“Unity and complementarity constitute reality.”
Werner Heisenberg, Physicist – One of the key creators of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle
Here’s a Secret: Man Is the Reason Why Killer Whales Are Now Eating Sea Otters
Studying Nature reveals the profound bond that sustains it. Each element complements other elements and serves them, as demonstrated by the food chain: Plants feed on minerals; herbivores feed on plants; and carnivores feed on herbivores. This chain contains myriad sub-chains that together form the entire food chain. In this entire process, every element affects every other element, and any change in one of them will affect every other element in the chain.
Studying Nature also reveals that each element that performs its function allows ecosystems to maintain balance among the different elements in the system, thus keeping it healthy. An eye-opening report submitted by Irene Sanders and Judith McCabe, PhD in October, 2003 to the U.S. Department of Education clearly demonstrates what happens when we breach Nature’s balance:
“In 1991, an orca—a killer whale—was seen eating a sea otter. Orcas and otters usually coexist peacefully. So, what happened? Ecologists found that ocean perch and herring were also declining. Orcas don’t eat those fish, but seals and sea lions do. And seals and sea lions are what orcas usually eat, and their population had also declined. So deprived of their seals and sea lions, orcas started turning to the playful sea otters for dinner.
So otters have vanished because the fish, which they never ate in the first place, have vanished. Now, the ripple spreads. Otters are no longer there to eat sea urchins, so the sea urchin population has exploded. But sea urchins live off seafloor kelp forests, so they’re killing off the kelp. Kelp has been home to fish that feed seagulls and eagles. Like orcas, seagulls can find other food, but bald eagles can’t and they’re in trouble.
All this began with the decline of ocean perch and herring. Why? Well, Japanese whalers have been killing off the variety of whales that eat the same microscopic organisms that feed pollock [a type of carnivorous fish]. With more fish to eat, pollock flourish. They in turn attack the perch and herring that were food for the seals and sea lions. With the decline in the population of sea lions and seals, the orcas must turn to otters.”
The Startling Difference Between Man and Nature
From the above, we can see that Nature consists of reciprocal connections that create balance, congruence, and harmony. But, humans do not operate in this reciprocal manner, neither among themselves nor between themselves and Nature. Therefore, since humans are a part of Nature, their lack of congruence throws the entire system off balance, as the previous example of the orcas demonstrates. While the whole of Nature follows the principle of mutual guarantee—give what you can and receive what you need, humans operate to the contrary—take what you can and give what you must. We humans exploit one another, and all of us—as humanity—exploit Nature. Indeed, we have nearly depleted our planet’s resources.
Raising an alarm, G. Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolman state in their book, Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions that “Our ecological footprints are already using the renewable resources of 1.4 planet Earths, and probably will be using that of two planet Earths by 2050. In other words, we are living unsustainably and depleting the earth’s natural capital. No one knows how long we can continue on this path, but environmental alarm bells are going off.”
This and more show that human beings have become a cancer-like tumor in Nature. Humanity is “sucking up” everything for itself, irrespective of the environment. But, just as cancer dies along with the organism that it attacks, so will humanity if it does not transform itself into a healthy organ in the organism of Nature.
Thus, the greatest challenge for us—for all of humanity in the 21st century—is finding a way to readapt to Nature’s finely balanced and intricate, integral system. This readapting is a must to ensure our survival.
Written by Michael Laitman
Michael Laitman is a global thinker dedicated to generating a transformational shift in society through a new global education, which he views as the key to solving the most pressing issues of our time. He is the Founder of the ARI Institute, Professor of Ontology & Theory of Knowledge, PhD in Philosophy, MS in Medical Cybernetics. You can find him on Google+, YouTube and Twitter