Wilson's Solutions Chapter Summary

Edward Wilson titles this book as one would title a news headline. It’s short, simple and to the point and that point is that we are in danger of destroying ourselves. Wilson organizes the chapters in this book so that they progressively cause the reader to think more and more into the topic of our natural corruption to the point where they are left to think, “What do we do now?” It’s at that point Wilson introduces his Solutions chapter and some answers are given, more questions are raised and arguments are able to intensify. To begin, Wilson lays out the problem, us. From the first chapter on Wilson explains the countless roles humans play when it comes to destroying the Earth. The reason for this layout is simple; you can’t give a solution

In every chapter leading up to the culminating solutions, Wilson goes into great detail of what man has done to the Earth. For starters, we are overpopulating the Earth and with overpopulation comes over-consumption. There are more people today than there ever has before and according to Wilson, it’s showing in the planet. Earth’s raw materials can only sustain so much and we are stretching it thin. Another thing humans have caused is the bottlenecking of both ourselves and the species around us. While humans have committed massive deforestation and over utilization of the world’s resources, we have also become reliant on the assumption that these materials will always be here and based on Wilson’s studies, that assumption will quickly prove devastating to the world’s economy. We are responsible for introducing alien species to new lands and driving out many native populations. Extinction in the numbers we see today are a direct correlation with human interaction. We have neglected to care and take into account the wild ecosystems that make up our surroundings. Now these claims raise questions and arguments; however the important thing to realize is that Wilson opened the eyes of his readers to begin to at least think about his own contribution in this mess. The main point being, not to act is to act in this

He tries not to lean to one side either politically or economically; however these claims are not without question and there are a few issues that are needed to be addressed. First, Wilson fails to denote one effect of our actions that is always making headlines on the news and that is global warming. He does mention it, however not in the sense that one who is reading on The Future of Life would expect. Could it have been that the science at the time had not clearly identified global warming as a problem for the future of humanity or is it possible that Wilson feels global warming is not the biggest issue facing mankind? To the former, this book was written in 2001 and so much has changed in the name of science and technology that claims about global warming in the book could either be confirmed or refuted. To the latter, Wilson’s focus in the book in on our ecological impact and while global warming surely plays a part in that, one would have to guess that our impact is the source and needs addressing. Either way, Wilson’s book is not without fault. He also mentions religion and how their maxims have contributed to our attitude on the subject. He calls out religion with conforming its followers to an attitude not right with the world; however he also says religion should be at the forefront of change and tell their followers that to destroy the world is to destroy creation which can be akin to sin