Jane Goodall: A Retrospective

Science: The Poetry of Reality and Why It Deserves to be Heard

A young Charles Darwin.

            In a previous meeting in our comparative anatomy class, we were asked to watch this BBC film entitled “Creation.” The film showed a huge part of the story behind the conception of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” and the ideas on evolution it contained, placing a focus on Darwin’s personal struggles in his attempt to revolutionize ideas on the origin and diversity of life. His hesitation and repeated delay of the completion and publication of his work primarily resulted from a recognition that communicating his ideas on evolution was going to be highly controversial, challenging prevailing beliefs at the time about creation based on a literal interpretation of the account of Genesis and the immutable essence or eidos of species (an idea traced back to Plato’s philosophy of Essentialism). True enough, Darwin’s theory and the vast body of evidence he gathered to substantiate it were initially greeted not with celebration or high regard, but with contempt and ridicule, especially from people of religion who felt evolution was incompatible with a Creator.

Natural Selection at work.

Nevertheless, Darwin’s simple, yet elegant theory of evolution and its driving mechanism (natural selection), with its grand explanatory—and predictive—power, has allowed us to understand a great deal about the natural world and the massive scale of life’s diversity on the planet. Unfortunately though, to this day, proponents of creationism (especially in the United States) refuse to acknowledge the fact of evolution, arguing that students be taught the “controversy” about evolution and the “alternatives” to it, when in reality no such controversy exists, evolution having been firmly established as a scientific fact, as true a fact as gravity or heliocentrism. It is critical to recognize that this resistance is mainly rooted on the discomfort people associate with the idea that evolution is incompatible with a Creator (and in fact that is an idea advocated by some, but not all, evolutionary biologists like Richard Dawkins) because its truth makes it no longer necessary for us to postulate the existence of some Divine Being to explain the origin and diversity of life. Anyway, whether or not evolution fails to fit with the idea of a Creator, it is a matter which has little to do with evolution’s actual truth: the discomfort elicited by something doesn’t make it any less true.

Jane doing field work in Gombe, Tanzania.

Meanwhile, an example of a contemporary scientist who also faces similar resistance to her findings and work is a personal hero of mine: Jane Goodall. Her first studies of chimpanzees and their nature in 1960 were initially written off as those of an uneducated girl, untrained in the reductionist thinking that consumed science then. Some of her methods were unconventional for science at the time: this included her practice of naming the chimpanzees she studied rather than assigning them numbers. Similar practices that bravely admitted emotional attachment to the animal subjects under study was, and sometimes still is, not considered very “scientific.” More importantly however, her revolutionary findings on chimpanzee behavior and the insights they led to, provoked considerable controversy. These included the observation of tool use and modification in chimpanzees, which compelled us to redefine what it is to be human. Even more controversial were her observations of violence among her beloved chimps. She describes this as her first experience of the politics of science: some of her colleagues persuaded her not to publish her data, for fear that irresponsible scientists and writers would use it to justify violence in humans. Meanwhile, yet another of her important scientific contributions was evidence that we are not alone, that we are not the only animal beings with sentient minds, feelings and emotions. Many theologians, philosophers and even scientists criticize this. And it’s not surprising. Findings that challenge “human uniqueness” often elicit violent reactions from people who wish to keep man on his glorified pedestal, apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Finally, yet another way in which she faces resistance is in relation to an advocacy of hers I deeply, personally believe is important: that of the conservation of biodiversity. People who work to improve the lives of nonhuman living beings we share the planet with invariably come in for criticism from those who believe that such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity. People may, for instance, feel angry at the thought of allotting funds for the conservation of a seemingly insignificant bug, without realizing the greater implications of the effort to save it from extinction. This is why conservation is just as much about changing people’s attitudes, as it is about saving genes, species and ecosystems. And even here, she is sometimes criticized for being unrealistically optimistic about the current state of the cause.


Despite all the criticism against her however, it is incontrovertible that Jane's work has been of immeasurable value not just to science, but for us humans and the rest of life on the planet as well. Her ethological research has granted us access to insights on our own behavior and evolutionary history. Moreover, her continuing efforts for the cause of conservation has helped out not just nonhuman animal life, but countless people as well--something her projects such as TACARE (take care) and Roots and Shoots testify to. It is no wonder she has been appointed a U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2002 for her environmental and humanitarian efforts. 

Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE, UN Messenger of Peace

In conclusion, science provides us a unique lens through which we better understand the world around us. This deeper understanding in turn offers us profound insights we would realize only if we embrace them with open minds.

