Unlocking The Fountain

I really loved this podcast!!! Along with Bryson’s Brain 🧠 It was thought provoking, insightful, inspirational and I really enjoyed the way it was produced. I wanted to learn more! I really hope we get a sequel of both!!

Stephen Hawking once said that due to greed and stupidity, humankind will last another 100 maybe 200 years. He died four years ago. The clock is ticking. Humankind has been around for approximately 330,000 years. In 1812 the world population was 1 billion. In 1912 it was 1.5 billion. Given that 100 years out of 330,000 is a microscopic amount of time an increase of 50% in any species in a century is, to say the least, alarming. From 1912 to 2012 the population increased from 1.5 billion to 6 billion. Nothing good with respect to the health of the planet can come from a 300% increase in the blink of an eye of the population of people. We have made the proliferation of the human race and individual human longevity more important than the health of the planet. Greed and stupidity. We have pretty much removed ourselves from nature as the balance of nature no longer exists nor does survival of the fittest. There is no creature on the planet more capable of taking care of itself than the tiger. Despite this, in the last 100 years their numbers have dropped by 90%. As they have no natural predators the responsibility for this is 100% on people. Trophy hunting actually exists. Humans are recreational killers. How many other species can we say that about? Greed and stupidity. It’s hard to imagine many things worse for the planet than people living to 150 years. 1000 years ago the life expectancy of elephants in the wild was up to seventy years. Today, the life expectancy of elephants in the wild is up to seventy years. Try to imagine what impact it would have on other inhabitants of the planet if everything was done to prolong the lives of elephants and killing them was punishable by imprisonment or death. We’d have senior care facilities to artificially prolong their lives when they could no longer feed or care for themselves. To follow the human model, every second of life would be squeezed out for elephants in most cases. The absurdity of this can’t be overstated. Many would see this as greedy and stupid. An Attempt to view life through the eyes of nature would dictate that the lives of all species are equally important. The life of a raccoon, a duck, a butterfly, a person, a rabbit are all the same. Diseases such as cancer, Covid etc. are attempts by nature to cull the herd. We find ways to cheat nature and natural selection. This can happen short term with no catastrophic results but in the long term its impact will be devastating. Human life is not the most important thing in the world. The health of the planet is. Each generation has a responsibility to leave the planet in at least as good condition as we found it. When is the last time that happened? While the planet is our home, it’s not ours to treat as we choose. Greed and stupidity. Like all living things as far as longevity goes, we get what we get. We disrespect nature far too much. It simply isn’t sustainable. For once, let’s not be stupid and greedy. At the end of the day each of us will likely have to decide what sacrifices we are willing to make for future generations of descendants we will never meet. Are we willing to take fewer flights, never go on another boat cruise, buy a bike, stop using plastic etc or are we going to continue to be greedy and stupid

Keith McArthur is such a great podcaster and does such an incredible job of educating himself to then teach stuff to us. I learned so much and it was still easy to digest! Despite other reviews, I do NOT feel he breezed over the ethical dilemmas surrounding this topic. It was thorough, informative, and absolutely reflected all sides of the argument. Definitely recommend both this and Bryson’s Brain.

Sweet, with lots of personal touches but an extremely good summary of current science around longevity with practical steps to change lifestyle. Can’t wait for the next subject you tackle!