Bhawani Shankar Adhikari
The fear of eco-turbulence is the greatest one.
This eco-fear must be made positive fear to prevent the possible disaster.
Abstract
Fear in eco-turbulence captures the real picture of the present global warming's, chemical issues, industrial smokes, pollution in different fields and the fear of the environment and the exports who want to avoid such possible disasters for the living creatures. It has attempted to present the facts as it is to give the true knowledge to those people who have no knowledge in this regard. It shows that lots of experts have already warned the people to be conscious in it and to address the issues on time for the sake humanity. It does not blame anyone but awakens the people of all levels to come in the action of preserving and balancing the ecology and environment in no time.
Introduction
Fear is closely linked with ecology. If ecology is protected, every thing is protected. If the ecological position goes beyond the human control, then everything gets collapsed. The fear of eco-turbulence is the greatest one. This eco-fear must be made positive fear to prevent the possible disaster. It must not be treated with negative form of fear because it can become much more harmful to control the eco-turbulence both physically and psychologically if it is viewed from the negative lens of fear. So, eco- fear must be handled properly.
Fear in Different Fields
Fear has got multiple dimensions. Fear has touched the heart of each and every individual from laymen to scholars, farmers to physicians, laborers to administrators, official clerks to officers, politicians to prime minister and presidents, lawyers to judges, journalists to media-station investors, workers to industrialists, students to professors, and learners to scientists and so on. But the fear is categorized field to field and profession to profession. Each individual has the personal fear and fear is within the level of each individuals. It is beyond the instrumental capacity of measuring the fear of the individuals. Modern science and technology has invented a lot of wonderful things in the world but even science has failed to discover the instrument of measuring the real quantity of fear of anyone. So, fear is a mysterious one.
Fear in eco-system is concerned with the ecologists and environmental scientists. Professor, Shreedhar Lohani , has composed a poem, "Gaia" of eco-criticism. The poet advocates about the preservation of the mother earth to protect the humanity. The professor Lohani is worried about the present global issues of ecological degradation. Professor Lohani writes:
- The searing wind among the withered palms-
- The devouring rain-
- . . . . The crooked beak of a mountain peak-
- Turbulence and hunger
- All around-
- Yet-
- She endures. (175)
This extracted part of poem is the best example of eco-criticism and the real picture of the present world. No rain is a normal rain. It is unusual called "the devouring rain". The forest is not in natural form. It is "withered palms" and the blowing of the wind is unnatural called "The searing wind". The condition of mountain is not in a normal form. "The crooked beak of a mountain peak" displays the disfiguring condition of the beauty of mountains. Ecological decay has caused the trouble, turbulence and hunger all around the globe. The exploitation on earth is too much but yet the mother earth endures it. The condition of earth is worsening day by day. And it is too late to conserve the beauty of nature if the humanity is to be saved in the usual form. It is the time of ecologists and environmental scientists who need to make other levels of people alert, conscious and aware on time about the possible ecological disaster. To preserve the beauty of ecology on time is batter than to lament later.
Fear of Global Warming
Overpopulation has become the main cause of ecological defect.
The ecology has generated the world fear to the conscious people. - Desh Subba
Today's world is not as it was yesterday. The environment is changing on and on. The news of the unusual rain and tornados has brought the plights of the modern humane humans. The normal rain becomes the flood and the normal wind takes the form of tempest and such natural disasters become the main cause of death and devastation. The human peace and harmony and happiness and sleep has become beyond the thought of humanity. Michael Fisher has written "Eco-philosophy of Fearism and Eco-criticism: In an Age of Terror" in which he explains about the burning issues of eco-problem. He writes:
It is time for Eco-philosophy of Fearism. Sooner or later we must do it. We have a fear of global warming, pollution, increase of mass destruction weapons. There are source of many philosophy of fearism. Everyone needs to do specialization. We are waiting how new scholars grab it. (3)
The global warming is the issue of fearism. It is essential to handle the fear of pollution. The coming scholars need to understand it and they need to do specialization of their study in the fear eco-system. If fearism does not address the modern problems of industrial areas chemical clouding in a positive form, it would be the disastrous to all the human existence. A lot of toxic chemicals are found in Chinese industrial area. China suffers both from the local and international pollution. It is said in YouTube that 17% of air in china is not having the air quality because of the industrial production of the goods. People do not go out without wearing masks. China is one example of chemical pollution and other countries are not the exception of such condition.
