Slavoj Žižek and Yuval Noah Harari discuss extremist ideologies, ecological action, and the future of human genetic engineering.
Is humanity’s relationship to nature changing?
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Most think of nature as good, while humans and human interventions are often seen as problematic and even on occasion evil. From eradicating e-numbers from our diets to refusing vaccines, many are motivated by the idea that nature knows best.
Yet malaria is natural, the malaria vaccine is not. Crop failure, hurricanes, tsunamis – all are deadly, and all natural. Human actions are essential to extend and save lives from natural calamity.
Is our attachment to nature undermining belief in ourselves? Should we have more faith in the human and less trust in nature? Or, are we right to be sceptical of human intervention and should we see the renewed reverence for nature as a positive return to an ancient and essential belief? Then again, should we accept that we are part of the natural world, and give up on the false distinction between real and artificial, natural and unnatural?
#biology #future #humanity #nature #geneticengineering #genetics
In this classic debate from our archives, world-famous intellectual Yuval Noah Harari and firebrand philosopher Slavoj Žižek debate whether nature is friend or foe. Hosted by scientist Güneş Taylor.
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00:00 Introduction
00:24 Should we treat the Earth as a resource?
01:16 Yuval Noah Harari on morality and extremist ideologies
03:19 Climate action is more complex than we realise
04:30 Slavoj Žižek critiques deep ecology and anthropocentrism
08:45 When you make big plans, things will always go wrong
10:51 Does nature exhibit moderation?
12:13 We’re on the verge of creating the first inorganic lifeforms
13:23 Imagining a 21st century totalitarian regime
16:21 Stalin’s experiments, social engineering, and playing God
18:11 We are entering a post-human, post-natural era
21:15 In our attempts to upgrade humans, we will actually downgrade ourselves
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