Alienation

The greatest of the apes came down from the trees only to cut them.



Note: the talk was given 5 years ago.

Somewhere in Africa they have cut down the last tree for some bucks out of desperation/starvation and Jane Goodall says this is understandable. I think this is the true human nature:

The last of the greatest apes face to face with the last of the trees.

The apes know that they will have no chance of survival, even if they exploit the resources of the last of the trees they would just survive a day longer.

The apes also know that if they save the last of the trees and just starve a day earlier the tree has a chance to multiply and bring back the forests in the absence of the apes that have all starved to death.

And what do the apes do? They cut it down of course, so that they can live one day longer and to be sure that when they're gone, there is nothing left behind them.

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I find the Mayan story from the Apocalypto movie interestingly related with my last posts:

And a Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness.
And all the animals drew near to him and said,
"We do not like to see you so sad.
Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it."

The Man said, "I want to have good sight."
The vulture replied, "You shall have mine."
The Man said, "I want to be strong."
The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like me."
Then the Man said, "I long to know the secrets of the earth."
The serpent replied, "I will show them to you."
And so it went with all the animals.
And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left.

Then the owl said to the other animals, "Now the Man knows much,
he'll be able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid."
The deer said, "The Man has all that he needs.
Now his sadness will stop."

But the owl replied,
"No. I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill.
It is what makes him sad and what makes him want.
He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say,
'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'"

In relation to the Century of the Self post, when was last you heard a story from your elders?