An Empathy Revolution for 2017

My New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to be more empathic.  My reason for this is that it is possible to imagine that every one of the many crises that afflict civilisation can be solved in full or in part by an empathic revolution.

Let's start at the beginning.  Something cataclysmic happened about 200,000 years ago; our ancestors at that time evolved to become self-aware, and a new species homo Sapiens came into being.  And that was the time that humans became separated from the rest of nature, and separate from each other.  All because of the development of individual identity.  And for 2,000 centuries we humans have struggled with that self identity.

Looking deeply at society's current multifaceted crisis ... War, Poverty, Climate Change, Species Extinction, Resource Depletion, Rainforest Destruction, Intolerance, Inequality, Nuclear Weapons to name but a few ... it is clear that the we are still struggling with this separation inherent in our concept of self.  Nowadays we are beginning to see that the underlying cause is the Empathy Deficit.

War betrays a clear lack of empathy for the victims. Poverty is a lack of empathy for those impoverished. Climate Change indicates a lack of empathy for future generations. Species Extinction results from a lack of empathy for other species.  And so it goes on.

But there are two pieces of good news... 

Firstly, over the last 200,000 of human existence our empathy for others and empathy for the natural world is growing.  Secondly, recent scientific research has indicated that we humans are soft-wired for empathy, thus contradicting the Hobbesian view that we are condemned to a life of brute selfishness.  The selfish side of our psyche is mainly learnt (and therefore can be unlearnt).

So, how to go about it?

Empathy with our friends and family is easy. We can all do it. But how about empathy with strangers?  Or empathy with people who do not think like us.  And empathy with nature must be a challenge.  The celebrated biologist Edward O Wilson called this empathy with nature "biophilia".  We all have a deep-seated connection to nature, but sadly big business, advertisers, the media and politicians continue to divert our attention towards the nebulous concept of economic growth which has the ultimate effect of destroying the natural world ... our life support system.  This is an empathy we must all learn, as it is our route to survival as a species.

The one thing I love about the growth of empathy is that anyone can do this in their own time.  No need to preach that "everyone must be empathic".  Just quietly get on with the practice.  The rewards are wonderful.

Further reading:

 - Roman Krznaric: "Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution" (2014)

 - Jeremy Rifkin:  "The Empathic Civilisation - The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis" (2010)

These YouTube videos are great:

 - RSA Animate - Jeremy Rifkin: The Empathic Civilisation:  

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g

 - RSA Animate - Roman Krznaric - The Age of Outrospection -

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG46IwVfSu8

"Last Rites For The Rhino"

Exeter Deep Ecology Network is not just a discussion group.  From time to time we take our message out onto the High Street.  This we did on the 2nd October.

The existence of a number of colourful Rhino structures located at key locations around the city centre gave us an opportunity to highlight species extinction in a creative street theatre event.  We wanted to be informative and eye-catching, but not in a preachy way.

We conducted a solemn "Mourning For All Species" ceremony - wearing black - at seven of the Rhinos.
Vicky was banging a djembe drum - a slow funereal beat as we proceeded from Rhino to Rhino. Tracey and Martine carried the shroud which was placed over the Rhino. Then Billy - standing on a dais - read out a list of animals on the Endangered Species list.  After a while the wailing began, as the mourners expressed our despair - "honouring our pain for the world".   When we had finished we proceeded in a dignified cortege towards the next Rhino following a banner declaring that 30,000 species go extinct every year.

YouTube Video:

So how did it go down among the many onlookers?  Many people were stopped in their tracks and took time to watch the whole ceremony.  At one point some people joined us in the wailing.  And we actually received applause after we had finished the ceremony at one of the Rhinos. 

We're hoping that  a large number of people have now been alerted to the fact that species extinction is a significant crisis.

Sadly our local paper, the Express and Echo, didn't mention our street theatre despite our alluring press release.  

However we did get a group letter published on the 6th October (see left).


Credits:
Vicky - Djembe drummer.
Billy - Species Reader.
Martine and Tracey - Rhino Shroud bearers.
Maurice - Placard bearer.
David - Mourner.
Simon - Cameraman.

