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David Attenborough at 99: 'I will not see how the story ends'
- markus_zhang 1y agoDavid Attenborough narrated some of my favorite paleontology documentaries.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoYou seen Prehistoric Planet[0]? The CGI is so good, you can practically smell the beasties. [0] https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Planet https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Planet
- markus_zhang 1y agoMy favorite is "Lost worlds, vanished lives". Very few CG (I don't think there is any), very good demonstration, superb music.
- colechristensen 1y agoOne of the things I like most about David Attenborough is it never seems like he's reading a script. It feels like he's talking about something he knows about (which he does). When it comes to the acting or performing worlds, is there a phrase describing this?
- gyomu 1y ago“Conversational delivery”
- bayarearefugee 1y agoI think that not seeing how the story ends will be a blessing in disguise. (I do not share his optimism that we fix this, the forces of Line Must Go Up are going to win... at least until we all rapidly lose)
- abbadadda 1y ago“No one cares about the bomb that didn’t go off.” - Tenet Preventing “bombs” from going off is not rewarded. And indeed the Line Must Go Up Crowd is reliant upon someone else fixing the problem while they get theirs. But when the majority think that way we’re f**ed.
- antithesizer 1y agoThe bombs not dropped here today remain available to be dropped elsewhere tomorrow, so perhaps we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back just yet.
- aspenmayer 1y agoIt’s a good comparison especially in the context of mutually assured destruction, whether administered directly or indirectly, the same grim pragmatic political truth of wedge issues remains: why solve today what can be put off til tomorrow?
- xenadu02 1y ago> The bombs not dropped here today remain available to be dropped elsewhere tomorrow Yeah but humans on the whole are terrible at handling long-term consequences even when they are reasonably certain those consequences a) exist and b) are terrible for them personally. Ironic is it not? Vaccination campaigns have been so successful anti-vax idiots who have never had to watch their child die of a preventable disease think vaccines are a scam. Ever build something? You will get an earful about code and how stupid the regulations are. Nevermind that half the buildings in a city may survive an earthquake because of those rules. People often just don't connect the dots and they sure don't want to pay extra to make the building stronger. Why are so many roofs in Texas ruined by hail? We have the technology to make a roof hail-proof for all but the absolute worst storms. But we don't. Too expensive. I'm still surprised Florida actually improved construction standards after Andrew which - shocking - has helped in the recent storms. Or why isn't it required to make homes in fire-prone areas defensible and fire-resistant in California? Local control, too expensive, haven't had a massive fire until this year except ... oops Oakland Hills fires in 1991 that gave us a preview of the LA fires! Did we prepare? LOL. And hey - what do you know. The USA's whole "pandemic preparedness" program was torn down because we haven't had one since 1917 and what a waste of money. Just in time for COVID.
- neonate 1y agohttps://archive.md/CFCFn https://archive.md/CFCFn
- malux85 1y agoNobody sees how the story ends
- teruakohatu 1y agoI can understand there is an inherit sadness in not knowing the outcome of one's life's work, but as you say none of use ever see how it ends. In terms of our natural environment humankind has only ever observed in person, let alone recorded, what amounts to the blink of an eye.
- tclancy 1y agoThe Sundays beg to differ.
- esseph 1y agoAre you alluding to some religious thing? Fear of oblivion and/or the unknown is fucking scary.
- JKCalhoun 1y agoCertainly this: https://youtu.be/FHsip5xOenQ https://youtu.be/FHsip5xOenQ
- zakki 1y agoSo is the Fridays ;)
- rzzzt 1y agoAvril Lavigne as well.
- sk5t 1y agoPhoebe Bridgers also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ9-xN6dCW4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ9-xN6dCW4
- toastercat 1y ago
- Silhouette 1y agoNone of us see the end of the story but I do fear that the story could change when we inevitably lose a passionate advocate in Sir David whose credibility on this issue has been unchallengeable. I take some comfort from the younger generations who are now growing up with a much greater awareness of the natural environment and the damage we humans can do to it and a much lower tolerance for political sophistry and capitalist all-about-the-money "ethics". With the selfishness of politics in much of the world today I think things will probably get worse before they get better. I still hope that we won't cross any points of no return as those younger people gain influence and those of older generations who are not always as enlightened and concerned as Sir David also leave us. I think those younger generations will have better chances if there is a highly visible advocate for protecting the natural world for ordinary people to coalesce around. I don't know who the next David Attenborough could be. Perhaps one of his final gifts to humanity can be helping to find and establish the profile(s) of natural successor(s) who can carry on his work.
- jfengel 1y agoHere's the good news: we've done basically nothing about climate change even with him, so losing such an esteemed spokesman won't actually make it worse. Admittedly that's only "good" in the sense that things are maximally bad and cannot get worse. But we might as well fake a smile because that's all we're going to get. I'd say we won't act until it's too late, but it is already too late.
- ChocolateGod 1y ago> we've done basically nothing about climate change even with him The UK is one of the biggest (relative to its size) pushers of wind energy, even when a conservative government was in power.
