Writing Right with Dmitri: Can Writing Save the Earth?
Created | Updated Apr 21, 2013
Words, words, words. That's what we're made of. Herewith some of my thoughts on what we're doing with them.
Writing Right with Dmitri: Can Writing Save the Earth?
Writing is fun, mostly. We enjoy reading. We enjoy writing. We like having something to say.
But can writing really accomplish anything? Or is it just a waster of words? Could we use it to save the planet?
Eco-Case One: Holy Writ
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together praise?' – Job 38:1-7.
I am the taste of water.
I am the light of the Sun and the Moon.
I am the original fragrance of the Earth.
I am the heat in fire.
I am the life of all that lives.
Of lights I am the radiant Sun.
Among stars I am the Moon.
Of bodies of water I am the ocean.
Of immovable things I am the Himalayas.
Of trees I am the banyan-tree.
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt.
Among beasts I am the lion.
Of purifiers I am the wind.
Of fishes I am the shark.
Of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.
Of seasons I am fIower-bearing spring.
Of secret things I am silence.
Know that all opulent, beautiful and
Glorious creations spring from but a spark of my splendour. – The Bhagavad Gita.
Do ancient wisdom texts teach reverence for nature? Discuss.
Case Two: Science Fiction
'And the springs feeding the frozen lakes and streams, and all the water
underground feeding the springs?'
'They'd freeze, damn it!' he cried. 'But if I had known that you were a member
of the yellow press,' he said grandly, rising to his feet, 'I wouldn't have
wasted a minute with you!'
'And the rain?'
'When it fell, it would freeze into hard little hobnails of ice-nine – and that
would be the end of the world! And the end of the interview, too! Good-bye!' – Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.
Does predicting disaster after disaster help or hinder the process of averting it?
Do fictional scenarios give us a safer way to visualise and deal with possible problems?
Put another way: did science fiction fans have a leg up when it came to dealing with issues such as overpopulation and climate change?
Case Three: Advocacy Writing
In the gutters under the eaves and between the shingles of the roofs, a white granular powder still showed a few patches; some weeks before it had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams.
No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.
This town does not actually exist, but it might easily have a thousand counterparts in America or elsewhere in the world. – Rachel Carson, Silent Spring.
If you write really movingly, will policies change? (They did.)
What do you think of the fact that this book
- Helped launch a movement?
- Was named one of the 25 best science books by Discover Magazine?
- Was named one of the 'most harmful books of the 19th and 20th centuries' by Human Events magazine?
Is it your job to get the facts right, or to stir the masses? Discuss.
Case Four: The Earth and You
Can you save the planet by hugging a tree? One begs to doubt this. Is a socially trendy approach to the topic of ecology of any use? Duh.
Can you save the planet alone? Unless you have magical powers we don't know about, no. It's probably a good idea to make friends and influence people.
Can you save the planet by spreading information? By convincing your fellow Earthlings with words? By putting out the word that the Earth is more than a resource?
It's worth thinking about, is all we're saying.
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