“I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change. The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful.” ThinkingHumansEnoughSituationHugeClimateComplexesClimate ChangeMeaningfulCleverHandleInertia Author:James Lovelock
“The apologists for space science always seem over-impressed by engineering trivia and make far too much of non-stick frying pans and perfect ball-bearings. To my mind, the outstanding spin-off from space research is not new technology. The real bonus has been that for the first time in human history we have had a chance to look at the Earth from space, and the information gained from seeing from the outside our azure-green planet in all its global beauty has given rise to a whole new set of questions and answers.” MindFirstsHumansLooksHas BeensRealWholeSeemsEarthGivenChanceSpaceAnswersPerfectTechnologyToo MuchSeeingInformationPlanetsResearchFirst TimeBallsGreenSticksEngineeringImpressedHuman HistoryOutstandingNew TechnologyBonusQuestions And AnswersFryingTriviaAzureFrying PansSpace Science Author:James Lovelock
“We are the intelligent elite among animal life on earth and whatever our mistakes, [Earth] needs us. This may seem an odd statement after all that I have said about the way 20th century humans became almost a planetary disease organism. But it has taken [Earth] 2.5 billion years to evolve an animal that can think and communicate its thoughts. If we become extinct she has little chance of evolving another.” IfsThinkingWayNeedsYearsHumansMayLittlesSaidSeemsEarthChanceAnimalMistakeTakenCenturyDiseaseIntelligentCommunicateBillionsStatementsEvolveOddElitesOrganisms20th CenturyAnimal Life Author:James Lovelock
“I think that we reject the evidence that our world is changing because we are still, as that wonderfully wise biologist E. O. Wilson reminded us, tribal carnivores. We are programmed by our inheritance to see other living things as mainly something to eat, and we care more about our national tribe than anything else. We will even give our lives for it and are quite ready to kill other humans in the cruellest of ways for the good of our tribe. We still find alien the concept that we and the rest of life, from bacteria to whales, are parts of the much larger and diverse entity, the living Earth.” ThinkingWorldWayGivingHumansStillsCareEarthWiseOur LivesReadyConceptsEvidenceAliensRejectsOur WorldDiverseEntityTribesInheritanceLiving ThingsWhalesWilsonBiologistBacteriaRest Of LifeCarnivores Author:James Lovelock
“The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful.” HumansHugeMeaningfulInertia Author:James Lovelock
“Humans on the Earth behave in some ways like a pathogenic micro-organism, or like the cells of a tumor.” WayHumansEarthCellsBehaveOrganismsEugenicsTumorsEnviromentalEnviroment Author:James Lovelock
“By the end of this century, climate change will reduce the human population to a few breeding pairs surviving near the Arctic.” HumansEndsCenturyClimateClimate ChangePopulationPairsSurvivingBreedingEugenicsArcticEnviromentalHuman PopulationEnviroment Author:James Lovelock
“Those of us who consider ourselves to be somehow involved in the birthing of a new age, should discover Gaia as well. The idea of Gaia may facilitate the task of converting destructive human activities to constructive and cooperative behavior. It is an idea which deeply startles us, and in the process, may help us as a species to make the necessary jump to planetary awareness.” ShouldHumansWellsMayIdeasHelpingAgeProcessAwarenessInvolvedActivityBehaviorTasksSpeciesDestructiveNew AgeConstructiveHuman ActivityFacilitateConvertingCooperativesBirthingGaia Author:James Lovelock
“Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades.” HumansOur LivesStupidClimateClimate ChangeDecadesConservation Author:James Lovelock