YouTube states that China could not improve and control the pollution. China focuses only on economic growth and the government does not seem to care the pollution. China burns large number of coal which produces much more pollution. But the government has given even incentive for electric cars to protect the pollution. China is struggling with the new technology to fight against the pollution. Fear of Chinese pollution is one of the examples of eco-turbulence. The global temperature is changing rapidly and worsening day to day. Hence, the world's political leaders and the heads of the states need to come together and consult the exports how to curb the worsening condition of ecological and environmental position. Such type of fear should be in the minds of the heads of the government and they should not have the fear of only winning the next election. They have to have the broader type of the fear for the positive transformation of the negative condition of global warming.
To sum up, the global warming means the increase in temperature and to cause the number of unexpected things on the earth. Desh Subba gives the mirror like picture of the global warming in the following extract:
There is increase in temperature due to the over use of fuel, electricity, growth of population and destruction of forests. The use of fuel produces carbon dioxide. Snow melt and the sea level rises due to this global warming. The land near the sea sinks into water . . . . It brings about climate change- it is burning issue in the world. This global warming has severely affected all living things, particularly plantation, animal and birds. The world will not be a good and favorable place for all living creatures if wilderness, famine, desertification, and warmth continue. (298-99)
The global warning is such a fearful situation in which nothing can be imagined and even thought of. The extreme form of global warming is beyond the possibility of life on the earth. And why the heads of the government do not fear about it on time and initiate the rational action to prevent the future melancholy and misfortune of humanity.
The Human Condition
"We believe fear itself has multiple and infinite meanings and roles and
serves as a type of 'mirror' to self-awareness and consciousness itself " Michael Fisher
Comfortable life of human beings depends on the fear of preserving the eco-system in the world. The more conscious fear, the better human condition it becomes. Fear is everywhere and no place is left untouched with fear. "Everything that is available creates fear or has a factor of fear (Subba 19)". Subba has said that fear factor is found in everything but now the fear of the world is to be for the protection of ecology and environment to protect the human condition from disaster.
Jared Diamond has expressed the fear of losing the human civilization in his essay "Adaptive failure: Easter's End". He talks about the vanished Polynesian society. "Among all such vanished civilizations that of the former Polynesian society on Easter Island remain unsurpassed in mystery and isolation (Diamond 247)". The Polynesian society did not know how to save the ecology and environment. This society did not have the fear of saving the civilization and vanished the whole society. The Polynesian Islanders did not have the knowledge of saving the forest. The ignorance of the islanders is narrated:
Gradually trees became fewer, smaller and less important. By the time the last fruit bearing adult palm tree was cut, palms had long since ceased to be economic significance. That left only smaller and smaller palm saplings to clear each year, along with other bushes and tree lets. No one would have noticed the felling of the last small palms. (Diamond 258)
This quote indicates the ignorance of fear in the process of preserving the palm trees and it became the main cause of losing life and civilization. So, the fear in Diamond is the possible similar fate of present world. He further draws the ideas "If we continue to follow our present course, we shall have exhausted the world's major fisheries, fossil fuels and much of our so (258-59)". It is the fear of losing everything from the world and ultimately the humanity and its whole civilization. Diamond has given the fearful picture of the Islanders and he has asked to do the conservation of ecological beauty. Diamond writes:
The Easter Islanders had no books and no histories of other doomed societies. Unlike the Easter Islanders, we have histories of the past information that can save us. My main hope for my sons' generation is that we my now choose to learn from the fates of societies like Easter's. (259)
Diamond has compared and contrasted the Easter Islanders and the present world. We have got more information and historical books and knowledge to save the ecology and to save ourselves. We need to learn from the fates of societies like Easter's and need to fear to have the similar fate. If we do not fear, our fate may not become different from that of the Easter Islanders but it is only the matter of sooner or later. Therefore our fate is in our own hands and the rational activities.
