I came to the conclusion that our basal response, whenever we have the opportunity combined with the technology, is to hunt our brethren wild creatures into oblivion. It is sometimes said that, like other wild creatures, we, too, have three imperatives: to eat, to not be eaten, and to procreate. I would add a fourth: our imperative to have purpose—our need for art, for beauty, for understanding how we fit into the universe, and, closer to home, how we fit into the web of life that surrounds and includes us. Therein lies the hope: that we might allow the fourth imperative to counter the
...more
