export_ofoct.com

[00:00.66] A few moments ago, before I walked onstage, I was aware that there was this story playing out in my head.

[00:08.37] It was actually a dance between two stories.

[00:11.55] One story was noticing the size of this audience and the cameras that are around, and was telling me that now would not be a good time to trip over a shoelace or forget any lines.

[00:22.44] And the other story in my head was telling me to be grateful for this opportunity.

[00:26.96] Go out, relish the experience, and have fun.

[00:30.94] I was aware that whichever story took hold might impact the next 12 minutes of my life and determine how this talk unfolds.

[00:39.97] Therapists and psychologists tell us that the stories we tell ourselves play a fundamental role in how we interact with the world around us.

[00:48.21] Some people tell themselves that they are not enough.

[00:51.93] Other people tell themselves that they're impostors.

[00:55.11] And if you've ever seen the auditions of a television singing competition, some people tell themselves they're a little better than they actually are.

[01:03.08] But apart from the individual stories we tell ourselves, all of us are also taking part in larger, collective stories that shape our behavior as a species.

[01:14.24] A collective story enables people in India to treat cows as sacred, while people in America cram cows into feedlots.

[01:23.27] Our internal and external worlds are full of stories that shape our behaviors.

[01:29.91] Today, I want to talk about a collective story that most people aren't even aware they're inhabiting.

[01:36.82] It is a collective story that tells us that human beings are separate and superior to nature.

[01:43.73] It is a story that has taken us so close to the brink of an unimaginable crisis that our survival now depends on telling a new story.

[01:53.02] So ... Once upon a time, in a land far away -- and right here, actually, on the lands that we're gathered today, the majority of people on planet Earth had a deep reverence and respect for nature.

[02:09.22] They saw very little separation between themselves and the world around them.

[02:14.00] Many cultures saw nature as a giving parent.

[02:17.46] The plants and the animals were their relatives.

[02:21.44] Indigenous Australians saw themselves as custodians of the land, while the ancient Chinese considered themselves reverent guests of nature.

[02:31.27] Even prominent figures of Rome, like Ovid and Seneca, argued that mining shouldn't be permissible, as it was too abusive to the natural world.

[02:41.36] But then, things started to change.

[02:45.35] A new craze called Christianity began to take hold.

[02:50.40] Word spread that their one God sat above and outside nature, and that God had made people in his own image and given them dominion over the Earth.

[03:02.08] "Sounds alright," said the people, passing on the news to friends and relatives, missionaries, kings.

[03:09.52] "The world was made for the sake of man, that it may serve him," said the bishop of Paris in the early 12th century.

[03:18.02] The Christian craze had now infiltrated Europe and was beginning its march into the Americas.

[03:24.39] "But wait, there's more," said a couple of fancy-looking men in the early 1600s.

[03:31.30] They told the people that they were from the Scientific Revolution, and that they could empower the people even further.

[03:37.94] "We must hound nature in her wanderings," said the first man -- Francis Bacon, the father of modern science.

[03:46.44] "We must find a way, at length, into her inner chambers.

[03:50.43] We must reveal the secrets still locked in nature's bosom.

[03:54.94] Make her your slave, subdue her, shake her to her foundations."

[04:01.58] "Yes," said the men.

[04:04.77] "It sounds alright."

[04:05.83] The second man then chimed in.

[04:08.22] His name was René Descartes, the father of modern philosophy.

[04:13.00] He confirmed to the people that, yes, they were superior to nature and added that animals were mindless machines to be mastered and exploited at will.

[04:24.15] "Well, that's a relief," said the people.

[04:26.55] "Now, we don't have to feel so bad about whipping our oxen."

[04:30.26] The influence of these two men, coupled with the religious craze, meant that nature was no longer seen as a living thing to be revered and respected, but instead as a machine to be manipulated for the benefits of mankind.

[04:45.94] This was a new and exciting story that set free natural resources for humans to achieve social and economic progress, even if obtained through violent and suppressive acts.

[04:58.43] This new story was particularly enticing to the emerging capitalists of the time, because a nature devoid of reverence and respect was much easier to commodify.

[05:10.64] And commodify they did.

[05:13.30] The humans went to work, entering and penetrating all of those inner chambers.

[05:18.61] They tunneled her bosom for coal and metals, they scraped and plowed over her skin with their tractors.

[05:25.78] They took chain saws to her forests of follicles, and they filled her waters with their waste.

[05:32.16] The new story had spread across the globe.

[05:35.34] Humans had asserted their dominance, they built wondrous things and improved the lives of billions of people, particularly in specific regions.