The modern world is in the most critical situation. Ozone layer depletion is not properly handled to preserve it on time. More than 99% of the sun's ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by the ozone layer but it is depleting faster and faster ever than before. Anuradha Chaudhary in her essay "How Sane Are We?" writes:
A depletion of stratospheric ozone might allow more ultraviolet radiation to reach the ground and disrupt natural ecosystems, lower agricultural productivity, suppress the human immune system, and raise the incidence of skin cancer and eye cataracts (American Chemical Society 231). (262)
Chaudary's quote shows that the depletion of ozone layer is one of the main causes for the disruption of natural ecosystems and lower agricultural production as well as number of fatal diseases like skin cancer and eye cataracts. Now it is the time of becoming quite serious and to come into the action of avoiding it. If we don't fear about such possibility on time, the environment crisis may occur soon.
We are all responsible for the destruction of ecology and environment. But our collective actions are reckless and self-destructive. We seem we are fearless about it and we are digging our own or our descendants' graves. We need to think to change the ways of doing politics and even thinking process to save the living beings in the world. Chaudhary argues:
We must therefore need Capek's final admonition: if we fail to take decisive action, if we fail to bring about fundamental changes in our ways of thinking and doing politics, we just might sink and drown. (265)
This extract reveals that we all have to be quite responsible to conserve the nature. If we don't bring the fundamental changes in the ways of thinking and doing politics, the whole humanity might sink and drown. The course of doing politics for the sake of gaining power and chair must be changed. It must be done for the solution of burning issues of global warming and degrading human condition. But it has become too late and we must have the fear in it. In this respect, Anuradha Chaudhary quotes the fearful idea of Rudyard Kipling:
Now we can only wait till the day, wait and apportion our shame. These are the dykers our father left, but we would not look to the same. Time and again were we warned of the dykers, time and again we delayed. Now it may fall, we have slain our sons, as our fathers we have betrayed. (260)
This quote of Rudyard Kipling shows that we are in a helplessness of conserving the ecological condition. If we do not fear our future doom, we are the murderers of our future progeny. We lack the deeper understanding of ecological issues. We all people from the common laymen to the presidents must have the conscious and energetic positive fear to control the deteriorating ecological condition of the world. If we take such strong determination from now on, we can do somehow the positive management of the environmental position. Otherwise, we all are just waiting the doom days.
The main cause of fear of ecological degrading condition is overpopulation and deforestation. More people need more houses, fuels, cultivable lands and more woods and people cut down the trees. Overpopulation and deforestation are interrelated problems. "Population size and rates of growth are key elements in environmental change ( Nissani 33)". If population is controlled, the deforestation can automatically be controlled.
The ecological condition is not a new problem but it is rapid in its crisis. The deforestation causes the main as well as greater problem. The deforestation is also not a new one but the difference is that it is faster than ever before. Moti Nissani writes:
The deforestation crisis is not new. Many earlier civilizations, including those of the Middle East, New York, Mexico, and Easter Island, precipitated their own decline through overpopulation and deforestation. The difference is that we are destroying our forests faster and on a larger scale, than ever before. . . . Earlier in this century, forests covered around 40% of the earth's total land area. By this century's end, that figure will stand at about 25%. (34-35)
The deforestation process being faster and in rapid form than ever before is much more frightening. The world's 40% forest turning into 25% is another sign of fear. The worldwide eco-turbulence must come in the conscious mind of people and must be addressed with a positive type of fear. The blunder goes not to those ignorant people but to those who are familiar in the facts of such condition in the world.
