Journal #4: Lessons from Lost Worlds

Jared Diamond, the author of Lessons from Lost Worlds, really points out some interesting things that I need to consider for the future. He talks about how he was born in 1937 and never would dream about living, or even imaging, the date 2050. But when his twin sons were born in 1987, he soon realized that his sons would live to witness that date. He began to wonder about what world conditions would soon affect them in a bad way. Of course he is talking about face environmental problems and conditions that his generation never thought about back in his young days. He states that we all need to help out in some way and teach our children to help out the environment. He believes that environmental problems can indeed cause societies to collapse, just read the history books. Diamond states that we face big problems that will do us in if we don’t solve them, but we are capable of solving them. The risk we face isn’t that of an asteroid collision beyond our ability to avoid. Instead our problems are of our own making, and so we can stop making them. The only thing lacking is the necessary political will (p. 457).
For some reason as I was reading this article I kept thinking about all of the Terminator movies. I thought of this because I do wonder what our world will look like in 2050 and if our environment will be better or worse. I would like to say better, only to stay optimistic and continue to “go green” and care for the environment. I also wonder if, like Jared, if I ever have children I will want the best for them including the world that they live in. Jared Diamond’s last words in his article will stay with me when he says, “Knowing history, we are not doomed to repeat it”.