Civilization (Humans)

by Carl, Friday, November 07, 2008, 18:33 (5651 days ago) @ David Turell

Response to David's link to http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-
Michael must be a joy to have on a one week camping trip. He probably never stops complaining.
Most of the article was devoted to proving that nature is natural and humans are beasts. I would have conceded that. His other point - that environmentalism is just another religion and therefor should be replaced by science - is questionable. People can get pretty religious about their science. Witness the heated discussions on this and other similar sites about evolution. Besides, science doesn't accomplish things, people accomplish things. And, if no one cares, nothing gets done. So, if you take the caring out of the environmental issues, nothing will get done. I will grant his point that civilization and science has improved the lot of humans, but sometimes at the expense of the other creatures we share the planet with.
His points on DDT are a little startling. It wasn't killing the birds outright. It was making the eggshells so thin and fragile that they weren't viable. Several species of endangered carnivorous birds had a dramatic rebound in population when DDT was banned. His point is either ignorant or deceptive.
The rest is standard anti-global warming diatribe, persuasive to those who already persuaded. Nothing new there.