Very often People say to me but if this little insect disappears truly it doesn't make any difference, does it matter?
And the thing is that everything is interconnected and that little Insect might be the major food source of some other creature
who then might disappear as well and so it goes on with this interrelationship
We call it biodiversity, I like to call it the web of life all the strands
forming a beautiful pattern. And that pattern is being destroyed
Here are all these problems which we've inflicted on the planet and
It brings me back to the sort of really
important question. I've talked a lot about
similarities in
humans and chimpanzees. But clearly, we are different. I mean look here
we are and you're listening to my words
and i'm telling you things, you may not want to hear them but I'm saying them, and you understand them and
the biggest difference I believe, between us and chimpanzees is this explosive development of our intellect. I mean
chimpanzees can do things we thought
that was impossible but,
we just created a rocket a few Years ago which went all the way up to mars the red planet and
out came a little robot.
And that little robot is still crawling around years later.
Taking photographs for scientists on planet earth to see what it looks like up there.
That's,
extraordinary. When I was a child it would have been science fiction. But we've done it.
So the question is how Is it possible that the most intellectual creature that has ever walked
On planet earth is destroying its only home. We are destroying mother earth so fast.
You think perhaps we've Lost wisdom?
The wisdom that some indigenous people showed making a decision based on how will this affect our people generations ahead
Are we too often making decisions based on how will this help me ow or the next shareholders meeting or my next
political campaign. Is there a disconnect between this incredibly clever brain and
the human heart, love and compassion. And I truly feel that
we can only achieve our true human potential, which Is huge, if we have harmony between head and heart.
It's not a bit surprising to me that as
I was traveling around the world I met many young people who seemed not to have much hope for the future and
many of them, were angry, some of them were violent, a lot of them were depressed most
were just a apathetic didn't really seem to care much about anything. And when I asked them why, they
were feeling like this they all said more or less the same. You've compromised our future and there is nothing, we can do about it.
We have compromised your future. When I see small children I
feel so ashamed and angry and, desperate, when I think how we've harmed the planet since I was that age.
But is it true there's nothing that can be done?
There are Many biologists who will tell you so. But I'm not alone in saying,
we have a window of time, a window to start changing the direction.
But it depends on changing attitudes and
if we could just get a, critical mass of us who start to think about the consequences
of the little choices we make each day. What we buy, what we wear what we eat. How
was it made? Did it harm the environment? Did it involve cruelty to animals or people, child slave labor? This kind of thing.
And I think, most people, even though they've become, aware do nothing. Because they feel useless and helpless
and hopeless. They tell me so.
So, we just have to get it through to our thick heads that what we do as an individual,
certainly in the big scheme of things doesn't make a difference. But what
we do collectively as billions of human beings, making a right ethical choices, that's gonna move us in the right direction.
If our young people lose hope, we may as, well give up.
Let's learn to live in peace and harmony first of all with each other between
religions and cultures. Gosh, we have a long way to go, don't we?
But but, also between us and mother nature
Because, if we go on exploiting mother nature, the way, we are now then all will be in vain.
Each and every one of us makes a difference each and every day. And we have a choice.
What kind of difference are we going to make?