| <div class="ck-content"><h3>A very deep misunderstanding of “adaption”</h3><p>It's very easy to find humans patting themselves (and the entire species) on the back about how “adaptable” we are.</p><p>Scientific American recently offered up <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-may-be-most-adaptive-species/">an article</a> titled "Humans May Be the Most Adaptive Species"," which is fairly typical.</p><blockquote><p>"How this thin, long-limbed hominid could make it in all these different environments, to me that is a story about how you become adaptable.</p></blockquote><p>NPR also <a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/07/30/12344547/human-history-shows-a-gift-for-adaptability">chimed in</a> on this topic, back in 2017:</p><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(51,51,51);">The rub of life is this: If you don't adapt to changes in your environment, you die. And what Potts believes is that humans are the world's most adaptable species. Unlike most other living things, we can live in rainforests, deserts, high mountains, even on ice.</span></p></blockquote><p>I find this presentation of “adaptability” to be extremely facile ("arrived at or presented without due care, effort, or examination; superficial."), and really disappointing coming from supposed experts.</p><p>OK, fine, so that sounds arrogant. Surely you've realized by now that I can be an obnoxious know-it-all? <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(15,20,25);">🥸</span></p><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(15,20,25);">So before I start my rant, let's revisit what adaptation means in the context of evolution by natural selection. Here's are a few sentences from </span><a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-natural-selection.html"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(15,20,25);">"What is Natural Selection?"</span></a><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(15,20,25);"> (Natural History Museum, UK)</span></p><blockquote><p>The environment largely determines how living things survive. Consider this example: If you're a monkey in a rainforest, full of four-legged predators, you learn to climb trees. If the climate changes and the forest disappears, the lucky monkeys will find a new way to survive, while the others become somebody's dinner. Adaptations like that make up the story of evolution.</p><p>An adaptation is a physical or behavioural characteristic that helps an organism to survive in its environment.</p><p>Adrian explains, 'If you're going to get hit by a rock or something, it's just bad luck. But on average and over time, the ones that survive are the ones that are fittest - the ones that have the best adaptations.'</p><p>Natural selection implies that if organisms are surviving, they are adapted. But as the environment changes, we may find that what was once an adaptation may no longer be useful.</p></blockquote><p>In other words, adaptation is something that happens over multiple generations, as the favorable mutations spread through the surviving individuals and strengthen the overall survivability of the species.</p><p>Does that sound like what humans do to “adapt”? I don't think so.</p><p>I think that what happened instead is that humans spread across the globe, asserting their “right” to live wherever they wanted, no matter how hostile an environment (no matter how distant from the environment in which our species evolved over millions of year). And since those environments were inimical to human life, humans had to drastically <i>alter the environment</i> to meet their needs. That was done by killing anything that threatened human physical safety, and anything that was needed/desired to eat, sleep, be comfortable, and entertained.</p><p>This is <i>exact opposite of adaptation.</i>. The total, polar opposite.</p><p>Every other species in this world adapts <i>to the environment</i> in its struggle to survive and thrive.</p><p>Humans changes the environment to meet their needs. And by “change,” I mean destroy, kill, poison, corrupt, enslave.</p><p>Does this sound like a controversial thing to say? Honestly, it just seems like stating facts. This is what we do.</p><p>And it reminds me of the deep, deep irony of humans patting themselves on the back about how we are the only species that could “discover” evolution by natural selection, can understand DNA and the “language of life itself.”</p><p>What's ironic about that? We use this understanding, all our science and technology and knowledge, to <i>exempt ourselves from evolution</i>.</p><p>Bottom line: humans are the least adaptable species, not the most.</p><h3>Set your cynicism aside</h3><p>When you care about the planet as much as we all do (you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't), you know how close we - all of us, human and non-human alike - are to terrible catastrophes that will rob our children and grandchildren of their futures.</p><p>No one represents a bigger threat to our (again, humans and non-humans) future than Donald Trump.</p><p>No group represents a bigger threat to our democracy and freedom than the Republican Party.</p><p>No court represents a bigger threat to our rule of law than the Supreme Court (6 justices, anyway).</p><p>And they </p><p>Fortunately, Americans are waking up from a long nightmare,<i> and just in time. </i></p><p>We have this one chance, and we must grab it. It is clear now that the Kamala Harris will win the election. It is also clear that Trump and his fellow traitors are all conspiring, openly and actively, to steal our nation from us this November.</p><p>It will not be enough for the Harris-Walz ticket to win. They must win in an historic landslide. We must make it completely politically untenable for the GOP and the billionaire class that funds it to challenge the results.</p><p>We need to take the House, the Senate, and the White House. We need to kill the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, impeach “justices” Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas. Make reproductive choice the law of the land. Tax the ultra-rich and claw back the hundreds of billions they stole from us. </p><p>It is now clear that this is within our reach. If we <i>all</i> reach.</p><p>No one's perfect, and that includes Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Biden's policy around Gaza has been a disaster. </p><p>But I plead with all of you: express all the doubts you've got - to yourself. To everyone else in the entire world, shout your enthusiasm and joy at the prospect of electing Kamala Harris, of taking back our country, of moving forward.</p><p>Be a part of history!</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1Lf_q75XIPz3ulGO015z0Ivod20CtIi7M&sz=w600-h200" alt="let's win this"></div><p>So I'm an old white man. I am determined to make sure that when people meet or see me, they do <i>not </i>think to themselves “Probably a Trump supporter.” (a perfectly reasonable conclusion). So I decided to upgrade my wardrobe.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=16nqEGAlIoQtktdtJ_qf4Gj1nRKRJahZR&sz=w600-h275" alt="Harris Walz tshirts"></div><p>I know I don't look super happy. I suck at selfies so was concentrating hard on getting it “right.” Believe you me: I am JOYFUL and excited about the future, in a way that I haven't been for. years.</p><p>OK, let's do some planet healing!</p></div><div class="ck-content"><h4>Receive all my reports on tree rescues!</h4><p>If you'd like to get some good news about restoring native habitats delivered straight to your brain upwards of a few times a week, sign in to <a href="https://rewildearth.net">Rewild Earth</a>, click on your name in top right, then My profile. Under Communication Preferences, switch “Send reports of all events” to ON. </p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1BeynVqu8taOGrsvi56u0mmDKuNJko22h&sz=w600-h400" alt="REPLACE" width="358" height="138"></div><p>Resources you might find useful:</p><ul><li><a href="https://shop.naisma.org/collections/buckthorn-blaster">Buckthorn Blasters</a>: safe, easy herbicide delivery system from the North American Invasive Species Management Association. Don't start cutting without them!</li><li><a href="https://nc-ipc.weebly.com/nc-invasive-plants.html">NC Invasive Plants list</a>: recently updated by NC-IPC, the NC Invasives Plants Council.</li><li><a href="https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG259">Overview of different herbicides</a>: glyposphate, triclopyr and others - which should you use?</li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://triangleland.org">Triangle Land Conservancy</a>: the biggest land conservancy group in our area. </li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://ellerbecreek.org">Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association</a> (Durham): a wonderful group working hard to maintain contiguous natural areas along Ellerbe Creek.</li></ul></div> |