I have felt, for a period of some years and more frequently since 2016, that the planet would be better off without human beings. I’ve said it, I’ve thought it, and this is the first time I’ve written it. I would be happy to be the first in line, gladly give up my life in the certain knowledge that without us, Earth could heal, cleanse itself, and nurture all the countless species we have failed to notice, value, and cherish. Let the rape stop. Let the wide-scale poisoning stop. Let the brutality, suffering, stupidity, greed, and criminal disregard for others stop.
This is a powerful piece, full of thoughts and questions and ideas, all of which, of course, make us human. To be able to think through these issues and share them in a piece--a story, if you will--is a wonderful thing, and it is the hope which binds so many of us together. Whether sat around a campfire twenty thousand years ago, or at my computer, typing this, the ability to tell stories and change our lives is not to be taken lightly.
I really enjoyed reading this, thank you. I know you read my words, so you're probably familiar with the phrase I use over and over, "active hope"; not mere optimism, or wishing something could be better, but grasp-the-bull-by-the-horns hope, hope which takes time and effort, and hope which is, therefore, built on far stronger foundations. I think there are many of us (certainly here, but also in places which have never heard of Substack) who know there are other ways to be, kinder ways, more generous, sharing. Ways which will involve societal change, but that is nothing new, we've done it as a species over and over again (have a peek at Jonathan Foster's The Crow, for a recent post on this) and, I am sure, we will once more.
As for a world without humans, I am fairly sure that evolution would kick something else out just as full of the potential for horror and violence, for terrible things, and awesome, for wonders and marvels and stories. I think we stand on a threshold at the moment, and the way forward is a bit more frightening than the way back (the recent way, comfortable systems of power, of belief), which is why so many are willing to simply toil and put up with the nonsense of vast inequality and cruelty. However, I honestly believe change is inevitable, and it is coming, soon (if not already here, in an early form).
By asking questions and thinking the thoughts you have here, you are already a part of that change.
Thanks again, I really appreciated you writing this.
I fully understand where you are coming from here Jennifer. Here are a few thoughts that spring to mind after reading your fascinating post.
There are so many activities and outcomes that humans perform for which I do not feel a collective responsibility. Humans, for example, exhibit extraordinary curiosity about the universe, and through this curiosity have developed spiritual and religious practices. I too am inclined to thinking about "meaning" and "value" so as a human I'm also inclined toward thinking about these things too.
But, when this human curiosity morphs into the creation of powerful religious institutions that have encouraged and supported terrible behaviours like, for example, the inquisition, witch hunts and justifications for racism, then we have to look at the social power structures that enable such behaviours. Yes, humans are creating the power structures, but importantly not ALL humans. Only the ones who have amassed enough power to force their ideologies onto the rest of us.
So then I begin to think about power structures, rather than about a species as a whole (remembering that many indigenous communities actively created social systems to minimise the capacity for power to be condensed into the hands of a few).
The dangerous economic power structure we currently suffer, often referred to as "capitalism" is a recent evolution which was then forcibly spread (through violence) around the world. I would like a different vision for the world to win. Should I as a human accept responsibility for the few extremists who force their ideology onto me? I don't know. I'm not sure women burned at the stake as witches should accept responsibility for their demise because they too were humans in a religious world.
I mean all this in the gentlest of ways, I don't have answers, and I hope this doesn't sound contentious or dismissive. I really don't want to give that impression. But I've always felt uncomfortable with the tendency to suggest humans per se are at fault, when maybe instead the current historical period and the power structures our current dominating ideologies are the problem?
“If other humans are capable of the atrocities happening all around us every day, so am I. If I want to see that dark potential destroyed, if I’d be glad of it, even, my self-love is seriously incomplete.”
I had to pause when I read this sentence, up to that point, nodding emphatically in agreement. I, too, have felt the planet would be better off without us. For me, I feel we are part of a larger continuum and unfolding of consciousness, a consciousness born from the dualities of light and dark. Seeing the planet as “better off” someday without us doesn’t feel like a lack of self/human love, rather the opposite. A deeper falling in love with the magnificent impermanence and tension that is inherent to this life experience within all species. We are part of that story now, and someday, some other forms of consciousness will take our place, always expanding upon previous iterations of light and dark. Human’s ability to reflect on this process and imbue it with love (or continue loving despite the duality) is quite beautiful, and maybe part of consciousness trying to know itself better, but I don’t believe it’s the pinnacle of unfolding. Just a step in a circular dance of infinite possibility.