The Duck

The Duck

By Jane Goodall

A duck that flew across the sun

Flew on past me,

Winging his solitary way

Towards the sea.

I saw the brightness of his eye

So close he flew;

His feathers in the sunset gleamed

With lustrous hue.

I heard the music of his wings,

The song of flight

Stirring the stillness of a world

Awaiting night.

I sensed the warm life in his breast

So close to me 

And in my heart the pain of joy

That such could be.

The lovely dunes; the setting sun;

The duck--and I;

One spirit, moving timelessly

Beneath the sky.

This is a poem written by one of the people I admire the most: Jane Goodall. She evidently combines in the poem her love for the natural world, and her reflective interest in spiritual topics. I like this poem because it effectively reflects her then growing awareness of the incontrovertible unity of the diversity of life on the planet (as this was written at a time when her beliefs had been frequently evolving). She tries to capture here the feeling of being one with the rest of life, and reflects on whether our species has the right to dominate the rest of nature only because of our capacity to do so. I believe in the message that there is value in all life.

Lover

A magnetic poem I wrote:

The soul's muffled scream

reverberates in the best of dreams.

Yet each passionate thought of you

embraced by a multitude of hues

nourished by the words

deprived of speech

remains within the shadowy recesses

of a troubled and inhibited heart.

Destitute of the warmth

that rests only in your arms,

I flee this unwieldy reality

and hasten to you 

whom I seek dearly.

Greeted by the glow of incandescent eyes,

with your touch,

every drawn breath intensifies,

and soon follows

a sweet surrender

to the ineffable pleasure

that emancipates

the totality of my being 

beyond measure.

Hope and A Childhood Dream

...[C]onservation is a continual series of challenges-the fight for conservation never ends-and so I exhort you: press on to meet new challenges, for they surely await, and will always be waiting for those who strive to keep the earth fit for life in all its many splendored forms -Tom Cade

I've been reading Jane Goodall's "Hope for Animals and Their World." And I love the book! I just love it, I love Jane! Once more, Jane lives up to her image as one of the most inspirational figures in conservation, having inspired generations of conservation biologists.

I have yet to write a full entry on the book, but one message is clearly evident in each and every one of its lovely pages: a message of HOPE.

I can't wait to write about this book! I especially like the book's two concluding chapters on Jane's reasons for remaining hopeful amidst a grim neighborhood of beauty and destruction, and on her reasons for conserving endangered species. The latter of which I find endearingly close to my heart.

Right now, my plans are to pursue a career in conservation, in spite of the vast challenges--personal and environmental--ahead. I recognize few people understand conservation. And I don't have to look far for such people: my parents and even some of my closest friends are some of them. After all, why conserve species, the natural world when millions of people are starving? Isn't my dream selfish? Is conservation a well-meaning, yet misguided cause? And this is one of the things Jane discusses in the final chapters of the book. Individuals who dedicate their lives to improving those of non-human beings invariably come in for criticism from those who believe that such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity (though this is not to say that conservation does not benefit humans, for we are, after all, just one of the many forms of life that inhabit the earth). Time and time again, Jane proves to be a colossal inspiration in guiding those of us who do understand on how to face such resistance. I love her!

The Warmth of a Shell and the Ephemeral Verisimilitude of Security

These past few weeks have been such a painfully lengthy struggle. Having to face both fronts of academic burden on one hand and personal issues on the other has drained out all sense of purpose and urgency in…well, virtually everything.

Nothing’s new in terms of academics, really. The workload’s insane as usual… But it’s the final destination I constantly try to keep sight of. I’ve always been the kind of student who has to have some degree of emotional investment in any given subject to do well in it. That means some subjects are trouble for me.

Then there are all these personal issues.

I’ve been thinking a great deal lately. And it really is depressing. There’s a lot I’m confused about. There’s a lot I don’t understand.

Just when I thought I was finally firmly embracing this newfound security, everything just slips away and breaks down right in front of me, filtering down this winding path into inevitable despondency.
What ever prompted me to venture out of the safe and reassuring confines of this shell anyway? Who am I kidding... 

Is reality really this ugly?

Ugh.

I’ve had better days.

Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII: A Literary Critique

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda expresses what may be the essence of love. He does so by sketching images that describe love's nature through a potent string of words. Vivid imagery, a defining depiction of love, and a careful selection of words achieved with poetic precision--these are a few notable characteristics of Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII.