- prawn 1y agoSomeone like Bertie Gregory could be next? https://www.bertiegregory.com/ https://www.bertiegregory.com/ Attenborough will be incredibly difficult to follow though. The depth of his career has made him such an iconic and reassuring force for so many.
- hammock 1y agoI’m confused. We are beyond the point of no return when it comes to global warming. Hasnt he already seen how the story ends?
- placatedmayhem 1y agoThe narrative climax to the human story around climate change has yet to happen. Assuming we continue on the current trajectory, expect riots and wars over food and clean water, possibly more.
- DiggyJohnson 1y agoWhat do you think he means when he says “how the story ends”?
- mort96 1y agoThere is no single "point of no return". We have obviously passed the point where bad consequences can be avoided, but every extra ton of CO2 and methane makes things a bit worse. I worry that the sentiment of "we have passed the point of no return" induces an impotent apathy in people, when the truth is that every step in the right direction makes our future a little bit less dire.
- colechristensen 1y agoFolks are worried about phase change, the flip from one set of patterns to a different set of patters. That is much different than a linear "every ton makes things a bit worse". There is going to be big fundamental change, but people need to stop thinking about it like "the sky is falling" and instead ask "how are we going to adapt?" People are going to have to move to where water is available, to where heat is less of a problem, and large scale infrastructure is going to change. A lot of struggle is going to go along with that change but starting to plan now and predict where is going to be habitable and how to prepare for that is what people should be doing instead of the shame and doom.
- mort96 1y ago
- hermitcrab 1y agoI watched David Attenborough's recent film 'Ocean' on a big screen. The footage of bottom trawling was really shocking. I don't understand how that has been allowed to continue in UK coastal waters, let alone to be subsidised in marine protected areas. Madness. It's like napalming a forest to get a few deer. Thankfully things may be changing: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-proposes-to-extend-ban-on-destructive-bottom-trawling https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-proposes-to-ex... Don't know how much of that was due to the film.
- Velorivox 1y agoThe relevant excerpt. [0] [0] https://youtu.be/IzG9AwlypaY?feature=shared https://youtu.be/IzG9AwlypaY?feature=shared
- hermitcrab 1y agoWatch it in a cinema, to get the full effect. There are some before and after scenes of the sea bed, which are pretty shocking as well. I'm not sure how that got that footage. Surely fisherman would not want that to be seen?
- hermitcrab 1y agoFound this: "Technically, probably the hardest thing was trying to film bottom trawling because it's never been filmed before and we didn't know if it was possible. You have to film the wonder but you also have to film the destruction. Capturing that was absolutely essential and it took a lot of research to find some scientists planning bottom trawling experiments who decided that adding cameras would help their research and also help to share it with the world." At: https://www.arksen.com/blogs/news/ocean-with-david-attenborough-behind-the-scenes https://www.arksen.com/blogs/news/ocean-with-david-attenboro...
- closewith 1y agoBut watch it anyway. Trawling should be banned.
- 1y ago
- TheRealWatson 1y agoStarted reading and immediately hearing it narrated in his voice.
- kleiba 1y agoAmazing how many pop-ups I have to click away. It's almost like being back in the 90s.
- bravebr123 1y agoFirefox with Blocking turned on and I see no ads..
- anotherpaul 1y agoOn mobile Firefox with blocking I still see - cookie consent - some self add for subscription - an altert that I have to login Can't read it
- kleiba 1y agoThat's exactly what I meant.
- tim333 1y agoAlso chrome with ublock origin still hanging in there
- deadbabe 1y agoWe’re not here to see how our story ends, we’re here to experience and live in the world that was someone else’s ending, that they never got to see.
- aaron695 1y ago[dead]
- vivzkestrel 1y agoThe sad part of our human existence is that none of us ever live to see how our story ends. We "spawn" at a random point in time and "vanish" at another. Ageing is being worked on vigorously and while we did change our lifespan from 40 years to 80 years of existence thanks to modern science, in order for us to truly comprehend changes on a universal scale, average human lifespan would need to be 50000 years long. That way you'll see species evolve, continents move, quasars explode, maybe even Betelguese explode?
- verisimi 1y agoYes we die, the body goes. But if there is a further element to the experience - and near death experiences, out of body experience suggest there is - we perhaps do see how the story ends. In fact, this experience might not be the real 'story', just an opportunity of some sort to learn, grow. The point is that although many assume material reality to be all there is, it might not actually be the case.
- technocratius 1y agoYeah like that time before your were born, remember?
- bdcravens 1y agoAs I am 48, I can't help but feel "old", especially given the spaces I find myself (ie, a continually changing industry, with the most active feeling like they're much younger). I really appreciate the perspective of someone who is still "active" and who spent more time living before I was born than I have since.
- Kiyo-Lynn 1y agoIt’s inspiring to see someone at 99 still speak with so much passion about the ocean. Hearing him say he won’t see how it ends feels heavy. The part comparing bottom trawling to bulldozing underwater forests was powerful. But the recovery of sea otters and whales gives some hope.