I laughed when I read your certainty about evolution insisting on some variation of humans taking the stage. I'd never thought of that way, but you're right, of course! In fact, as a storyteller, I could come up with much, much worse species than we are. We're probably not important enough to be the most vile and foul species in the cosmos. (Though too many think we ARE that important.) Perspective is always useful.
I agree that change is inevitable. Change can be frightening, but also embraced. I believe those of us who explore the edges, the thresholds, the meaning, and the complexity of life are important. The world needs a lot more of this kind of discussion, not to win and be right and fix it before moving on, but to wander and wonder, to listen, to allow questions, discomfort, feelings, and even friction to be as they shape whatever comes next.
As I've read and thought about all these comments, I've gone back again and again to your book, Two Lights. I haven't bought it yet, but it's on my list. I couldn't figure out why it was niggling at me until I remembered my own faith in duality, in balance. My fiction is imbued with this theme. In the sturm and drang of the current social and cultural crazy I get lost and forget what I know in times of despair.
You, for example, with your reverence for the natural world and your ability to share your unique perspective in words and art, are a light, but only because you contrast with those who would or are destroying the natural world. If light is defined by darkness, to destroy the darkness is to destroy the light. And there is light everywhere. I do believe, in my wisest depths, both light and dark are necessary in life, and beautiful. They need each other.
Ultimately, I suppose our power lies in all the choices we make each day about whether we will become part of the light or part of the dark. We creators, in our own quiet ways, are adding to the light; more than that, we're spreading it around with ideas, content, art. This seems to me valuable beyond subscriptions and paywalls, beyond stats and likes, beyond fame and glory. A candle flame is a humble thing. Dawn and dusk are subtle thresholds, full of wonder, beauty, mystery, and life. Many, many people never notice them or think about them. But you do. I do. Important, too, to note dawn and dusk are a meeting, a connection between light and dark, neither one nor the other but the edge of chaos between them. That paradox, I think, is present in human beings, too.
Thanks for this great comment, Jonathan. I've been thinking about it for the last day as I go about my life. You don't sound contentious or dismissive -- just thoughtful and balanced!
Your underlining of collective responsibility is a great point; I typically do feel responsible for whatever anyone around me does. Sadly, there's a strong ideological push for all of us to be ashamed about some immutable characteristic, such as skin color, or historical horrors perpetrated by our ancestors. As I'm already oriented towards feeling total responsibility (aka bad boundaries!), I'm an easy target. However, your clarity points towards thinking more critically about the issue. I am responsible for my own actions and choices, of course, no one else's. Thanks for reminding me! The fact is, punishing one another for past events or present characteristics we can't change is ridiculous and obviously futile.
I also think and write a great deal about power. You are, of course, correct in focusing on the power structures (some) people build and enforce in order to maintain their own status quo. And yes, my research also makes me aware we weren't always so contentious among ourselves and in the context of the living planet. Kim Warner from Unfixed made much the same point in her comment.
As people make these thoughtful and intelligent comments, and I'm encouraged to think more rationally (despair isn't terribly rational, I find!), my emotions are coming into better balance. If we can build toxic power structures we can build healthier ones. I believe most people in fact want healthier ones. Clearly, this is a chaotic time for humans, but my study of complex systems assures me the edge of chaos is enormously fertile and filled with potential. Introverted, peaceful people like me don't like chaos, but there's no question it can be enormously fruitful if we can stand steady and let it do its thing. I find hope in that, a wider view, a calmer perspective.
Thanks for helping me open this up for myself and everyone in the conversation!
Thank you for this thoughtful comment. You've put a beautiful thing into words, the "falling in love with the magnificent impermanence and tension that is inherent to this life experience ..." Despair is apathy. I don't think well when I focus on it. I lose perspective. Pouting is just not constructive! Damn! The idea that we are part of the planet's story, an important and rightful part, eases my heart. We humans bring much beauty and goodness into the world, after all. All good stories have tension. Nothing is permanent. All things pass. I am reconsidering my bitterness. I too, see time as a circular measure, and I'm a dancer. Out of infinite possibility we are here, part of a pattern and purpose we cannot know, dancing in our moment on the wheel of time. We weren't always here and we won't always be here, but now we are.