The vivid imagery skillfully sketched by the author is evident throughout the work. He employs concrete images to communicate the idea he wishes to get across to the reader. Such lines include, "the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off" and "dark things between the shadow and the soul." In the mentioned lines from the poem, the persona suggests that he harbors feelings of infatuation for his lover not as something warm and pleasing as the pale reddish hue of an ember, but as a dark covert secret. The message of the persona contained within the same lines might not have been illustrated as effectively had it not been for the vivid imagery. The persona then compares his love to "[a] plant that never blooms/but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers” and expresses his gratitude to the lover as “a certain solid fragrance/risen from the earth lives darkly in his body.” The poem draws to an end with an image of the persona sharing a singular existence or being with that whom he loves: “…so close that your hand on my chest is my hand/so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.” Once more, the imagery here in the poem’s concluding lines—that of a person, or two persons sharing a common being—does assist the reader in understanding how two people seem to be more than part of each other as they are rendered one and the same by the love between them.

              Another notable feature of the poem is the defining depiction of love communicated effectively by the author. Pablo Neruda plays with the image of shadow or darkness, suggesting an idea on love: that the ‘shadows’ of that whom one loves are overlooked, and light is shed on the poem’s latent yet genuine beauty. This is evident in such lines as: “I love you as certain dark things as certain dark things are to be loved/in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” In love, one always sees the best in his lover in spite of an often misleading façade. The persona expresses this by saying, “I love you as the plant that never blooms/but caries in itself the light of hidden flowers.” Love therefore equally brings out the best in someone as “a certain solid fragrance/risen from the earth lives darkly in [the] body.” Furthermore, love is often unquestioned if one feels it indeed is deeply true as according to the persona; “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where/I love you straightforwardly…” What actually makes love special though is its way of making lovers seem to be of a singular existence as expressed by the lines previously discussed in the preceding paragraph.

                What strikes the reader overall is the careful selection of words achieved perhaps only with a poet’s precision. As a poem, subtlety is evident as a multitude of ideas are only implied through a skilled use of imagery. Subtlety is perhaps one thing that qualifies a poem as good, and this is incontrovertibly achieved through a potent string of words the writer employs at every point in the poem.

                In concluding then, the poem shall strike its reader with vivid and effectively graphic imagery, a meaningful and perhaps relevant depiction of love, and poetically precise diction that heightens both content and form. Love’s essence is conveyed, and the reader is left satisfied and reflective.

Reasons for Hope.Naive and Unrealistic?

Just finished my executive summary of Myer's Conservation of Biodiversity: How are We Doing? 

Admittedly, reading the article did affect my outlook for the future of conservation. I knew I needed to brace myself once the author mentioned that, despite not being defeatist, the article is to be realistic about the current progress of various efforts for biodiversity. Nevertheless, I felt some degree of hopelessness. The present situation was even described to be deteriorating, and the author kept mentioning that even the best efforts to date have only slowed down what it repeatedly implied to be inevitable. I also disliked reading the part on delayed-fallout species, apparently referred to by biologists as the ‘living dead’ for which there is likely no hope unless their habitats are saved. 

Then there was the discussion in our last meeting in my biodiversity class before the break. Many in class said they generally had a negative outlook for conservation's future.

This all reminds me of Jane Goodall's four reasons for hope: the human brain, nature's resilience, the indomitable human spirit and youth. But then, I couldn't subdue surfacing feelings that these reasons may be naive and unrealistic. -__-

Are they? 

Summer Sem and Palawan! :D

Tropical rain forest is nature's most extravagant garden. Beyond it's tangled edge, a rain forest opens into a surprisingly spacious interior, illuminated by dim greenish light shining though a ceiling of leaves. High above towers the forest canopy, home to many rain forest species and the aerial laboratory of a few intrepid rain forest ecologists. The architecture of rain forest, with their vaulted ceilings and spires, has invited comparisons to cathedrals and mansions. However, this cathedral is alive from ceiling to floor, perhaps more alive than any other biome on the planet. In the rain forest, the sounds of evening and morning, the brilliant flashes of color, and rich scents carried on moist night air speak of abundant life, in seemingly endless variety (Molles 2010).

A quote from the second chapter of our text for our ecology class this summer. Just, brilliant! :D
Am enjoying just how inspiringly poetic the text occasionally sounds in certain parts of the book. Am reminded of the popular science books of Jane Goodall and Richard Dawkins whose style of writing convey their common passion for the natural world. :>

--BTW, since I've begun reading our textbook for Ecology, I suppose I'd simply have to resume reading Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth AFTER the summer sem instead :< --

Really looking forward to the coming summer semester. Ineffably thrilled for my two courses: BI 170/.1 (Ecology) and BI 175.1 (Biodiversity & Conservation)!!! :D

My sched for summer 2011!