Quantity of Fear
It is too complicated task to know the quantity of fear because the method of measuring the quality of fear has not been discovered. Desh Subba has argued about the problem of measuring fear. Subba writes:
Thus, external and internal factors always strike fear from all sides. Similarly, lots of temperaments, merits, and demerits keep moving inside the consciousness. There should be a balance in all. It is easier to balance them if they can be measured. We have not been able to treat fear easily due to lack of its measurement. We are obliged to deal with and treat fear by means of its experience and realization, for there has not been any method of solid measurement so far. (153)
Fear is concerned with consciousness and the knowledge. But how much fear people have with ecological condition cannot be measured and can not be understood. The external fear can be studied with the physical appearance of a person but it becomes too difficult to know the internal fear of person. So, fear is only realized and experienced. Until and unless minimum quantity of fear is applied in the decaying condition of ecology and the environment, the effort of conserving and balancing the ecological harmony remains only in words but not in action. It is the lack of understanding and lack of having the true knowledge of it to the people. The ecologists and the environmentalists only have the better knowledge and fear of worldwide worsening position of the ecology. The heads of the government and the policy makers need to have the knowledge about it to manage the fear of ecology and to save the world from the unimaginable echo-terror and it their responsibility and duty too.
Differences of Fear
Differences of fear vary person to person and the creatures to creatures. Those people, who are more conscious, become more alert and have the greater fear. People must fear more than the animals since they are more conscious and dutiful as well as responsible to save the ecology and environment. "People must struggle more than birds and animals due to their levels of consciousness, necessity and problem (Subba 282)". The humans are to be in the fear of preserving the ecological balance in the global village. Fear is necessary. "Food and shelter maintains the existence of animals. Only these two things cannot maintain the existence of human beings (Subba 282)". The human beings must have the greater fear than the fear of other animals. If people become more conscious with positive fear, the ecological condition of the world can be altered. Those people who have meaningful fear to protect the humanity must have the responsible fear to lead the whole world in a suitable place to live.
Fear in Population Growth
Animals and other creatures do not have the fear of their population growth since they are not conscious like human beings. So, it is entirely human beings who fear with the growth rate of population and its negative impact with ecology and the environment. The human fear differs from other animals and the creatures. So, the humans try to be safe from any danger. Desh Subba writes:
All living creatures share this world. All these creatures have equal participation in ecology ad balance. A fluctuation in balance and ecology, no matter whether small or big, has a deep impact in our lives. Man is one of the most sensible and powerful creatures. He is able to keep himself safe from any danger and continues his generation. (279)
Subba has claimed that man is the most sensible and powerful creatures and responsible to save the ecology and environment. All living creatures share this planet and to balance the ecology is a must. To balance the ecology, middle level of fear is required.
"We need a better fear education"- Michael Fisher
Overpopulation has become the main cause of ecological defect. The ecology has generated the world fear to the conscious people. Subba narrates:
Forest, plantation, and animals are the sources that provide all the necessary things to man. A land that was consumed by ten people twenty five years ago is consumed by twenty people after twenty years . . . . The growth of all these things yields bad impacts due to overpopulation. Thus, increase in population has a direct impact on ecology. Many animals, birds, and plants are becoming extinct due to lack of enough shelter, meadows, and preservation. That's why there is fear of depletion of the whole ecology. (297)
This extract shows that overpopulation has become the cause of deforestation, and the extinction of shelter and even the sources of food. The fear of depletion of whole ecology in the world is turning to be true.
