Creation: Chapters -4 Reaction

Creation

E.O. Wilson’s book, The Creation, opens with the idea of reconciliation between how science perceives creation as opposed to religion. The format is a letter that Wilson is sending to a Christian pastor with the intentions to “agree to disagree.” He states that it is clear that humans have disrupted the planet and as population continues to grow, we will continually deface the planet with our existence. Because I am an environmental biology major, and I specialize in endangered species conservation, this part was very important to me. Wilson knows that no matter what an individual believes about how the earth was created, we should make it a common goal to conserve the nature that we have.
Wilson is able to give his opinion in a liberal way, without really shutting down any of the religious beliefs. With this type of writing, it is easier to think that the religious side will take more of his opinions to heart. The problem here is that humans feel they are superior to the rest of the life on the planet. So many specoes on this planet before humans; and it is important to respect them and their natural habitat. Humans are relatively selfish in that many only care about the natural world if it will directly affect their wellbeing. What it is hard to point out is that almost every species on the planet directly affects humans in one way or another. Lastly, it is clear through these four chapters that people learn science in schools, but the extent of the natural destruction is not truly given. It is important that we take away such ignorance and voice these declines in species. It is difficult yet necessary to make humans aware that this extinction could have such a huge affect on humans that we too will be extinct if the human world does not begin to compromise and change daily actions.