Thread by @SteB777

The failure to give this thread much notice or even recognise what I said, massively illustrates the main problem as regards the ecological and climate crisis i.e. that there is virtually no ecological understanding of the crisis we face.

https://twitter.com/SteB777/status/1409978662389174272

As a society we have become totally disconnected from the natural systems that keep us alive, and there is virtually no understanding of ecosystem processes, what biodiversity is, and how it sustains us and makes our lives possible.

Just a week ago I started a thread on why it is essential to use the term biodiversity for biodiversity, and not nature or wildlife as a euphemism for biodiversity, as they refer to something else and are ill defined terms that mislead the public.

https://twitter.com/SteB777/status/1407738236974272517

Nature and wildlife are ill defined terms, which keep the public in ignorance, misleading the public and politicians into falsely believing that they understand the problem and crisis we face, when they do not.
nature.com/articles/s4159…

Those who argue that most people do not understand what the term biodiversity means and we should instead use terms "nature" or "wildlife" are tacitly pointing to the problem, but are themselves ironically not understanding what the primary problem is.

The whole problem with the term "nature" is that generally it is used to denote the natural world as something separate from humans and their actions. This is whole problem in a nutshell, there is no natural world separate from humans and their actions.

Seeing ourselves as separate from "nature" is demonstrably a false belief, a delusion. The whole concept "nature" is a false belief, a delusion, and seriously misleading. Insisting we use a delusional false belief to define the problem, means we will always be in denial.

If we correctly see ourselves as part of the natural world and entirely reliant on it, the term "nature" as distinct from humans and human activity, has no meaning whatsoever. The very term nature, means distinct from humans.

However, the living systems and the physical systems of the Earth are not separate from anything humans are, do or rely on. We are entirely part of it.

Natural, as a describing term, an adjective has some meaning as denoting actions not destroying the living and physical systems that sustain us. But it only has meaning as describing actions not self-destructive or globally suicidal.

However, "nature" as a noun, meaning a thing that exists independently of humans and human action is an utterly nonsensical and contradictory concept. We are not separate from nature and the idea we are is self-evidently a false belief, a delusion - it is the problem.

This is why neither nature or wildlife mean biodiversity, and at heart the term biodiversity concept is simple enough for any moderately intelligent person to understand.
nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-…

The real problem people have with the biodiversity concept is cognitive dissonance i.e. it makes them feel uncomfortable. The biodiversity concept is quite contrary to the world views of most people who wrongly see themselves as separate from "nature".
verywellmind.com/what-is-cognit…

People have been indoctrinated to see the "economy", their lives, and their lifestyles as something apart from "nature". So they feel very uneasy with a concept that contradicts everything they have been taught to believe all their lives about themselves.

What does "wildlife" actually mean? If it means life apart from humans and human domesticated animals, it's a nonsense term. Humans are a naturally evolved species no different than any other animal, and all domestic species are descended from "natural" species, so not different.

It is these nonsense terms and beliefs that disconnect us from the natural world and prevent people from understanding the crisis we face and the necessary solutions to the crisis we have created.

The only way to "solve" the climate and ecological emergency is to recognise that it is our actions and false beliefs about the biodiversity and ecosystems we are destroying as commodities, which is the cause of the whole problem.

Again and again you see the argument, but people won't accept the changes to their lifestyle. The whole problem is that people think they can have a life and a lifestyle separate from the rest of "nature". Only when we see ourselves as part of the natural world, will we act.

If we see ourselves as part of "nature", we will immediately see we are destroying our whole future and our very own lives and what sustains us. But then nature does not mean anything as we use the term. All is nature, there is nothing apart from it. It just means everything.

What does a term that just refers to everything actually mean? For a thing to be a thing, it must be separate from other things. Actually, everything is demonstrably interconnect. Seeing ourselves as separate from nature is the very cause of the climate and ecological crisis.

If we see ourselves as connected to the whole of the Earth's ecosystems and physical systems like the climate, we immediately see we are not destroying something else, we are cutting off the limb we are sitting on and destroying our own life support systems and our own future.

The 2 most important steps in effective problem solving are.

1) First recognising that a problem exists, and if the problem is a crisis or emergency, recognising it as a crisis or emergency.

2) Understanding the problem.

If you do not recognise a crisis as a crisis, you will not act in a way concomitant to the crisis. If you are in denial that your house is on fire, you will not realise the danger you are in and will not act in a way consistent with that crisis or emergency.

If you do not understand the problem, and instead have a serious misunderstanding of what the problem is, your solutions to this problem will not work. If the public and politicians cannot understand the simple biodiversity concept, they cannot understand the crisis we face.

Insisting people use a term for biodiversity, which means we are separate from it, (that is actually what the term "nature" means) just perpetuates the problem and the crisis destroying life on Earth and our life support systems.

@GeorgeMonbiot @GretaThunberg @IanCarter67

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