The Myth of Identity

It is a common misconception that we humans are all individuals, ploughing our own furrow through life.  We all have separate names, we all have separate identities, we are all separate.

A few paragraphs down this article I attempt to prove that this is not the case, but first I wish to digress a little and explain why I think this myth of identity came about.

It all started probably about 2 million years ago, when the first humans (Homo Habilis) experienced an evolutionary mutation which ultimately gave we humans - uniquely amongst the animal kingdom - the concept of self awareness.  At this point our ancestors became aware of the dangerous duality that separates "me" from "others", and also "me" from the "whole of nature".   For the past 2 million years humans have struggled with this mutation of self-awareness, and it has led to environmental destruction, war, poverty, loneliness, indeed pretty well every problem known to humanity.

The myth was strengthened in the 17th century when Rene Descartes famously said "I think, therefore I am". Together with other thinkers from the Age of Enlightenment the separation between human and human, and between human and nature was set in stone for centuries to come.  Science and religion are agreed; humans are separate from each other, and they must subdue the earth and "have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth".

But it really doesn't have to be like this .... and I think I can prove it.

What makes us think we are unique identities is our thoughts (like Rene Descartes said, we all think, therefore we are)?  The thoughts that constantly run through our brains, which we don't seem to be able to switch off that easily.  We think that thoughts are generated by our brain.  But supposing this was not true.  Imagine the possibility that thoughts are not "initiated" within the synapses of the brain ... but instead that the thoughts are "received" by those synapses.  Like an antenna or a receiver.  Our creativity is in fact a gift from the universe. This is not hard to imagine.  Ask yourself; "Have I ever had an original thought in my head?".  Our thoughts usually come from people we speak to, books we have read or things we have seen.  We are a complex amalgam of a whole array of influences.  It is highly likely that none of that is uniquely originated in our brains.  Even that creative scientist Isaac Newton admitted that he "was standing on the shoulders of giants".

By the way, I borrowed this idea about thoughts from someone else.

So if this is true, that our thoughts are not generated in our heads,  then this puts a huge question mark on the existence of our unique identity.  We share elements of everyone else, and in reality we have no way of knowing who or what gave us the bits of identity that we think are unique to us, but may not be.

The idea that we don't actually exist as we thought we did might be a bit scary.  But it is also liberating.  The fact that we share so much of our consciousness with everyone else opens up new avenues of connection.  And the deeper we go, the more connections there are as explained in the iceberg diagram below ...

Because 90 percent of an iceberg is below water level it's easy to be fooled that the diagram shows three separate icebergs.  However, it is all connected below the surface.

The wonderful opportunity here though is that - if we all realise that our identity is not separated from others and not separated from nature - then we can begin to repair all the damage created by those huge world-wide problems created by our separation.  Self awareness is not always a bad thing ... E.O Wilson said "to feel empathy for others, to measure the emotions of friends and enemy alike, to judge the intentions of all of them, and to plan a strategy for personal social interactions…the human brain became…highly intelligent".

If we truly shared the world with nature and our fellow humans then we would surely learn how to live more simply, so that others would simply live.

The Sixth Extinction - The biggest story on earth, period

The Dodo

It is the biggest issue on this planet. Between 80 and 400 species go extinct every day.  It should be on the front page of every newspaper, every day, it's that huge.  But it barely exists as an issue at all.  Why is that?

Firstly, though, I want to explain in detail why I think that the Sixth Extinction is so important.  And then I want to offer up some explanation as to why we are ignoring it.  Finally, I suggest what we might do about it.

 

A brief history of 5 extinctions:

In the last 500 million years there have been five mass extinctions.  The most famous of them was the most recent one (the Late Cretaceous) which happened 65 million years ago when an asteroid hit the planet and wiped out the dinosaurs.  The biggest mass extinction - which killed 96% of all species - was the Late Permian 245 million years ago.  An extinction becomes a mass extinction when 75% of species are wiped out.  The chart below indicates all 5 mass extinctions: 

The reason for all the 5 previous mass extinctions is geophysical. They were caused by huge basalt floods, catastrophic methane releases, asteroid impacts or natural climate change.

