7
1.3.4 Human Civilization (2500 Years)
The codependent and ephemeral nature of human existence has been a central tenet
in both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions from Classical Antiquity. From
Hinduism’s concept of Samsara (Rodrigues 2006) to the teachings of the Buddha on
impermanence (Hanh 1999) and Heraclitus’s doctrine of universal flux (Heraclitus
2020 Patrick trans.) for the last quarter of the Holocene interglacial period
(2500 years), as human civilization has developed and human thought has evolved,
so has the understanding that change is the one constant on which we can depend.
Civilization has simultaneously built increasingly stronger hedges in an attempt to
protect ourselves from life’s uncertainties.
We have developed practices, habits, and complex systems, through which we
relate to the unpredictable and hostile natural world. Large-scale technological
advances in areas including agriculture, energy production, medicine, transportation, and building systems are effective guards against discomfort, insecurity, and
scarcity; however, successfully mitigating the vicissitudes of an unmediated existence in the wilderness comes at a price. As these artificial systems have acted to
stabilize the conditions in which humankind can survive and grow, they have also
accelerated the pace and increased the degree of change in natural systems during
this same period.
1.3.4.1 Increases in Population Magnify Impact
As our numbers multiplied at least 50 times over the same 2500 years, from approximately 125 million globally (roughly the size of Japan’s current population) to the
current number approaching 8 billion, our geographic reach spread over every continent and climate. The ingenious solutions that have allowed us to survive and
thrive in places where we are not biologically adapted to live come at a cost. Living
in these places is made possible, almost entirely, by extracting natural resources and
setting them on fire to generate energy (Fig. 1.3).
This continuous extraction and burning has taken place for hundreds of millennia
since we were living in caves. It started the moment our ancestors first harnessed
fire. Our latest evolutionary stages were influenced by the fact that they could gather
and do things beside a fire where and whenever they chose to build one. For a half
million years or more, according to infrared dating techniques, even before our species evolved into modern Homo sapiens, our forbearers collectively demanded more
of the physical comfort and security that fire provides (Berna et al. 2012). This also
allowed them to move into areas that were too cold to inhabit without a controlled
and dependable heat source.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing
1.3.4 Human Civilization (2500 Years)
The codependent and ephemeral nature of human existence has been a central tenet
in both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions from Classical Antiquity. From
Hinduism’s concept of Samsara (Rodrigues 2006) to the teachings of the Buddha on
impermanence (Hanh 1999) and Heraclitus’s doctrine of universal flux (Heraclitus
2020 Patrick trans.) for the last quarter of the Holocene interglacial period
(2500 years), as human civilization has developed and human thought has evolved,
so has the understanding that change is the one constant on which we can depend.
Civilization has simultaneously built increasingly stronger hedges in an attempt to
protect ourselves from life’s uncertainties.
We have developed practices, habits, and complex systems, through which we
relate to the unpredictable and hostile natural world. Large-scale technological
advances in areas including agriculture, energy production, medicine, transportation, and building systems are effective guards against discomfort, insecurity, and
scarcity; however, successfully mitigating the vicissitudes of an unmediated existence in the wilderness comes at a price. As these artificial systems have acted to
stabilize the conditions in which humankind can survive and grow, they have also
accelerated the pace and increased the degree of change in natural systems during
this same period.
1.3.4.1 Increases in Population Magnify Impact
As our numbers multiplied at least 50 times over the same 2500 years, from approximately 125 million globally (roughly the size of Japan’s current population) to the
current number approaching 8 billion, our geographic reach spread over every continent and climate. The ingenious solutions that have allowed us to survive and
thrive in places where we are not biologically adapted to live come at a cost. Living
in these places is made possible, almost entirely, by extracting natural resources and
setting them on fire to generate energy (Fig. 1.3).
This continuous extraction and burning has taken place for hundreds of millennia
since we were living in caves. It started the moment our ancestors first harnessed
fire. Our latest evolutionary stages were influenced by the fact that they could gather
and do things beside a fire where and whenever they chose to build one. For a half
million years or more, according to infrared dating techniques, even before our species evolved into modern Homo sapiens, our forbearers collectively demanded more
of the physical comfort and security that fire provides (Berna et al. 2012). This also
allowed them to move into areas that were too cold to inhabit without a controlled
and dependable heat source.
1.3 No Going Back: Impossible to Do Nothing