84920 - Transcription: Podcast With US #101: Humanity and Earth
N. Lygeros
In this podcast we want to study the relation between Mankind and Earth. We are used to say that those notions are totally different and we think more or less that they are in fact dependent and separated. So the point of view is only to show that there is a common path. There is an intersection and we can see those two notions as one from a different point of view. First of all Earth is not just a planet and Humanity is not just a population. So, if we consider that there is a difference, it is only because we know that population and the planet are not related. But in fact even at this low level we can see that this population lives in this planet and this planet is transformed by this population. So in fact we can see that it’s more like a synergy because we have two things together and they can work together but in a different way. Now at the level of Humanity it’s not just a population and I mean with that, that Humanity is the set of the death people, alive people and unborn people. So, on the other hand, we can see that the Earth is something which is unique, at least for the moment because we have this population only here. So the point is “can we live together”? Because of course there is a spoliation of rights, there is an exploitation of energy and mass and the problem is “is it possible to do this”? So, we have at the low level not exactly a synergy but in fact a symbiosis. And we can see that we need each other to do something and to live in this place. Of course we can say “why Earth needs Humanity”? In fact at least we can consider that at the beginning it was not obvious but now it’s obvious that there is a relation and we know many things, not only in the framework of nature but also about animals that we are living together in another way. And this other way is in fact more precious that a simple symbiosis. The point is that Humanity can think Earth as one big, huge maybe, human being, like Gaia but I don’t mention this only from the ecological point of view. I just say that “Imagine that it is an organism. What can we do for it? What can we do together? What can we do to go further”? So, I’m just saying in a different way that Humanity is in fact the extension of the core of the Earth. It’s not something else, we are not from outside. We are from inside and in fact if we consider that the Earth is the core and Humanity is its extension, we have a superstructure, something which is not so obvious, which looks as something which is polycyclical but also something which has a duration in Time. Because, you know, we can see that Earth is something which is stable more or less at the human level and on the other side we are as human beings something very small, ephemeral. So, this small with this huge is in fact two points of view of the same thing. Macrocosm, microcosm and together we can see that it’s possible to think in another way the universe. Because if we are the extension of the core, we have to keep in mind that this core belongs to Galaxy. This Galaxy is inside the universe. So, we do not restrict our thoughts in the framework of Earth. Imagine now that we are talking about Universe and Humanity. It will be more complex but it’s the same strategic point of view.