{"id":728,"date":"2007-09-23T23:00:19","date_gmt":"2007-09-23T23:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:45:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:45:32","slug":"the_world_witho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml","title":{"rendered":"The World Without Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week or two on NPR, I twice heard mention of this book, The World Without Us<\/a> by Alan Weisman<\/a>. I’m not sure what the first one was (perhaps Marketplace<\/a> or Weekend Edition<\/a>), but the second was on a short program called Earth and Sky<\/a> (broadcast the week of Sept. 13th).
\nThe premise of the book is actually interesting, to a point. What if the entire human race suddenly disappeared? What would happen to the Earth? I haven’t read the book, but it’s interesting to consider how all that we have built would start to crumble pretty quickly. The NYC subways would flood, buildings collapse and cities would be overrun by plant and animal life.
\nOf course, there’s more to the book than just the intellectual exercise of what the Earth would become without us. There’s the implication that the Earth would be better off without us. More than that, Weisman seems almost giddy when talking about it in the Earth and Sky interview:<\/p>\n

it turns out our planet would do really, really well. It would really flourish without us around.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Referring to visiting a remote jungle area to experience it, he says:<\/p>\n

It didn’t feel exotic to me. It somehow felt complete, when I went in there my body just sort of responded and said, yes! We have a memory within us of what this world was when it was fresh and new, and it was extraordinarily exciting to feel what it’s like to be in something that pristine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mmmm-kay.
\nI find the notion that man is somehow a curse on this pristine planet rather condescending. That we do nothing but harm to an otherwise ‘complete’ ecosystem is rather presumptuous, even a bit arrogant. There’s something ironic in a scholarly sentiment, which taken to it’s logical conclusion, means the death of the human race, including the scholars.
\nWhat’s really missing here, of course, is the truth that man is not simply a part of creation, but the focus of it. Read the Genesis creation account and you see man at the focus of the work of God. Man is the last thing created, the climax of God’s creation energies. God pronounces each act of creation as ‘good’, but man makes it ‘very good’. It is man that is created in God’s image. Most importantly, it is man that is given dominion over the planet, and the only creature given a charge by God:<\/p>\n

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” <\/p>\n

Genesis 1:28<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God created the Earth and gave it to us. We were charged with making it ours, to rule it, to subdue it. I do not think that gives us license to pollute and destroy, nor to I believe that we have taken that responsibility seriously. We’ve been careless and selfish with what God has given us. Much as we do on an individual level with our own possessions, we have done with the Earth. Nonetheless, this planet is ours, given to us by a loving God who set it in just the right place in space for us to thrive.
\nSo, yes, perhaps the Earth in some ways would be better without us. But it would be devoid of it’s purpose. It was made for man to inhabit. That’s why it is here, to remove us would be to remove its meaning. Imagine a home with no family to occupy it. It’s meaning is gone, it’s reason for existence removed. It’s a sad, soulless shell, merely a collection wood, bricks and paint, nothing more. An Earth without man might be less polluted and greener, but it would be empty and soulless. Just another ball of dirt and gas floating through space, missing it’s reason for being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week or two on NPR, I twice heard mention of this book, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I’m not sure what the first one was (perhapsRead More The World Without Us<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe World Without Us - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World Without Us - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This past week or two on NPR, I twice heard mention of this book, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I’m not sure what the first one was (perhapsRead More The World Without Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-09-23T23:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-29T02:45:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@salguod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml\",\"name\":\"The World Without Us - salguod.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-09-23T23:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-29T02:45:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The World Without Us\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"salguod.net\",\"description\":\"Stuff I Think Up\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\",\"name\":\"Doug Schaefer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Doug Schaefer\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/salguod.net\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The World Without Us - salguod.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The World Without Us - salguod.net","og_description":"This past week or two on NPR, I twice heard mention of this book, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I’m not sure what the first one was (perhapsRead More The World Without Us","og_url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml","og_site_name":"salguod.net","article_published_time":"2007-09-23T23:00:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-29T02:45:32+00:00","author":"Doug Schaefer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@salguod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doug Schaefer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml","name":"The World Without Us - salguod.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-09-23T23:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-29T02:45:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/the_world_witho.shtml#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The World Without Us"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/","name":"salguod.net","description":"Stuff I Think Up","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f","name":"Doug Schaefer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Doug Schaefer"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/salguod.net","https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod"],"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":677,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/05\/good_and_evil.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":0},"title":"Good and Evil","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"May 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"For her 10th birthday this month, my middle daughter received this cool book from her Aunt Jenny. It's called Good and Evil, and it's a retelling of the Bible story in comic book form. Not a Bible in comic book form, this is a comic book telling the Bible story\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":125,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/04\/book_meme.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":1},"title":"Book Meme.","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"April 15, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"This is either kinda cool or really goofy, I'll let you decide which. I have no idea what 'Book Meme' is, but I saw it at the Thinklings and thought I'd play along. Here's mine: After being asked to speak on the subject of grace recenttly, I was told that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Other stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Other stuff","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/other-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1130,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2012\/06\/job_1_-_satan_attacks.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":2},"title":"Job 1 – Satan Attacks","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"June 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going to try to make these QT posts a bit easier to follow without looking up each scipture reference. These always made sense to me as I wrote them, but looking back they are a bit like listening to one half of a phone call. I'd like these to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":672,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/05\/ezekiel_chapter_18.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":3},"title":"Ezekiel – Chapter 21","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"May 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Ezekiel 21:10-13 - This passage is a little confusing to me. Is the sentence in parentheses in verse 10 directed toward Ezekiel? That doesn't seem to make sense, but if not, then who? And what of verse 12, \"Strike therefore upon your thigh.\" Is He calling Ezekiel to cut himself?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":599,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/12\/strong_fathers.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":4},"title":"Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"December 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"For Christmas, my parents bought me and my brother in law the book Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Meg Meeker. They heard about it on a radio program and ordered it based on the positive review. Both Mom and Dad read it before giving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family and Friends"","block_context":{"text":"Family and Friends","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/family-and-friends"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2009\/08\/review_your_jesus_is_too_safe.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":728,"position":5},"title":"Review: Your Jesus Is Too Safe","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"August 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been reading Jared Wilson's writings for some 5 years now. First at Thinklings, then at his first solo blog, Mysterium Tremendum, then at Shizuka Blog and now at the Gospel-Driven Church. His blogging, perhaps more than any other, has stretched and moved my thinking spiritually over the years. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"Your Jesus Is Too Safe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.salguod.net\/weblog\/images\/your_jesus_is_too_safe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1552,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions\/1552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}