Skimming Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us, I found it it to be a fascinating yet problematic book. Its premise is incredibly intriguing; it asks, what would the world look like if humans suddenly disappeared? And Weisman’s answer? The world would, more or less, be better off without us. This is a depressing sounding conclusion, and it is interesting to see that this became as popular as it did. This book certainly plays to a tendency think of a dystopian future and aligns with Jim’s hypothesis that popular literature tends to see local situations as utopian and global issues as dystopian. This particular case also seems to appeal to the sense that we, as a human race, a merely a part of the circle of life and will one day disappear.
Why does this idea appeal to us though? I hypothesize that it is in some sense comforting to be humbled by our inevitable demise. Maybe it is because of a sense of justice that we die off like many of the species that we are responsible for the death of. But I think the most likely reason is that it positions ourselves as a part of a greater picture. It puts everything we have ever done as serving some unknown force of life that will keep on tumbling on long after we disappear. While it is dystopian and depressing, there is definitely a layer of hope lining our demise.
However, is this a dangerous way to think? Weisman suggest through this book that eventually, nature conquers all, an idea not uncommon in environmental literature (i.e. Jack London, Jon Krakauer). This puts nature on a pedestal as something ‘pure’ when, as explored in Richard White’s The Problem With Purity, nature is merely a cultural construction.
Additionally, although Weisman does mention ways in which we have changed the world, the inevitability of nature seems to completely discount the power of the Anthropocene. As a human race, we have a lot of power in this new epoch to change the world. When we leave this world, whether dead or for another world, we can leave the world and the human race in a better place. We have the power to change and better our environment, and it can be dangerous to think otherwise.