Book 194 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: Nature Always Adapts!

Book – Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

Book Description:

Join "America’s funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.

What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem―and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

Reflection:

I’m not totally sure what I just finished consuming with this book from the author Mary Roach. I’m honestly still processing all that was covered in this book, because it was a lot.

This is my first Mary Roach book, and I’m officially intrigued by the author. I accidentally, or not accidentally based on Amazon’s algorithm, stumbled onto this book and saw some reviews touting Mary Roach as the female Bill Bryson. I love all things Bill Bryson, so I figured I had to give this a try. I have to say that description of her writing is pretty damn accurate as it did feel like I was consuming a Bryson-esque piece of work. As like all Bill Bryson novels as well, I very much enjoyed my first Mary Roach book in Fuzz. Maybe we should call Bill Bryson the male Mary Roach instead of inverse just so we are fair here? Lol. Regardless, I love all things Bill Bryson, and I’m pretty sure Mary Roach has the potential to join that club of favorite science storyteller status.

I definitely plan to give her another shot and try a different book. After a quick google search of best Mary Roach books, it appears Fuzz wasn’t even in the top 7 as listed by her fans…so I have a lot more to look forward to apparently. #1 on the list was a book called Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void as #2. Both of those titles sound like homeruns for me, and I’m downloading them as I type.

On to the reflection – It’s ironic, 2 days before finishing a random book human / wildlife conflict management, the James’ and I were having one of our “Why are You Yelling” sessions and a similar topic was randomly brought up. James #1 was joking about a time when he accidentally sent people into a tizzy at a party once when he said, “Animals can’t commit murder!” Immediately, I knew what he meant and started laughing. He was just talking about the literal meaning of the word murder, not the sentiment which can’t exist to a lion, elephant, or zebra because they don’t speak words. Of course, everyone at the party said he was wrong and got all fired up about his inflammatory statement. However, he isn’t wrong because murder is a word, idea, and concept that only humans can understand. An animal has no idea what murder is. Yes, an animal can kill another animal, but that doesn’t mean it is murder as we define it. Their killing may just be dinner, protecting their family, fighting for the opportunity to pass on their genes, etc. It doesn’t matter why they kill, but they don’t know what it means to “murder” something because that doesn’t exist in their world. It's semantics, but an important distinction, nonetheless.

PS – I sure this would be an annoying comment to 99% of the world, but that is exactly why we get together to safely yell about topics exactly like this. It is a fun thought experiment, but probably not appropriate for a dinner party with relative strangers. In a controlled space around friends, this is the perfect topic to yell about and explore deeper.

The truth is, as humans, we all know what murder is when we hear that word. Killing that isn’t for any reason other than taking a life. Humans have collectively agreed that this is wrong, and thank God for that. Literally, thank God that he gave us this unique gift of consciousness which led to ideas, thoughts about thoughts, language, communication, and the ability to get a concept that originated in your mind out into the world that other people can understand and build cultures and societies around. Not murdering each other is a perfect example. #6 on the list of the 10 commandments is thou shall not murder. It’s remarkable that we even understand those words, the idea behind it, and can abide by that cultural norm, for the most part.

While humans are pretty incredible, sometimes we forget that we are still just another animal that lives in vast ecosystem that we call nature. Nature doesn’t understand or live by our laws. Nature lives by the universal laws of nature, and we have no say in those. That is why a book about policing nature like Fuzz is pretty hilarious. It is a fools errand to try and impose our will and laws on nature…it never works.

I remember hearing one the people Mary was interviewing about their job of policing nature, and they said something like, “It never works because nature always adapts”. Whatever methods we deploy, nature will always find a way around it because that is what nature does. Nature adapts and overcomes. We can either fight nature, and try to impose our will and laws on it, or we can embrace nature and do what we can to understand its laws and work together with our fellow life forms in this world. I know for myself…that answer is an easy one.

Question: Are you fighting nature or embracing it?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach