If We Have the Opportunity to do Better, Why Don’t We?

HON 272: The Human Event

A majority of people today had been exposed to what global warming is, how it happens, and the outcome. Those who advocate for mother nature share the news on the importance of understanding climate change for the last few decades. Despite their best efforts, some are still using fossil fuels, throwing recyclable materials in the ocean, and eating meat. It all comes down to if we as a society actually care. If we are aware of the environmental disasters that we are contributing to, then why are we not doing anything to stop this? It was Richard Dawkins who believed that human beings are born with a selfish gene, and quite frankly I would have to agree as well. This connects to Rachel Carson’s concern of people knowing what the problem is, but not contributing to the effort. So far we can see that the problem is that as a society, over time, we have lost focus at what is happening around us. Becoming wrapped up in your own little world has jeopardized the state of our environment. Le Guin shared the idea that it is through reading and listening that we are able to learn from the past and expand onward. Through reading, educating, and spreading awareness of global issues pertaining to our environment, or even society, we will see the change. Not only hearing what others have to say, but to listen. Through this, we will break the bubble that most people surround themselves with that blocks their oblivious attitude.

In Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, he describes his theory on all humans contains a selfish gene. He proposes the argument that the widely known process of natural selection in the evolution of living beings is not about making the group secure. Rather he makes the point that making the individual secure, as the individual is merely a vehicle for its genes. “The feeling that members of one’s own species deserve special moral consideration as compared with members of other species is old and deep” (Dawkins, 2006, p. 10). Dawkins says that even when we have feelings about a different person, we will still have predetermined motives. When first reading The Selfish Gene, It was interesting, to say the least. I have heard of survival of the fittest before, but coming to the point that humans are inherently selfish was a twist. I first doubted Dawkins thought about this topic, but it was not until I thought about climate change. Since humans are prone to ignoring the calling signs of our global warming, our food epidemic, and our water usage, they will not care. I am not saying that humans are just waiting for the planet to explode, more so that if the problem does not actively affect them then it does not become their problem. Putting things into perspective, I would have to agree with Dawkins’s argument. If man was predestined to be selfish, why do we still have climate change today even though it is been protested for decades now? The question remains o how we are going to solve the unsolvable problem, forcing people to go against their DNA code to care about something bigger than themselves. It is through knowledge and reading that we see things more clearly. From the outside perspective, we can see the consequences of our actions, hopefully, inspiring hope that it’s not too late to change our way of thinking. Even if we are predestined to be selfish in the end, that does not mean we have to remain selfish.

To further enhance Dawkins’s argument, we coincidentally had another reading that was a perfect example of Dawkins’s theory on the Selfish Gene. Jia Tolentino’s, The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams, recounts moments of time in which those in a higher power position take advantage of those who do not have the same attributes. For instance, one of the stories that the article covers is the Fyre festival that happened in recent years. It was an organized event, led to be a festival similar to Coachella, in a remote location for plenty of influencers to share about their experience. Little did they know that even big name celebrities, “He paid, along with hundreds of other “influencers”, the models Emily Ratajkowski, Kendal Jenner, and Bella Hadid to promote the event on Instagram” (Tolentino, 2019, p. 160) was also getting fooled as well. It was said that he had accumulated $21.6 million in revenue over the course of a single month. Tolentino referred to the situation as Mcfarland, “stiffed and cheated a slew of companies and workers, many of them Bahamians who had placed their livelihood in his hands,” (Tolentino, 2019, p. 162) as they were too ambitious with their plan. After reading all of these stories in which the 1% were taking advantage of everyone else reminds me of Dawkins’s Theory. By him believing that we are all coded in our DNA to be selfish, the Fyre festival was a great example of his theory. The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams, is showing us our past. how easily the 1% is able to manipulate those who put faith in them. It is not until we see it all laid out for all to see that repeating cycle of selfishness. It is inescapable really. No matter how hard we fight it, or how much we hope that people will be noble, the selfish DNA shall rain through. If we learn nothing from the past, then we are only doomed to repeat it. In order to fix this cycle, and better the further generations, to spread awareness of the topic. As long as people are seeing the facts in their eyes, the numerous fraud, scammers, or even those who abuse their higher authority, then they will see the signs. In the past, we could not escape the selfish gene in terms of fraud, but hopefully, we can open our eyes to the selfish gene in the issue of climate change.

