MELISA SABANCI TAPAN
The desire for power, greed and progress may well explain the pace of human evolution, the evolution of this Anthropocene epoch that has destroyed anything in its way - its own human clan, natural resources, home or, potentially, ourselves. Human impact has negatively altered and destroyed systems our planet needs for all to exist.
Today we experience the costs of such actions through global warming, the extinction of species, habitat destruction, CO2 emissions, natural disasters, resource extraction, and the spread of disease.
It is indisputable what is next:
the extinction of the human species.
Human progress is undeniable; we should acknowledge and celebrate it. All we have done during our short time in this universe should be viewed with great respect:
Systems and cultures we have created,
from local to global
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Ways of organizing our lives such as
democracy, capitalism and religion
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Creativity: from language to arts to propaganda
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Technological advances and science: space travel, the internet and internet of things, medicine, the theory of evolution, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence.
A reminder from the 2020 pandemic
Innovation has always been a human faculty, yet how we have chosen to use it deserves reflection. Our accomplishments and failures lay the foundations that each generation’s values rest upon, but these values have yet to become clarified – they are always contested.
Our collective responsibility as humans is to acknowledge the harm we have created.Unfortunately, our systems and culture currently do not reflect such an awareness. If we are to change, we must do so holistically, expanding our human potential while aligning our technology with nature.
It is human to simultaneously both appreciate and acknowledge the danger of our intellect. Yet this is not our only super power. As Yuval Noah Hariri states it:
“Fiction has enabled us not merely to imagine things, but to do so collectively. We can weave common myths such as the biblical creation story, the Dreamtime myths of Aboriginal Australians, and the nationalist myths of modern states. Such myths give Sapiens the unprecedented ability to cooperate flexibly in large numbers. Ants and bees can also work together in huge numbers, but they do so in a very rigid manner and only with close relatives. Wolves and chimpanzees cooperate far more flexibly than ants, but they can do so only with small numbers of other individuals that they know intimately. Sapiens can cooperate in extremely flexible ways with countless numbers of strangers. That’s why Sapiens rule the world, whereas ants eat our leftovers and chimps are locked up in zoos and research laboratories.” [1]
Collaborative ecosystems working towards shared goals by extending our capabilities can realize unimaginable wonders, such as the International Space Station program or the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership.
In addition to institutionalizing progress, these collaborations incentivize peace and understanding.
To exist, we humans need to learn to live in alignment with the planet and nature. We need to expand our empathetic abilities to respect diversity.
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[1] Yuval Noah Hariri, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, 2015