Nature: It’s Out to Kill You and Your Children

Slide1Hosts Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon debate the proposition that nature is hostile to life.

We begin with a tweet from David Frum.

Nature wants 5 of your 7 children dead. It wants you dead by 50. Everything better than that is brought to you by science and technology.

True or false?

Nature is full of carnivores and parasites, relying on them to make the whole system work. Does that mean nature wants us dead? On the other hand, it has enabled us to evolve intelligence to take on the challenges the natural world presents to us.

  • Does it make sense to say nature “wants” anything?
  • Can technology really be called “natural?” When beavers build dams, that’s nature. When humans build dams, it’s not. Huh?
  • Why does respect for nature often create anti-human sentiments?

Join us!

WT 254-563

About Phil 523 Articles
Phil Bowermaster is a nationally recognized author and speaker. He has more than 25 years experience writing about emerging technologies and the future. As co-host of the popular Internet radio series, The World Transformed, Phil has talked with leading scientists and technologists, best-selling authors, philosophers, filmmakers, artists, entrepreneurs and others who are shaping our understanding of the amazing era of transformation in which we live. Phil helps leaders and their organizations develop strategies for managing accelerating change. He shows how imagination, optimism, empathy, and humor can make all the difference in both understanding and making the most of the powerful currents of change we face.