The big difference between the earlier 5 extinctions and the current sixth extinction is that this is the first time that an extinction has been caused by a single rogue species. Additionally, the sixth extinction is happening at a far faster rate than previous extinctions.  Between 10 and 100 times faster.

A brief history of the sixth extinction:

The current extinction (sometimes called the Holocene Extinction or the Anthropocene Extinction) has three phases:

Phase 1 is referred to as the Pleistocene Megafauna extinction which occurred between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago, and seemed to coincide with the time that humans entered new continents. Whilst there is a lot of evidence that humans played a large part in this extinction event, recent evidence suggests that natural Climate Change might also have played a significant part.  For this reason many scientists do not include this phase in the Anthropocene Extinction.

Phase 2 of the extinction started about 10,000 years ago when humans started to live in cities at the beginning of the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution.  It was a time when the human population grew very quickly, and started to encroach increasingly on the wild domain.

Phase 3 began around about 1800 with the Industrial Revolution. This was a time of increasing use of fossil fuels, economic activity, international trade and minerals exploitation.  As the Industrial Revolution morphed into the Technological Revolution (1960s onwards) extinction rates have increased further.

The current rate of species extinctions is not known fully because only a million species have been recorded, yet it is believed that there could be between 8 and 12 million species on the planet.  Some species will go extinct without being known about.

The numbers:

in 1990 the celebrated biologist E O Wilson estimated that 30,000 species per year (or three species per hour) are being driven to extinction.  A later report - using a technique known as the "species-area theory" - suggested that the rate of extinction could be as high as 140,000 species per year.  Subsequent studies have indicated that these figures could be too high, but all scientists involved in the study of extinctions recognise that the current rate is about 100 to 1,000 times the rate of background extinction.  Perhaps more significant is the fact that the current rate of extinctions is between 10 and 100 times more rapid than any of the five previous mass extinctions.

The following chart indicates just how close certain classes of species are to reaching the 75% threshold for mass extinction...

But more important than the rate of species extinction is the rate of wildlife population loss.  A recent report of the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that the population of invertebrates has fallen by 45% in the last 35 years. (Invertebrates are those animals without a backbone like insects, worms and crustaceans). This is a similar rate to that of the larger animals (vertebrates) which is more widely publicised.

This has meant that some species have become so decimated that they are close to extinction. Currently - according to the IUCN Red List - 23,000 species (out of 65,000 assessed species) are threatened with extinction.  This is 21% of all known mammals, 30% of all known amphibians, 12% of all known birds, 28% of reptiles, 37% of freshwater fishes, 70% of plants, 35% of invertebrates assessed so far under threat.

The list is shocking:

99% of Rhinos gone since 1914.  97% of Tigers gone since 1914.  90% of Lions gone since 1993.  90% of Sea Turtles gone since 1980.  90% of Monarch Butterflies gone since 1995.  90% of Big Ocean Fish gone since 1950.  80% of Antarctic Krill gone since 1975.  80% of Western Gorillas gone since 1955.  60% of Forest Elephants gone since 1970.  50% of the Great Barrier Reef gone since 1985.  40% of Giraffes gone since 2000.  40% of ocean phytoplankton gone since 1950.  30% of Marine Birds gone since 1995.  70% of Marine Birds gone since 1950.  28% of Land Animals gone since 1970.  28% of All Marine Animals gone since 1970.

The most famous of all species to have gone extinct in recent years is the Dodo (see picture above).  But how long will it be before we are mourning the loss of such iconic creatures on a daily basis?  And how long before nature as we know it is so fragmented and disrupted that the life support system for homo sapiens is no longer there?

Scientist estimate that we could lose half of all species by the end of this century.  So we are probably looking at the "end of nature" round about the end of the 22nd century.