...and... am going to Palawan once the sem ends! Am eagerly hoping to apply whatever I learn from these two courses! :]

PS
Am also going to have to postpone plans of re-learning the violin and resuming writing by accomplishing at least a poem and a short story after the summer sem... all because I'm finishing up on an initial scan of our Ecology textbook! haha :)

Munchies Animation i created out of boredom :D

Lincoln Park zoo scientist monkeys around with chimp research and conservation

Lincoln Park zoo scientist monkeys around with chimp research and conservation

Dog in Japan stays by the side of its ailing friend in the rubble - Yahoo! News

Dog in Japan stays by the side of its ailing friend in the rubble - Yahoo! News

Depressing Days and the Death of a Companion

been feeling low for the past week.
a lot's happened.
rather keep from discussing details.
an unusually long and unbroken series of daily upsets.
though not exactly a first, it's been weighing heavily on me the entire week.

exhausted.

blue.

ambivalent.

depression and its development into cynical contempt.

feign happiness and :)

then, earlier this morning, disbelief at the news of Coby's death.
didn't know exactly how to feel. got up early today only to be greeted by his cold and lifeless body. rigor mortis couldn't even allow him to pass away with the dignity he deserves.

death for a dog, or any animal, is a lonely matter. you die. no relatives. few friends. no eulogy. none of the shit that comes along with human death. you just leave, and the rest  indifferently move along. how i felt at least.

going to miss Coby for a lot of things.
the way that he's so small and just the most behaved among them (well together with fluffy).
the way he twists his head upon hearing a call from someone he doesn't see.
his prim manner of licking himself clean, dignified.
his excitement spilling out of him once he realizes we're about to leave for a walk.
his peculiarly clean and efficient way of eating the meat off his piece of bone.

and most of ung pagkamalambing nya.
what i consider most endearing about Coby is what he does whenever he finds any of us just sitting around, doing nothing. he'd cuddle up between your legs, and just sit and stay there. then, with a rubbing of his little head against your leg, he'd ask only that you reciprocate the affection.

these past days have stretched for so long already.
feeling so sad.
hoping things get better tomorrow.

all there is to do now is to return to facing the unfeeling workload.

"Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry."

-Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

ugh.

who was i kidding anyway.

might as well return to the security of familiar inhibitions and cynical anxiety.

work.work.work.

Culminating Activity with NSTP Tutees :)

Had fun yesterday! :D
Sure we're all proud of everything we prepared for them.
Really happy for the kids and for our area monitors.
Ang saya na nila sa mga simpleng bagay lang.
If anything, I think it's me who's got a lot to learn from my kids.

PS
Letters from my tutees were... interesting :))

Planet could be 'unrecognizable' by 2050, experts say - Yahoo! News

Planet could be 'unrecognizable' by 2050, experts say - Yahoo! News

I know it's weird, but this reminds me of a dream I had years ago. 

Images of destruction of our forests.

Floods.

Bleached coral reefs.

Disease.

Drought.

Fire.

Then a voice. This old man telling me that such changes will occur from 2050-2080.

Since that time, I've had repeated encounters with the year 2050. It just keeps resurfacing in a lot of articles I read. 

Hmm. :\

Speak Up for Bats

Speak Up for Bats

Read about this years ago. Strange. Similar things have been happening to frogs and honeybees.

Just to remind myself of what things the PAWS shelter might need. Got this directly from their website:


If you wish to donate in kind, the following are at the priority list of PARC:

• Dog food (kibble and canned)

• Catfood (kibble and canned)

• Kennel cabs, carriers or cages

• Vaccines, medicine, surgical materials/equipment, pet vitamins which you think our shelter animals can use.

• Scratching posts for the cats

• Chew toys for dogs

Besides feeding and taking care of our shelter animals, there's always a lot of cleaning to be done at the PAWS shelter - so if you're thinking of what the best thing you could give us besides dogfood, catfood and animal accessories, on top of our list is

• DETERGENT POWDER and BLEACH to disinfect our animal areas. No matter how much and how often you give detergent powder, for as long as we have live animals in our shelter, we would always need it.

Other things we need to clean our animal areas:

• dishwashing paste or liquid (kitty & doggie bowls need constant cleaning too!)

• clean old towels or rags, or foot rugs, or anything we can use to line their plastic pans that the kitties use as "cat beds" (they all huddle & crowd in these "cat beds" at night )

• walis tingting

• alcohol, cotton and toilet paper for our clinic and sickbay areas

• old newspaper to line the cages in our feline quarantine and sickbay areas
  
• garbage bags (size XXL)

"Friends overlook each other's lapses"

Just a quote I picked up from Big Bang Theory a few minutes ago. :)