Historian Philipp Blom argues that the human need to dominate and subdue the natural world can trace its origins to ancient Mesopotamia. This was perpetuated through the Judeo-Christian notion that God charged man to be fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it. The Enlightenment age reinforced the notion of human dominance over all creatures. Blom says this idea was relatively harmless until technology developed to the point where we are now destroying the planet. So we now need to urgently change our thinking - or perish.
Guest: Philipp Blom, author of ‘Subjugate the Earth: The Beginning and End of Human Domination of Nature’ published by Polity.
Image Details
Philipp Blom says if we are to survive we must urgently move away from the Bronze Age thinking that humans are the dominant species on the planet.