Extinction vs Human Population:

At the same time that the extinction rates of species is increasing, the population of human beings is also increasing as shown in the following chart.  The correlation is too obvious to miss.

Note clearly how both curves accelerate steeply after the end of the second World War.  The substantial part of the current extinction is just 70 years long!

How has this current extinction happened?

There are a number of reasons why nature has been decimated in such large numbers.  They include:

• Human Population increase.
• Space encroachment into wildlife areas through agriculture and urbanisation.
• Climate Change.
• Ocean Acidification.
• Mining and energy extraction reducing habitats and polluting watercourses.
• Proliferation of Insecticides and Herbicides.
• Air and Water pollution from Industrial processes.
• International trade spreading organisms.
• Rainforest destruction for logging and mass plantations.
• Desertification.
• Over fishing.
• Trophy hunting.

In short, this extinction is in the hands of one species; homo sapiens.

Why is this not headline news?

The above list of extinction reasons describes - in total - our capitalist industrial civilisation.  If we were to reverse this extensive extinction, we would need an equally extensive sea change in the direction taken by our civilisation.  Is this going to happen?

No wonder we are ignoring the problem.  The solution is just too inconvenient.  Best to sweep it under the carpet or kick it into the long grass.

But what should we do to stop this extinction?

We would need to:

• Work less, earn less and consume less.
• Boycott goods from abroad.
• Refuse to buy products that require destructive mining.
• Steer clear of anything that made use of chemicals.
• Throw nothing away.
• Stop doing anything that causes excess greenhouse gas emissions.
• Eat far less meat.
• Travel using non motorised transportation.
• Have no more that one (or two) children.
• Move towards a steady state economy.

In brief, we need to

         de-industrialise,

                 de-capitalise and

                          de-populate.

This sounds a bit extreme.  But any deep analysis of this problem will always result in the need for radical solutions.  To go back to a time when the extinction rate was close to the background rate we might need to return to the late 1700s - just before the Industrial Revolution.  That was a time which might just be regarded as genuinely sustainable.

Genuine sustainability - where it is imagined that human beings will be on this planet for at least 100 million more years - forces us to presume that humans must allow for enough room and resources for a rich diversity of species to live.  Living simply ... so that others may simply live.

Old Story, New Story

Our civilisation is driven by an Old Story.  It goes like this ...

• The most important thing is money.
• Material consumption leads to happiness.
• Economic growth and the increase in GDP is essential for wealth, jobs and therefore happiness.
• Technological improvement is a key factor in economic growth.
• Poverty is a consequence of laziness.
• Humans are – by nature – competitive individuals.
• Competition is essential for invisible hand of the free market which drives up wealth and well-being for all.
• A person’s wealth is an indication of their importance.
• A corporation’s wealth is also an indication of its importance.
• In law a corporation is a person, and has the same rights as a person (some say more).
• Because corporations provide employment and wealth, it is the job of governments to support corporations.
• Governments prefer representative democracy which limits popular influence to once every five years.
• Economic inequality and environmental destruction are seen as regrettable but necessary consequences.
• It is the job of governments to play down economic inequality and environmental destruction.
• There is no alternative to economic growth and technological driven free market economics.

But it doesn't have to be like this.  There is another story - a New Story -  that we can live by:

• Humans are living beings part of a living universe.
• The most important thing is the totality of life … and love.
• Money is merely a device to maximise exploitation of resources, and undermines community.
• The route to happiness is through the wealth of nature and community.
• Humans are – by nature – cooperative, and thrive best within a living community.
• Cooperation is essential for sustaining life.
• Deep connection to nature and to other people is a key element of our physical and mental well-being.
• Violence, greed and ruthless competition are an indication of a dysfunctional society.
• Economic inequality and environmental destruction are the tell-tale signs of a world that cannot survive.
• Human institutions – whether business, government or civil society – are designed to support all people in a healthy and meaningful life.
• Environmental sustainability, economic justice and participative democracy are inseparable and essential for a vibrant world.

With more people living and breathing the New Story, it is possible to imagine that a new world is not that far away ... as Arundhati Roy said “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”