ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIMISTS AND PESSIMISTS: E.O. WILSON AND THE SEARCH FOR A MIDDLE GROUND Submitted to the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (Western College Program) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor Philosophy Interdisciplinary Studies by Gregory T. Dutton Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2004 APPROVED Advisor_____________________________ (William Green) 2 ABSTRACT ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIMISTS AND PESSIMISTS: E.O. WILSON AND THE SEARCH FOR A MIDDLE GROUND By: Gregory T. Dutton Through analyses of today’s debate over the current and future status of the environment, and the collected works of E.O. Wilson, we can form a realistic vision of the worlds environmental status. Concurrently we can map out steps that humanity must take in order to reinsert our species into the dynamic equilibrium of the environment, and thus continue to survive and thrive. This paper begins with an in-depth analysis of environmental optimists and pessimists. The analysis relies heavily on the writings of Bill McKibben and Gregg Easterbrook since these set the extremes of the debate. This chapter introduces and discusses the methods for debating the issues and outlines many of the stances arrived at through these methods. Statistical, philosophical/ethical, and rhetorical methods are covered. What follows, are three chapters each covering a period of E.O. Wilsons life. I first examine his childhood experiences and what shaped his scientific mentality up to his publication of the theory of island biogeography. The next chapter focuses on his writings in sociobiology and explores the effects that this new theory had on his ways of thinking. The last chapter is concerned with his most recent work. It discusses the evolution of his thought, his current status as a staunch and world- renowned conservationist, and his views on the present and future status of our global environment. The point of these last three chapters is to show how, through Wilsons life, he has been an optimist and a pessimist and how these feelings influenced his work. Last, is a chapter pointing out the changes between optimistic and pessimistic views during his life and how these changes correlate with the authors discussed in the first chapter. It also assesses the possibility of enacting Wilsons plan for the future of our planet. Overall, many of his ideas are far-fetched and unrealistic. It is determined that our planet is in a state of environmental crisis, though not as bad as many portray. The conclusion is that sustainability and conservation of remaining natural landscapes and their biodiversity should be top priorities in the coming decades. 3 Introduction 4 Ch.1: Optimistic and Pessimistic Environmental Views 6 Statistical evidence 7 Rhetorical evidence 13 Ethics and Philosophy 20 Ch.2: E.O. Wilson: Early Days 27 Ch.3: E.O. Wilson: Days of Controversy 31 Ch.4: E.O. Wilson: Later Days of Philosophy 40 Ch.5: Synthesis 55 Works Cited 68 4 Introduction Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have made enormous leaps in their technology and scientific advancements. These leaps of invention have brought about a standard of living in richer countries unparalleled in history. Unfortunately, these changes have come seemingly at the cost of the planet on which we live. In the last several decades the environmental movement has risen from grassroots efforts to an international cause. On one side of this debate is the vocal group of doomsayers, or pessimists; primarily hailing from academic backgrounds. They stand on a platform of mass species extinction, global warming due to human interference, over- population, and declining purity of air, water and soil. In their minds our future is bleak unless drastic changes are made, and some even believe that we are already doomed in the near decades. The other side of the environmental coin is the self- proclaimed realists, or optimists, consisting mainly of economists and politicians. In their eyes we are as a planet over-reacting to the current environmental situation. This is a more varied category of theories from those who believe technology and science will always find a cure to our problems, to those who suggest we actually have no problem and that things are getting better everyday, with or without the actions of humans. There even exists a certain sect of optimists, who believe we can do no wrong, and that the planet will adapt to meet our needs. E. O. Wilson views our current situation as approaching a bottleneck. In his mind we are at a place in history where we have reached the point where the 5 actions we take in as short a time as the next decade will decide the future of humanity. Either we will survive the bottleneck and come out on the other side an even more prosperous civilization which will continue to survive or the bottleneck will squash life as we know it. In that case there will be dramatic catastrophes stemming from long ignored environmental degradation, or as Norman Myers terms it; environmental discontinuity (Myers and Simon, 1994). Not all scientists, writers of just those concerned about the environment agree with Wilson. There are some people who say that the world is not as bad as the media says. There are also people who say the world is in much worse shape than the media suggests. In the pages this debate will be outlined and discussed in detail. Wilsons life will be examined for indicators of the environmental status and all authors shall be assessed for what can be used as a realistic measurement of our environmental situation and what, if anything, needs to be done about it. 6 Ch.1: Optimistic and Pessimistic Environmental Views One author on the front lines of the environmentally pessimistic theorists is Bill McKibben. His book, The End of Nature published in 1989 clearly details many of the arguments forming the pessimistic viewpoint. Through our actions, humans have managed to touch every part of our planet. By our actions we have even managed to influence weather patterns thus destroying nature’s independence. As a consequence, no part of the planet is untouched by humans. Today we have managed to do just that. We have altered the weather and even the air we breathe. McKibben believes these damages have been caused by human’s altered view of nature. Nature is now viewed as a hobby as opposed to an entity deserving respect. People no longer need nature except to fulfill superficial wants. In another section of McKibben’s book, he provides examples of the havoc which humans are currently reeking on the environment. First, we are warming the globe. The years 1988 to 1999 represent seven of the ten hottest years since records have been kept. During the same time we increased CO2 output by fifteen percent and our cars have not gotten smaller and more fuel efficient but larger and less efficient. McKibben as well as many other concerned environmentalists believe the key to corrective measures lies within our ethics and philosophy. Commonly cited problems include a Christian ethic that views nature as subservient to humans. In order to rectify many of our current environmental dilemma’s, we need a new ethic or philosophy, one more in tune with the workings of nature (McKibben, 1999). 7 Gregg Easterbrook is an environmental optimist and he represents a stark contrast to McKibben. His book, “A Moment on Earth” leads readers through a detailed discussion of why things aren’t as bad as many make them out to be. Easterbrook also discusses changes to the environment in the 80s. He cites only a “handful” of reported extinction’s, a 16 percent decrease of ambient smog in the U.S, a fifty percent decline of airquality alert- days per year, lead air pollution declined 89 percent, carbon monoxide declined 31 percent, sulfur dioxide declined 27 percent, nitrogen dioxide declined 12 percent, and so on (See appendix: graph 1 and 2). Easterbrook would call McKibben an extremist and a liar because to Easterbrook, environmental conditions are continuously getting better. This is what Easterbrook calls “ecorealism”. One of the primary tenets of this belief is that humans are, in essence, more important than plants and animals. Another tenet of this philosophy is that logic, not emotions are best used in safeguarding nature. We should try to achieve an accurate view of nature’s state, rather than relying on panic and fear (pessimists tactics) to fuel conservation. Easterbrook’s vision of the future includes massive genetic engineering of everything from food to people. His plan for the future doesn’t need a new ethic, because we will merely restructure our DNA to achieve perfection (Easterbrook, 1995). Statistical Evidence There has been a great deal of research done on many aspects of today’s environmental concerns, specifically in relation to the greenhouse effect, carbon sinks and sources, deforestation, food production/ distribution, and population 8 growth. These statistics can many times have staggering implications. Both optimists and pessimists frequently use these statistics to strengthen and/ or weaken the opposite sides stance. One important aspect to keep in mind while reading the following section is the use and manipulation of statistics to benefit an individual’s point. The convenient use of statistics will be discussed and analyzed at a later point, but for this section I will discuss issues as objectively as possible and ask that you consider the statistics at face value for the time being. McKibben boldly believes that we have already experienced the end of Nature. In his words, “We have ended the thing that has, at least in modern times, defined nature for us---its separation from human society” (Mckibben, 1999: 64).