Failing to Understand

The real problem is not the lack of alternatives, but a lack of understanding of the problem itself. Understanding is a far more valuable skill than problem solving. Asking the right question is only half the answer. The environmental challenge we now face is not about how “clean” we can make things, or how “green” we should become – it is about the anthropocentric environment we are creating, where we dominate, alter, control or obliterate natural systems by accidental or deliberate action. That we are doing this is undeniable, but in doing this, we have failed to remark upon the way in which our self-serving efforts to reshape our world will produce both cumulative and surprising effects – some of which will inevitably be negative.

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Dennis Walsh is a writer, researcher and consultant (www.walshfuturist.com or walsh.wired@gmail.com).