Will we learn?
Autor: Andersonn Prestes | Publicado: 2015-11-16T16:58:00-08:00


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I think I am in the middle of turbulent changing paths. I
found appropriate writing about survivorship. 

To survival is elementary. It is something so deeply
integrated to nature (including ourselves) that no one even needs to talk
about. Everything happened from survival. I once wrote that nature is driven by
survival – that’s the motivation for the evolutionary and ecological
development of life. 

I do not have a neat metaphor to describe nature, but it
certainly is not a war, like many people think. I am sure there is competition.
But also there is cooperation - beyond many others relationships within and
between organisms.

In nature, there is death. There is suffering. Probably a
lot of them. But there is joy. There is freedom. There is beauty. 

There is ugliness. 



But, of course, nature does not care much about our
conventions, properly defined by our own history and culture. We probably
should not search for any strong moral significance in nature.



Perhaps we just have to have a profound respect to it. And
having a feeling of gratitude and belonging.



If I would describe nature I would say that it flourishes. To
different directions, in different times. Not better, not worst. It is what it
is. Through time, along million of years, it is walking step-by-step, surviving
- flourishing. 



Life started around 4 billions years ago. That microscopic
cell that once developed never stopped flourishing. It integrated along with
its environment. It opened new possibilities, founded new worlds. It found
opportunities to explore land, sky, heat, and moisture. 

Life passed through five events of mass extinctions. And
reinvented itself. Every time.



In the last blink, in our human world, we developed culture,
with all its symbols, and ideas. The competition between groups was born in our
ancient ancestors. In our vast repertoire of emotions and rationality there
were power and greed. 

Along more than 10 000 years of civilization I still hope we
will learn. Hopefully soon. We are designed to learn: humans can describe
themselves and the world like no other animal. Like no other living thing ever
known. 



After all these years, it is time to learn that we have to
care about our planet. We have to care about each other. The world is getting
crazy with terrorism, catastrophes, war, and suffering. 



I just hope we will learn. Life will flourish and reinvent
itself, with or without us.