The Evolution of Evolution: How the World Became the Way It Is
A summarised account of how we got from the ‘Big Bang’ to now. This account draws on both ‘Journey of the Universe’ and ‘Origin Story: A Big History of Everything’.
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Author: Dr Terry Cooke-Davies
Situation Critical: There are too many of us, and we are behaving too badly.
Many people are telling us what is wrong with the world – but “it is what it is”. As a species, we have flourished to the point where we occupy vast portions of the world’s land mass. And the way we behave collectively is destabilising the planetary systems which sustain life on earth—the reasons for our success and the damage we are doing lie in our fundamental human nature. So, suppose we want to repair dysfunctional relationships with our fellow people, the living planet, and its fractured ecosystems. In that case, we should match our efforts to control nature with a drive to understand how to harness the better angels of our nature.
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The Significance of Stories
It is easy to take stories for granted, but they are an essential and unique element of human life. They are all around us; they shape our personalities and are the glue that binds groups of us together. In a genuine sense, they form our windows into the world. But each of us has our own unique set of windows, and they are more like “stained glass windows”, or even a fairground “house of mirrors” than panes of undistorting glass. So, even though there is a shared physical reality in which we all live, we all perceive it differently. Unfortunately, these differences in perception not only encourage tribalism and lead to conflict. They also allow us to persist in a collective lifestyle that severely threatens human life as we know it on our home planet.
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The Ship of Theseus: Everything changes, nothing changes.
Sometimes we just have to change the way we think in the light of new information that just doesn’t fit into our existing models of the world. Since returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 2019, much has changed about how I view the world.
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What’s Wrong with the World?
There is no one answer to what is wrong with the world. To try and address all the problems we face would be overwhelming and, ultimately, futile. However, there are some underlying factors that contribute to many of the world’s woes, including climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, and pollution. One of the biggest problems is a misguided worldview. For centuries, humans have looked at the world as aresource to be exploited. This has led to a culture of unhealthy individualism, self-centredness, separatism and extreme consumerism. Another problem is modern capitalism and neoliberalism, which are founded on the prioritization of material wealth and self-interest. This has led to increasing social inequalities and a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. It is human nature to seek comfort and security, but when this is done at the expense of others and the planet, it becomes a serious problem. If we want to create a more just and sustainable world, we need to address these underlying issues.
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