This is a powerful piece, full of thoughts and questions and ideas, all of which, of course, make us human. To be able to think through these issues and share them in a piece--a story, if you will--is a wonderful thing, and it is the hope which binds so many of us together. Whether sat around a campfire twenty thousand years ago, or at my computer, typing this, the ability to tell stories and change our lives is not to be taken lightly.
I really enjoyed reading this, thank you. I know you read my words, so you're probably familiar with the phrase I use over and over, "active hope"; not mere optimism, or wishing something could be better, but grasp-the-bull-by-the-horns hope, hope which takes time and effort, and hope which is, therefore, built on far stronger foundations. I think there are many of us (certainly here, but also in places which have never heard of Substack) who know there are other ways to be, kinder ways, more generous, sharing. Ways which will involve societal change, but that is nothing new, we've done it as a species over and over again (have a peek at Jonathan Foster's The Crow, for a recent post on this) and, I am sure, we will once more.
As for a world without humans, I am fairly sure that evolution would kick something else out just as full of the potential for horror and violence, for terrible things, and awesome, for wonders and marvels and stories. I think we stand on a threshold at the moment, and the way forward is a bit more frightening than the way back (the recent way, comfortable systems of power, of belief), which is why so many are willing to simply toil and put up with the nonsense of vast inequality and cruelty. However, I honestly believe change is inevitable, and it is coming, soon (if not already here, in an early form).
By asking questions and thinking the thoughts you have here, you are already a part of that change.
Thanks again, I really appreciated you writing this.
I fully understand where you are coming from here Jennifer. Here are a few thoughts that spring to mind after reading your fascinating post.
There are so many activities and outcomes that humans perform for which I do not feel a collective responsibility. Humans, for example, exhibit extraordinary curiosity about the universe, and through this curiosity have developed spiritual and religious practices. I too am inclined to thinking about "meaning" and "value" so as a human I'm also inclined toward thinking about these things too.
But, when this human curiosity morphs into the creation of powerful religious institutions that have encouraged and supported terrible behaviours like, for example, the inquisition, witch hunts and justifications for racism, then we have to look at the social power structures that enable such behaviours. Yes, humans are creating the power structures, but importantly not ALL humans. Only the ones who have amassed enough power to force their ideologies onto the rest of us.
So then I begin to think about power structures, rather than about a species as a whole (remembering that many indigenous communities actively created social systems to minimise the capacity for power to be condensed into the hands of a few).
The dangerous economic power structure we currently suffer, often referred to as "capitalism" is a recent evolution which was then forcibly spread (through violence) around the world. I would like a different vision for the world to win. Should I as a human accept responsibility for the few extremists who force their ideology onto me? I don't know. I'm not sure women burned at the stake as witches should accept responsibility for their demise because they too were humans in a religious world.
I mean all this in the gentlest of ways, I don't have answers, and I hope this doesn't sound contentious or dismissive. I really don't want to give that impression. But I've always felt uncomfortable with the tendency to suggest humans per se are at fault, when maybe instead the current historical period and the power structures our current dominating ideologies are the problem?
“If other humans are capable of the atrocities happening all around us every day, so am I. If I want to see that dark potential destroyed, if I’d be glad of it, even, my self-love is seriously incomplete.”
I had to pause when I read this sentence, up to that point, nodding emphatically in agreement. I, too, have felt the planet would be better off without us. For me, I feel we are part of a larger continuum and unfolding of consciousness, a consciousness born from the dualities of light and dark. Seeing the planet as “better off” someday without us doesn’t feel like a lack of self/human love, rather the opposite. A deeper falling in love with the magnificent impermanence and tension that is inherent to this life experience within all species. We are part of that story now, and someday, some other forms of consciousness will take our place, always expanding upon previous iterations of light and dark. Human’s ability to reflect on this process and imbue it with love (or continue loving despite the duality) is quite beautiful, and maybe part of consciousness trying to know itself better, but I don’t believe it’s the pinnacle of unfolding. Just a step in a circular dance of infinite possibility.
