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> Fires are a part of nature. It's a hubris of people to think that forests are static. Going off on a little bit of a philosophical tangent here, but I think

> Fires are a part of nature. It's a hubris of people to think that forests are static. Going off on a little bit of a philosophical tangent here, but I think a problem a lot of people have is the deeper implications of what accepting this idea might lead us to conclude about other parts of life. If periodic death and destruction are critical part of maintaining a healthy ecosystem in forests, then it stands to reason that the same might be true for humans. What if attempts to extend our lives, keep people with debilitating illness alive, or reduce warfare and violence are ultimately analogous to controlling and stopping all fire in a forest that needs it to stay healthy and fertile. And as a result, society accumulates more and more kindling over the decades, setting the stage for a devastating wildfire at some unknown point in the future that's orders of magnitude more destructive than it needed to be.

cultureswitch 3y ago
There's some historical evidence to suggest that this is true for capital accumulation. Since the first agricultural settlements and civilisations, loans and debt became a feature of human life. This caused cycles of concentration of capital followed by a breaking point and revolt against creditors or some other way to redistribute (in some ancient fertile crescent civilizations, every king would wipe away all debt by decree when accessing the throne). More recently, peaceful times have also consistently lead to very unequal growth. And it's only great crises such as world wars which ultimately resulted in social stabilization and marked improvements in the conditions of the common person.
- anonporridge 3y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)
bad_user 3y ago
What you're talking about is civilization, and it's great, being why we're here, living in comfort, with our belies full, having a conversation on armchair philosophy. We're not plants dude.
emmelaich 3y ago
That's one of my fun speculations for the drop in sperm fertility. There's less violence in the world; men spend far less of their time practicing and preparing for war. So, as well as the concomitant lack of physical exercise (which almost certainly plays a part) there is something in our biological makeup which says since there is less danger, there is less need to procreate.

cultureswitch 3y ago

There's some historical evidence to suggest that this is true for capital accumulation. Since the first agricultural settlements and civilisations, loans and debt became a feature of human life. This caused cycles of concentration of capital followed by a breaking point and revolt against creditors or some other way to redistribute (in some ancient fertile crescent civilizations, every king would wipe away all debt by decree when accessing the throne). More recently, peaceful times have also consistently lead to very unequal growth. And it's only great crises such as world wars which ultimately resulted in social stabilization and marked improvements in the conditions of the common person.

anonporridge 3y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)

bad_user 3y ago

What you're talking about is civilization, and it's great, being why we're here, living in comfort, with our belies full, having a conversation on armchair philosophy. We're not plants dude.

emmelaich 3y ago

That's one of my fun speculations for the drop in sperm fertility. There's less violence in the world; men spend far less of their time practicing and preparing for war. So, as well as the concomitant lack of physical exercise (which almost certainly plays a part) there is something in our biological makeup which says since there is less danger, there is less need to procreate.