May 6, 2024

Why couldn’t these rapid changes be stopped?（1）

I think that there was no mistake in the transition of humankind from a hunting lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle and the improvement of culture through the Industrial Revolution. However, in the process of doing so, humans modified the natural environment to suit their own interests, developed industries, and did not seem to have given much thought to the effects of these changes. This has caused various problems as described in Chapter 2. I think another thing to reflect on is that we have not thought much about why we can continue to live on this planet. If this perspective had taken root, I do not think the problems would have become so serious. I believe that we need to think about what our priorities should be and start taking action now from this perspective.

『Human beings have chosen to move from a hunting lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle in search of a more stable life. Then, aiming for a life that is even a little more convenient, they created many inventions and improved the level of culture. It is a well-known fact that the Industrial Revolution was a major turning point in this process. However, it seems that the history and direction of this improvement in culture has ultimately given humanity overconfidence that they can progress as far as they want. At the same time, have we somehow forgotten our own position, that is, the basic position of protecting living things and living together with them, and have been transforming the natural environment as we wish? I imagine that this trend had not been stopped because of this background. Therefore “now”, in order to improve these situations, we humanity must first go back to our origins. Then, I think we need to look back at why we are able to continue to live on this planet and think anew about what we can do to live together with living things from now on.』