Thanks for joining in this conversation!
I laughed when I read your certainty about evolution insisting on some variation of humans taking the stage. I'd never thought of that way, but you're right, of course! In fact, as a storyteller, I could come up with much, much worse species than we are. We're probably not important enough to be the most vile and foul species in the cosmos. (Though too many think we ARE that important.) Perspective is always useful.
I agree that change is inevitable. Change can be frightening, but also embraced. I believe those of us who explore the edges, the thresholds, the meaning, and the complexity of life are important. The world needs a lot more of this kind of discussion, not to win and be right and fix it before moving on, but to wander and wonder, to listen, to allow questions, discomfort, feelings, and even friction to be as they shape whatever comes next.
As I've read and thought about all these comments, I've gone back again and again to your book, Two Lights. I haven't bought it yet, but it's on my list. I couldn't figure out why it was niggling at me until I remembered my own faith in duality, in balance. My fiction is imbued with this theme. In the sturm and drang of the current social and cultural crazy I get lost and forget what I know in times of despair.
You, for example, with your reverence for the natural world and your ability to share your unique perspective in words and art, are a light, but only because you contrast with those who would or are destroying the natural world. If light is defined by darkness, to destroy the darkness is to destroy the light. And there is light everywhere. I do believe, in my wisest depths, both light and dark are necessary in life, and beautiful. They need each other.
Ultimately, I suppose our power lies in all the choices we make each day about whether we will become part of the light or part of the dark. We creators, in our own quiet ways, are adding to the light; more than that, we're spreading it around with ideas, content, art. This seems to me valuable beyond subscriptions and paywalls, beyond stats and likes, beyond fame and glory. A candle flame is a humble thing. Dawn and dusk are subtle thresholds, full of wonder, beauty, mystery, and life. Many, many people never notice them or think about them. But you do. I do. Important, too, to note dawn and dusk are a meeting, a connection between light and dark, neither one nor the other but the edge of chaos between them. That paradox, I think, is present in human beings, too.
Thanks for this great comment, Jonathan. I've been thinking about it for the last day as I go about my life. You don't sound contentious or dismissive -- just thoughtful and balanced!
Your underlining of collective responsibility is a great point; I typically do feel responsible for whatever anyone around me does. Sadly, there's a strong ideological push for all of us to be ashamed about some immutable characteristic, such as skin color, or historical horrors perpetrated by our ancestors. As I'm already oriented towards feeling total responsibility (aka bad boundaries!), I'm an easy target. However, your clarity points towards thinking more critically about the issue. I am responsible for my own actions and choices, of course, no one else's. Thanks for reminding me! The fact is, punishing one another for past events or present characteristics we can't change is ridiculous and obviously futile.
I also think and write a great deal about power. You are, of course, correct in focusing on the power structures (some) people build and enforce in order to maintain their own status quo. And yes, my research also makes me aware we weren't always so contentious among ourselves and in the context of the living planet. Kim Warner from Unfixed made much the same point in her comment.
As people make these thoughtful and intelligent comments, and I'm encouraged to think more rationally (despair isn't terribly rational, I find!), my emotions are coming into better balance. If we can build toxic power structures we can build healthier ones. I believe most people in fact want healthier ones. Clearly, this is a chaotic time for humans, but my study of complex systems assures me the edge of chaos is enormously fertile and filled with potential. Introverted, peaceful people like me don't like chaos, but there's no question it can be enormously fruitful if we can stand steady and let it do its thing. I find hope in that, a wider view, a calmer perspective.
Thanks for helping me open this up for myself and everyone in the conversation!
Thank you for this thoughtful comment. You've put a beautiful thing into words, the "falling in love with the magnificent impermanence and tension that is inherent to this life experience ..." Despair is apathy. I don't think well when I focus on it. I lose perspective. Pouting is just not constructive! Damn! The idea that we are part of the planet's story, an important and rightful part, eases my heart. We humans bring much beauty and goodness into the world, after all. All good stories have tension. Nothing is permanent. All things pass. I am reconsidering my bitterness. I too, see time as a circular measure, and I'm a dancer. Out of infinite possibility we are here, part of a pattern and purpose we cannot know, dancing in our moment on the wheel of time. We weren't always here and we won't always be here, but now we are.