WHAT ARE YOU: ECOCENTRIC ANTHROPOCENTRIC OR TECHNOCENTRIC?
I remember my brother and I
being rather different in our approach towards nature. I think he never cared
about the environment. I think he actually disliked being outdoors. He was
allergic to animals, grass, hay and about anything you could find outside. My
mother used to pull him away from the computer while she shouted “Go
outside…get some fresh air!!”He thought there was not much to be learnt from
nature while a hell of a lot could be learnt and actually done through
technology. He certainly enjoyed a bike ride or a swim at the beach with his
friends but if you’d ask him to spend all day outside in the countryside he
would have rather shot himself. He said he could learn much better about nature
by watching National Geographic documentaries.
On the other side I could
hang out or hours and hours. I would take a couple of dolls and a few of their
accessories outside and create a a new habitat for them that would perfectly
fit in the natural environment. Our dog would sit next to me and stare at us. I
loved rolling on the grass and felt lucky and proud I could do it without
sneezing as my poor brother did.
Now we are older and finally
my brother has become environmentally conscious; he realizes that if we
continue to emit CO2 in the air and we continue to extinct species so rapidly
just,, the earths future will have to face a significant number of problems.
Nonetheless we still argue. He claims that the earth is a resource and that we
need to do something with it and that if we take it just as it is it will just
rot. We are the most evolve of all species therefore we have to use our power
to control other species. He thinks humans have to foster technology in order
to grow and make a better world and if you don’t let a human grow you take away
his point in living. In the meantime, I
left my dolls aside and started contributing to Greenpeace ; today I’m one of
its main activists. I am a deep ecologist and believe that all species have the
same right, including plant species. Environmental degradation comes from man’s
desire and thirst to consume. I think that in many cases what is considered
progression is in fact regression. My brother and I regularly
argue about environmental issues as our views are opposed, although the funny
thing is we are both environmentalists! He defines me an Ecocentric while I
definitely define him a Technocentric and this is certainly what we are.
One would think then that
best or most balanced view stands in the middle, therefore an Anthropocentric. That
is my father, and I can assure you this is the most complicated of the three.
He thinks that the most important beings on earth are humans and they are naturally superior to animals, in fact he has never been so keen in us having pets, although we eventually
managed to have a dog. Animals should be bred correctly but just for the sake
of serving human beings. He obviously agrees on respecting nature but only for
the endurance of human kind. Anyway all environmental policies should be
controlled by our governments. This is stupid because many politicians just act out of their own interest.
So where do you think YOU
stand?
Think well because the differences are not that subtle!
A frustrated Ecocentric.
