It gets pointed out a lot that we humans are the only beings on the planet who don’t live in tune with nature. Instead, we exploit, destroy, and otherwise undermine nature’s systems for our own short-term gain.
Now, we are definitely doing this. However, this is not what makes us different from other life on this planet. Every living thing on Earth tries to survive and procreate, and it does so by exploiting its environment as efficiently as it can, without regard for anything else.
The only reason why this is not usually an issue is simply that the behavior of every member of an ecosystem prompts a response by its other members, which keeps things in equilibrium.
Because of this, the behavior of us humans is exactly the same as that of all other life on earth. We have just been disproportionally successful at exploiting the resources of our environment, compared to the other members of the earth’s ecosystem. In other words, us exploiting the environment in the way we are doing is the most in-tune-with-nature thing there is.
As a result, what makes us stand out is not the fact that we exploit our environment. It is that we are able to stop and think about what we are doing. It is that we can stop acting according to our default, “natural” setting, to see a bigger picture instead – and change our behavior.
Markus + Micah 
Super interesting thoughts as usual. I definitely agree with you and it makes me think of a book (“Sapiens”) I’ve read a few years ago. One of the most intersting parts to me was about how homo sapiens (us) can think “bigger” and conceptualise an untangible reality (societies, religion, even the concept of a company). It was very interesting and something I still think about from time to time!
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Do you mean Yuval Noah Harari’s book? Both Micah and I enjoyed reading it a lot! Can also fully recommend his “21 lessons for the 21st century”. Glad you liked the post!
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Yes, exactly that book! I was very curious about his other ones so I might give them a read when I have more time! 😊
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May it truly be so. May we be able to choose from our higher knowing rather than ego’s endless wants and desires that so often hurt the environment.
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Indeed. We have that ability, and I would argue that gives us the responsibility to use it.
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Another thought provoking post, Markus. I agree – mankind has been thinking about the environment from the very beginning. In our natural state, we are observers. It’s just sometimes we get distracted here and there. Most people I know are trying hard to be environmentally conscious.
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Yes, and I think that is a reason for hope. Things are going in the right direction – we’ll see if they move fast enough.
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Great post
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Thank you!
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I had a great winter swim earlier today and I felt like me and the lake were one
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Amazing! Would love to try that at some point as well.
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Thought provoking!
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Good! Haha
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But can we as a race of humans actually change our seemingly destructive habits? 🙏🎋🎋🙏
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No, but we as individuals can.
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Outstanding post
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