How do we survive on Earth?
What makes the Earth habitable? It is the right distance from the Sun, it is protected from harmful solar radiation by its magnetic field, it is kept warm by an insulating atmosphere, and it has the right chemical ingredients for life, including water and carbon.
What is the reason why every living thing on Earth has the chance of survival?
All living things need some sort of food, water, the right atmosphere and temperature. Humans for example, need to breathe in oxygen and can survive in temperatures that aren’t extreme hot or cold. Even the strength of gravity determines the form of our bodies such as our bones and muscle strength.
How did we get to where we are now?
We got to where we are now through a number of civilisation- and society-shaping “events”, most notably the agricultural revolution, the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution and – in the West – the public-health revolution. By 1980, there were 4 billion of us on the planet.
Can a person who has never seen see reality?
People who have never seen can have their own sense of reality, which may be vastly different to that of a sighted person. They may have an internal non-visual ‘visualisation’ of bodily form for example, which if drawn or created could be completely different from what is normally visually perceived.
Do we lose our sense of reality when we are deceived?
No, because we are sometimes deceived. We need to tell the difference between hard ground and marsh that only looks hard. We need to know whether something is a bear or only a child with a bearskin rug over its head. We have evolved to tell the real from the false. Injure the brain and the victim may lose their sense of reality.
Are we having a profound impact on the world?
In fact, we are having a profound impact on it. Indeed, our cleverness, our inventiveness and our activities are now the drivers of every global problem we face. And every one of these problems is accelerating as we continue to grow towards a global population of 10 billion.