)
The planet's f$&+'ed, is my generally takeaway from the last decade or more. I'd love to hope there can be a turnaround, and I try to make small changes as much as I can, but the disappointing lack of action by governments and world leaders just derails my hopes. Look at cop28, look at New Zealand, who have just rolled back a coal/oil ocean exploration ban introduced by former PM Jacinda Ardern ... It's just heartbreaking.
Wow. I feel like this is the type of history that needs to be taught to kiddos. And maybe it will be soon enough? I'm an adult, with a three-year-old of my own, and it's the first I'm learning about so, so much of it. So, thank you very much for that. I'm certain that it has taken hours and hour and hours to read, digest, and package your own learnings into something that is accessible, entertaining, and insightful. It's a special talent you have, Claudia.
Also, love the headings throughout!
yes Harari
Claudia, when I homeschooled my children years ago, I followed the advice of educator Charlotte Mason, who, in the early 20th century was a proponent of using “living books” for children’s learning rather than textbooks.
One book we enjoyed. It was called the Burgess Bird Book for Children, which was a charming antique book written in 1919. He taught the children all about different bird species in the form of a story book in which the different birds were characters with personality traits based on their particular species’ habits.
It’s an old idea, but one that’s being revisited. People think it’s a new concept because it now has a term to define it called “hybrid text” or “storybook text.”
I thought this was a good article:
https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1560