In Rachel Carson’s, Silent Spring, she recounts on how people choose the idea of “ignorance is bliss” rather than the harsh reality. As the article starts off with a parable that foreshadows a future in which silence suffocates the world after all the pesticides had led to the destruction of the environment. In a sense, Carson presents her argument in which she believes humans’ ability to adapt to their environment needs to be treated with extreme caution in order not to destroy the system that is holding them up. She further adds on to talk about the harmful effects of pesticides in our environment, “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to its own kind?” (Carson, 1962, p. 8). When reading the article, the part that I connected with was when she has shifted the tone of the piece from talking about pesticides to blaming humans for causing all these problems. Carson understand that people are not aware of the consequences of their actions no matter the cost, especially the harm done to the environment. “No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves” (Carson, 1962, p. 3), this quote perfectly encapsulates what Carson is saying. We, humans, are responsible for what we do to the environment we live in. Some choose to live in an oblivious state in which they do not hold themselves accountable, which is inherently selfish. Voluntarily choosing ‘ignorance equals bliss’ is selfish because you are only seeking out for yourself. Carson understood that its man’s selfish desire to create the new ‘life-changing solution to save the world’ was actually the thing destroying it. A majority of those who invested in the production of pesticides were probably motivated by money. This again is relating to Dawkins on how everyone is destined to be selfish. At the cost of gaining tons of money, at the expense of our beautiful mother nature. Carson and I both agree with the fact that innovation is great when it is not motivated by money. Creating a ‘life-changing solution to save the world’ may actually save the world if people cared enough about it as much as they care about the money afterward. In order to fix this cycle of selfishness and hurting others is to face it head on. If the earth has lasted this long with prior generations, then why is it dying in ours?

Breaking the cycle of selfishness is not going to be an easy task, and quite frankly it should not be. If it was easy, then why was it not done before? If it was an easy task, then what do we learn from this? If we are given the answer to the problem without solving it for ourselves, then we will not learn anything. If anything, society may even fall back into the perpetual cycle once more. “All of us have to learn to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people” (Le Guin, 2004, p. 208). In Ursula Le Guin’s The Operating Instructions, she recounts the importance of reading and imagination. We both agree that it is through reading and imagination that will enact a response from society. “The technology is not what matters. Words are what matter. The sharing of words. The activation of imagination through the reading of words” (Le Guin, 2004, pg. 210). Le Guin brings up the point of why these over-the-top innovations are blinding us to our reality. Connecting to Carson, the new and inventive pesticides were the root of the problem. Technology is not what matters, but words do. It’s what people have to say about the injustice they feel. the passion in Carson’s piece should show that she is frustrated and wants change, not a new inventive idea.

All protesters around the world fighting for climate change, or any movement, feel that people hear them but no one is listening. “What a child needs, what we all need, is to find some other people who have imagined life along the lines that make sense and allow some freedom, and listen to them. Not hear passively, but listen” (Le Guin, 2004, p. 209). This quote connected a lot with me, especially the last line. People still choose to live in this oblivious state rather than acknowledging the problem. We know what is damaging our environment, or society even, and yet we still are not doing anything about it. As much as I do not want to agree with Dawkins’s idea of the selfish gene, it is hard not to. I try and lead an optimistic life but when your constantly shown time after time instances where people are selfish to one other, what else are you supposed to think. But I believe that we must open our eyes and acknowledge the problem head on rather than ignoring the issue. Acknowledge the selfish gene from Dawkins, learn from past mistakes of selfishness from the scams from Tolentino, understand the consequences of our actions from Carson, and listen to others in this time of urgency from Le Guin. It’s the system that had put us in this position, but it is our job to fix it and break the mold.

Works Cited

1. Carson, R. L. (1962). Silent spring. Mifflin.
2. Dawkins, C. R. (2016). The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press.
3. K., L. G. U. (2004). The wave in the mind: Talks and essays on the writer, the reader, and the imagination. Shambhala.
4. Tolentino, J. (2019). Trick mirror: Reflections on self-delusion. 4th Estate.