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James Kindler

Mental Health Recovery Coordinator,

TEDCRED 20+

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Why can't people realize we are all one.

Science proves it, our DNA proves it, all living things are connected. If all would come to understand this we might have a shot at peace and even survival.

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  • MR T

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    Apr 16 2012: We are one species but many cultures, ideals, appearances....

    • James Kindler 20+

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      Apr 17 2012: Hi Tristan
      We are even cousins to trees, it's in our DNA, we are not just connected to each other but all living things.

      • MR T

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        Apr 17 2012: Hey James,

        I wouldn't eat my cousins.

        I understand what you're getting at and I do agree that on some level its good, but can people really have the same emotional attatchment's for all life as they do for family?.

        We are related, ok, but how does that help us get along?

        Say my uncle is an asshole, we both know we are related but he is still an asshole.

        For people to be 'one' on something they need a common goal that requires participation of all.

        • James Kindler 20+

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          Apr 17 2012: Hi TristanYou do eat your cousins, we all do unless you are vegitarian or vegan, every cow, pig etc. We use pigs to replace hearts and eat them. As for a world that worked in balance your uncle would not be an asshole he would be part of the whole, though I do get what you are saying.

      • MR T

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        Apr 17 2012: So trees are not cousins now but animals are?

        I'm not sure what this 'balance' or 'whole' your talking about is or how it is going to come about.

        You can't persuade a virus to be sustainable. They could be our cousins but I would rather them dead.

        Please expand...

        • James Kindler 20+

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          Apr 17 2012: My mistake Tristan, I suppose eating vegies would mean the same thing. We ourselves are not sustanable nor is anything else, Everything dies and can only be sustained for a period of time. Without us nature would be in perfect balance, nature takes only what it needs and no more. We on the other hand think the more we have the better off we are, the excess is enormous. If we took only what we needed there would be plenty to go around but that's not the way it works. If we realized that we are a part of nature and acted as such and only took what we needed perhaps the connection would be realized.

      • MR T

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        Apr 17 2012: I have to disagree, there is no perfect balance in nature, it is constantly changing, species were going extinct and new ones were evolving long before homo sapiens. It is true that this rate of change can be very slow, as it has happened in the worlds rainforest's, however every now and again catalysts (like the meteor impact 65 million years ago) allow certain species to gain an upper hand, these moments are crucial in shaping the future of life on earth. We are living in one now, of a kind that hasn't happened before.

        It is moreso the accelerated rate of change that scientists are worried about. Species extinction rates are increasingly exceeding the historical norm by a long way. Unfortunately, Even if we were to take only what we needed, without drastic changes in the methods by which we do so, extinction rates would continue to average above the historical norm.

        People are extremely good at what they do, surviving. But haven't quite developed strategies that cope with the short-sightedness that was never such a pressing concern when there were only a few million of us on planet earth. We are like bacteria in a petri-dish, gobbling up our resources.

        There is a great problem with convincing people this is an issue they should be concerned about.
        It is difficult for a 6ft tall being that lives 70 years to grasp change on a 26000 mile sphere over hundreds of years. Lines on graphs only provide emotional impact as much as a persons imagination allows.

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