Humanity and the Truth of Trees

”You have also answered the third riddle correctly,” Mount Rakmun informed me. ”The truth goes everywhere, is always helpful, but often not welcome. I’ll now tell you about humans and trees.

”Humanity has evolved from primates, who, for all practical purposes were tree creatures. For more than 60 million years they adapted their existence to life in the trees.

”When climate changes eliminated vast areas of trees in Africa one species adapted to life on the ground by learning to stand upright and fight with a rock in hand. Before long (in evolutionary terms) they learned how to make stone knives that were primarily used to shape branches into spears. This led them to discover how to master fire, and wood once again became their most important resource as fuel and the raw material for tools. The original word for tree is the source of the words true and trust.

”The trees have supplied humans with resources and energy for millions of years and continue to do so.

”How do humans treat trees? To put it simply, they kill them. They kill them in increasingly larger amounts both directly and indirectly through fires and diseases resulting from environmental changes. Not to mention wars. Humans are killing trees everywhere, greatly reducing their numbers.

”The trees not only capture energy from the sun and give it all to the earth, they provide homes, shelter and nourishment for many forms of life from bugs to birds. They would even sacrifice themselves for humans, if humans would at least replace what they take. They don’t. Trees see humans as takers and destroyers.

”I’ll put it to you straight: the trees would rejoice if humanity went extinct. That would change if humanity changed and promoted the spread of trees. But that’s probably not going to happen, is it?

“When confronted with sacrificing 10 people or 10 trees,
the 1%er asked,
”What is most profitable?”
Dartwill Aquila

(Tomorrow: The Art of Stupidity)