The Vanishing of a Species?

While I’ve read many books on the problems facing humanity, Geologist Dr. Peter Greetner’s The Vanishing of  a Species? was a unique experience. Published posthumously by his son Nick, The Vanishing of a Species? is a look at the problems of the mid to late 1970s that ironically we still face almost forty years later.  In dealing with the destructive nature of our actions as human beings, Greetner summarizes problems facing our species and clearly states that without a revolution in the human approach to problems, we are headed for a massive culling in population and maybe even extinction. Not exactly cheerful stuff. I’m still far from convinced that humanity will perish from the Earth, however I’m not too optimistic about civilization.

This book is quite valuable because of the approach Dr. Greetner took to academic culture and its role in the current crises. Beginning with a recap of C.P. Snow’s “The Two Cultures”, the fundamental lecture that defined the problems with modern education’s division of  the humanities and the sciences, Greetner builds off this foundation by addressing issues within the North American educational model.  His recommendations are relevant to today’s academic society and his critiques are still pertinent. Core to Greetner’s commentary on education is that the focus on specialization causes and exacerbates modern challenges. Because our predicaments are largely a result of lacking awareness,  few ever gain a broad perspective because they lack an all-encompassing education. Academics are largely unwilling to debate the relevance of their work and this lack of dialogue is reducing the effectiveness of university research. In essence, it all starts with the role of the individual students in the university system failing to understand that being “educated” is more a state of mind than the result of receiving a piece of paper after four or more years of academic study. I was particularly receptive to Greetner’s comments on engineers, “Engineers…are asked to only complete a few outside options in order to gradate. That the concept does not work is amply demonstrated by the thousands of university graduates in North America whose interest in anything beyond their specialty and sports is virtually nil.” The focus on specialization is not only intellectually lazy but has become dangerous.

Much of the book reads like an angry blog, bordering between rant and enlightenment, each chapter only a few pages long. The reason for the frustration is clear however, even today Greetner’s approaches have been ignored and we suffer because of it. Regardless of the overall tone, I had a hard time putting this book down, it was immensely entertaining… at least as entertaining as books about the extinction of humanity can be.

Greetner’s manuscripts were published, as his son stated, without touching his Father’s original words. This is where the book meets its major downfall. The chapter on women in society is not only offensive but undermines the conversation started by the book. The chapter on China is completely outdated. While the inclusion of  these sections provide a complete portrait of Greetner’s views they ultimately linger like a bad aftertaste.

I’m afraid we may never see Greetner’s revolution in human thought before civilization falls apart but even as things unravel, books like The Vanishing of a Species? are an important contribution to our heritage as a species. By knowing that even in 1970s people were seriously considering the effects of over-reliance on oil, peak access to energy and environmental depletion we have an invaluable legacy for generations of the future. I hear Dr. Greetner loud and clear when he’s telling us that he saw the problems we’re only now recognizing and tried to raise awareness of them through his teaching and writings.  Acknowledging these problems now may be as Charles Eisenstein says in Ascent of Humanity, like a drunk’s moments of clarity on the way down, but at the least we can create a legacy our  future society can build upon.