Risks are good for your health
So, wait a second, though history shows that many species have over-run their resources before and paid big time for it . . . there is no chance we are doing anything wrong?
Not everything we do is OK, of course. But most things that we have done wrong are being fixed and improved. That’s the way of gaining experience. I don’t know about species that have over-run their resources, but the panda would qualify for carrying the flag in that parade. What I know about is that there is something called the “biochron”, that is, the life span of a species in a given environment. If the specie does not adapt, then it is history.
Take the case of whales. They are mammals that didn’t fully adapt to dry ground and returned to the sea, as dolphins and other marine mammals.
It is like being defectors. Speaking romantically (and very unscientifically) it’s as if Mother Nature didn’t like they turned their back on her and returned to the sea. Gaia had provided all the tools for the species to adapt and develop and thrive successfully on firm land (as other species did), but they were ungrateful and went back to the ocean. So Gaia resented that and made their life miserable from there on.
Whales have a very rough time in surviving, they have very bad sight, they reproduce with difficulty, they lose their way and get stuck in shallow waters, they need several tons a day of krill and plankton to survive, don’t have weapons (fangs or claws) for defending themselves, etc. Other sea mammals as killer whales became carnivorous in order to survive and developed sharp teeth and aggressive behavior. But the whale’s
“biochron” is up. They will eventually disappear, and we could not do anything to prevent that. It might take thousands, or tens of thousands of years, but it will come the time when they will be gone, even without the help of whalers.
Another example of a stupid animal is de beloved panda. It has developed a taste for eating only bamboo tender sprouts and leaves. Bamboo is a terrible vegetal to eat, because it does not contain nutrients as other plants do. As a matter of fact, it is the only herbivorous that eats bamboo. So poor pandas must eat carloads of bamboo and very soon they deplete any bamboo forest. When men started to spread in China, and converted some bamboo forest into agricultural land, they began to be in trouble, if you add the hunting for their skins. Primitive people used skins for making their protective clothes against cold weather.
Tough luck that of pandas and whales. If I must choose between the panda and the Chinese, or the whales and whalers, I choose the man, of course. Perhaps you don’t like Chinese too much, but I don’t have problems with people with different skins, type of eyes, traits, culture, etc – unless they are attacking me, or are threatening to exert violence on my family or my people. It has something to do with self defense. The Law of the Jungle, at its best.
There is not much chance of your house burning down, do you have fire insurance? Why?
No, I don’t have fire insurance in my home; I never did, and will never have. I do have my car insured, though, (against fire, theft, destruction and damages to third parties) and I have my home
insured against theft and burglary, because we have noticed that such things happen more frequently, they are
real risks, and want to invest in security. We don’t insure our homes against tornadoes or hurricanes (as they do in Florida, the Carolinas, the tornado Alley, etc) in most provinces in Argentina because they are not frequent, although some strong winds blow roofs in some places once or twice a year.
We analyze our environment, the real observed events and the risks they impose, and act accordingly. I guess that is done all over the world, too. Down here, we build houses with bricks, and wood is seldom used (furniture, perhaps). Only first class houses have wood flooring, and not in all rooms. Most of the houses have ceramic flooring. Home fires are quite strange and infrequent down here in Argentina, at least in houses. So I don’t know anyone that has his home insured against fire.
A different story is with apartments. Although buildings are built here with a concrete structure and bricks, most apartments have wooden flooring and wall to wall carpeting. Sometimes, once in a while, there is a fire in an apartment, but the fire does not spread to neighboring apartments or buildings. It is the way we make our houses, in a country where cement and bricks are cheap and wood extremely expensive, the reason for not having fire insurance in homes. Industry and vehicles are also a different story.
And of course, many homes have anti-theft insurance, because burglary is widespread down here, as assaults, breaking into houses for looting and taking hostages, etc. We are not in a terrible situation as Colombia, though, but we must be careful.
Should we just say ''damn the torpedo's - full speed ahead"?
If you see the torpedo coming, YES, BY ALL MEANS!
“GeeeeZHuuus will save you right?” –
I don’t know. Maybe. Who knows? I think Jesus has nothing to do with our lives down here. If you believe in Divine intervention, and that makes you happy, OK, go ahead. I know Jesus existed (historians have left chronicles about him, especially Flavius Josephus who met him, but there things start to get fuzzy). We are going to save ourselves if we keep a cool head and use our brains. Those who panic and become hysterical cannot reason and are easy prey for catastrophes, lions, muggers, tigers, snakes, etc.
I have kids, I believe in trying to cover our asses if possible.
I do too, and also grandsons. But I have succeeded in covering our heads and backs (not caring too much for their asses, though, they can take care for those themselves). But, as I said, keeping a cool head, planning in advance, leaving room for improvisation in front of the unexpected, evaluating risks with the aid of some scientific knowledge and/or advice is the best thing we can do. Play it safe, yes, but look not for zero risk. There is no such thing as zero risk. If you want to live with zero risk, then don’t get up in the morning and don’t get out of your home. But be careful when taking a shower –you may slip and break your neck.
Risks?
I love them. As a skydiver, a motorcycle driver since boy, and an Amazon explorer for years I can tell you that a life without risk is boring. Don’t you love when schussing down at 70 mph, feeling the wind in your face? Do you think about the risk before schussing down? Yes, you do. But you have evaluated the risk and know you have
99 to 1 chance of getting away with it. You know that if you schussed down a slope in your third of ski school you have
99 to 1 chances of breaking a bone. Practice makes the master. Experience makes wisdom. Once you got experience,
use it. It’s that simple.
