How Your Selfish Genes May Revalue A Wilder World 🌍
How our genes wish to thrive, and what the Deep Ecology movement can teach us
As you may know by now, these newsletters set out to ask the question: “How might we create a wilder world?”. Our north star is to seek and find solutions that support ecological restoration. One fundamental challenge that humanity faces in solving this problem is reframing how we value nature, intrinsically. Today, a tree is worth more at the sawmill than in the Amazon rainforest, a prized Tuna fish is worth more on a plate than in the sea, and the horn of a Rhino is worth more on the black market than in the African wild. Together we can collectively agree - system needs to fundamentally change, and we need to address how we value nature.
Justin Woods reconnecting in the Garden Route National Park (Photo by ReWild Africa)
To begin understanding how we value nature today, let’s observe the first principles which are motivating our decisions: our genes. Up until just recently (say 20 - 30 years ago), it was common to gaze out at a field that was neatly trimmed, had straight fences and clean, neat rows of just one crop, and remark on its beauty. This strikes at the heart of our ancient genes, reaching our primary goal to prolong humanity through securing our own food source – certainly a worthy achievement. Nowadays, one might look out over a field of only one crop, be it oil palms, rubber trees or pine forests, and something again stirs within us. We have a new challenge, and our selfish gene strikes up again, we now hear a different call, but with the same goal – to ensure we prolong humanity. You may have heard this call many times, a classic call
“It’s as much about saving the world, as it is saving ourselves”
This is our selfish gene talking. Let me explain. Humans – we are AMAZING. Over millennia, our genes continue to adapt and evolve over the slow march of time, blending two sets of genes into each new born child, passing down a tried and tested genetic recipe from parents, grandparents and a long lineage of ancestors… to you, reading this today. Well played, you beautiful thing (I’m referring to your selfish genes, of course).
The “Selfish Gene”, a term made famous by biologist Richard Dawkins, suggests that our genes are all intrinsically selfish; it is in fact they (the genes) who wish to exist forever and a day. Because genes are selfish, a lot of the relationships among organisms in nature end up being so-called zero-sum games: there’s always one clear winner and one clear loser. When a hawk chases a dove, either the dove ends up getting eaten or the hawk starves. Luckily, this isn’t the whole story.
A Fish Eagle Takes Flight in the Kruger (📷 by ReWild Africa)
Genes can also be (in a weird way) altruistic, meaning that your genes can be compassionate, caring or even unselfish. Dawkins argues that this is because it's your genes ensuring the survival of other genes like it. While the selfish motives of the genes of each species stay the same, mutual altruism leads to the best result, and humanity is testament to this statement. You may have heard of humans sacrificing themselves for the greater good: mothers who have jumped in front of an oncoming car to save their child, the individuals who selflessly risked their lives to save others during the Holocaust, the Chernobyl Three, or the HMS Titanic engineers who gave their lives to keep the lights on as the ship started its fatal descent. What we as a human race need to consider is that, if we come together and act for the betterment of humanity and all things wild, we’re ensuring that our species will not just survive, but thrive.
Today, there is a new emerging thread of humans sacrificing their lives not just for humans, but for wildlife: from the anti-poaching rangers on the front lines of Africa's National Parks to the GreenPeace activists who risk their own lives to save our whale populations. So whilst the California fires are burning, our polar ice caps are melting and our world's biodiversity is in a death dive, there is hope after all.
Historically speaking, this rings true too. When our ancestors were hunter gatherers, we shared what little we had, and came together, because our individual survival depended on the survival of the group. I think we’re coming back to that.
Your genes are calling, and they’re suggesting that we ReWild our world. Our hero, David Attenborough, is saying it too in the latest David Attenborough: A Life On This Planet
“We are facing nothing less than the collapse of the living world. The very thing that gave birth to our civilisation. The thing we rely upon for every element of the lives we lead. No one wants this to happen. None of us can afford for it to happen. So, what do we do? It’s quite straightforward. It’s been staring us in the face all along. To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity. The very thing that we’ve removed. It’s the only way out of this crisis we have created. We must rewild the world."
Deep Ecology:
Revaluing nature is at the heart of solving Climate Change, which requires a shift in the way that we perceive the living world. “Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy and social movement based on the belief that humans must radically change their relationship to nature from one that values nature solely for its usefulness to human beings, to one that recognises that nature has an inherent value. The phrase originated with Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, who in 1984, along with American environmentalist George Sessions, developed eight organising principles for the deep ecology social movement. The statement was offered not as a rigid or dogmatic manifesto but rather as a set of fairly general principles that could help people articulate their own deep ecological positions. It was also meant to serve as a guide toward the establishment of a deep ecology movement.” (Britannica, 2020)
Deep Ecology is an open call to realize that the science of wholes and relationships in the biosphere involves a moral insistence on the preservation and admission of the intrinsic value of nature and the search for the best human place within it.
As a philosophy of science, deep ecology questions science but inserts values into science, giving humanity a sense of humility in the face of nature. Beyond simply studying the relationship between organisms and their environment and making a place for humans in such a relationship, it encourages us to take a moral stand. We are but one of many species. It is a higher form of cultural evolution to show concern for other species, indeed, perhaps an imperative of our biological heritage.
Biophilia - a love of life & the living world (📷 by ReWild Africa, with the Nsasani Trust)
Below are these 8 organising principles of the Deep Ecology movement, which promote the inherent worth of all living beings:
1. Inherent value
The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman Life on Earth have value in themselves. These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Diversity
Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
3. Vital Needs
Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.
4. Population
The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.
5. Human Interference
The present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
6. Policy Change
Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
7. Quality of Life
The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
8. Obligation of Action
Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.
What do you think of these? Do any in particular ring true, or maybe even sound disharmonious to you? In ReWild’s recent, first-ever Deep Ecology Immersion in the Kruger National Park, we had some very interesting fireside discussions around these principles, which gave us a lot of food for thought (and inspiration for action)!
What’s Happening at ReWild Africa:
Sam and Ali continue their #ClimateMarathon, finishing their second half marathon together on Sunday, total 32km through the rich biodiversity of Table Mountain, to learn more visit www.dartington.org/climatemarathon #ClimateMarathon
ReWild Africa is on a mission to raise Climate Change up the political agenda, whilst addressing related themes such as gender inequality, and the rising Youth and Community orientated action. We’ve partnered to create an awareness campaign for Action24, an initiative by Food and Trees for Africa, the African Climate Reality Project, the South African Institute of InternationalAffairs (SAIIA), and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA).
Action24 aims to foster more bottom-up, participatory decision-making processes on environmental issues, and encourage citizens to seek effective representation from the legislative institutions, using them to improve service delivery by the government. If you have any questions, suggestions or are interested in learning more, please reach out to us at Elvi@rewild.tv
Wild Regards
Alistair and the ReWilders
PS - This is an open-ended exploration into ReWilding, conservation and practical projects happening around the world. If this moved you, please share it with a wider audience.
Fascinating. The big questions for me are around how we might start seeing nature in ourselves, and seeing ourselves in nature.
As Dennett says, how might we naturalise cognition? Or as Meadows would say, how can we people to start thinking in systems, cycles and feedback loops? To live the dynamics rather than just studying them abstractly.
And on the other side, might it be useful to start looking for the humanity in nature? Anthropomorphism gets a bad wrap. What if I treat the forest, like a self, with her own aspirations, goals, agency and feelings? What happens then? Do I empathise more? Do a connect? Do I start to relate? Show compassion? Protect? Prevent from harm?