Caring vs thinking: who are we?
# 4128
Our thought leaders have since at least the generation before Plato pushed the idea that what defines our species is thinking, This might be a mistake. Perhaps our capacity, shared with most animals is much more important. The popularity of animal videos on the internet is heartwarming. Most of the videos show stories of one species caring for others, not only of their own but of very different species, taking care of abandoned newborns to freeing trapped or hurt adults. The videos showing one species getting the attention of humans to help show an integration of awareness with urgent compassion. We may have identified with the wrong human capacities to take as defining who we are. The chosen capacities to celebrate have been the ones favored by business.
This takes on a deep irony. Our intelligence, which helped us navigate an ice age, now has created the technical and economic knowledge sets that have created our climate and associated problems.
A challenging idea: human nature reacts with enthusiasm1 to emerging trends and events seen as opportunities. Acting on opportunities based on talent and lack of empathy leads to the concentration of wealth and supporting networks becoming social classes.
from Greek,
en=in
theus = god
a god within, thus to have the energy of a god driving your actions. Someone enthused is possessed. The classical period inGreece created the word to describe the extra energy of the tribes. "barbarians", attacking from the mountains of the north.
Note. The similarity between climate, change and hurricanes at the level of our response is quite the same: ignore the facts and their implications.