The crisis of food and shelter including habitats comes not only to the animals but also to the human beings if we don't become more conscious to preserve the ecological balance. In this respect, Desh Subba has presented the facts:
Living creatures particularly animals and birds have crisis of habitats and foods due to overgrowth in population. Deserts and barren lands now have to be used for settlements. People, no doubt, want to live in a place full of facilities. They manage their food, shelter, and clothes but all these can cause deforestation. As a result, many wild animals and birds have already disappeared from this planet, and many others are said to have been disappearing within a century. It is indeed a dangerous indication for the future generation. (297 -98)
The extract indicates that the future generation does not have future because of overuse of forests and destruction of ecology. The humans need to be more and more alert to manage fearlessness by saving the forests and ecological balance. If the humans continue for the activities of deforestation in the same proportion as it is going on, the world would be without of any tress. It is explained:
People are overusing forests and plantation for their livelihood. They have cleared the forest for agricultural products and settlements. If we do not control or minimize overpopulation, we will have no other solution except clear the forests, which will certainly bring about the imbalance in ecology and environment. If human activities for deforestation continue one day the world is sure to be priceless (Subba 298)
Subbas's idea indicates that to be treeless means to be in the fear of life and the existence. To be imbalance in ecology and environment means to invite disaster. Some of the effects have already been realized with the climate change like drought, acid rain, heavy rain, partial rain and ozone layer depletion. The indication of horror is at hand. It causes various kinds of diseases. "Environmental pollution is a source of various diseases (Subba 298)". New kinds of skin diseases occur as a result of imbalanced environment. So, the fear of protection of environment is to be in the minds of all.
The fear of ecological and environmental imbalance can be minimized by managing the ecological problem. "Every act of the human beings is conducted by the fear (Subba 84)". If we fear and act in a rational way to balance the eco-fear, it becomes easier but everyone must have this sense of fear of balancing ecological imbalance. The life of humans cannot become easy without being free from the fear of imbalance of environment on earth. "Life cannot be easy unless the life becomes free from fear (Subba 72)". To become free from the unnecessary fear in life, we must act consciously to manage the degrading condition of ecology and environment.
Fear has multiple meanings and fear comes out of consciousness and awareness. The eco-fear comes only in those minds of the people who are conscious of the present condition of the world ecological and environmental situation. "We believe fear itself has multiple and infinite meanings and roles and serves as a type of 'mirror' to self-awareness and consciousness itself (Fisher et al 2)". It indicates that the fear in balancing of ecology and environment is to be enhanced in a necessary proportion. The self-consciousness and awareness in the field of degrading condition of ecology is a must.
"Fears always appear in those gray areas of our lives that
we feel inadequate or incompetent about ." -Osinakachi Akuma Kalu
The world, with the degrading condition of ecology and environment remains with fear and despair. ". . . all that is left is fear and despair (Kalu 41)". Until and unless the ecological and environment is not addressed on time, the eco-conscious people would be living with fear and despair in the world. We are almost unable to manage the eco-problems in the world. So, fear comes as we are not able to handle the burning issues in life. "Fears always appear in those gray areas of our lives that we feel inadequate or incompetent about (Kalu 59)". We fear with the incompetent of managing the ecological problem and the positive fear is appreciable but the negative fear is harmful to solve the problem. One of the obstacles for human happiness is fear. The fear of eco-turbulence has taken all our happiness away from us. To gain happiness we need to manage and balance the worldwide eco-turbulence and to create a fearlessness situation in the world.
Fear management has become one of the subjects of study in the present context. To create fearless situation is possible with the help of fear education. Michael Fisher writes "We need a better fear education (116)". We people have fear education; they become conscious about the eco-turbulence and actively participate to minimize the destruction and pollution of environment. ". . . it is a way to the normalization of fear itself in our societies (Fisher 60)". The act of normalization of fear in eco-turbulence is the act of balancing the environment and to know or to have the knowledge that there is not much risk of ecological bad effects in human life.
Future of Eco-fear
We are all worried about our future and for our generation. We live for tomorrow. We want our future life better. We are the dreamers and our dreams with positive fear come to be true. The writer of philosophy of fear Eneyo argues:
We all want our tomorrow to be better than our today, because of this; we try our possible best to do those things that will guarantee the actualization of our dreams . . . uncertainty regarding our future creates fear of failure and success. (44)
"Fear is a moderator of our thoughts, actions and inactions." -Michael Bessey Eneyo
To be worried about the future ecological condition is natural as well as meaningful. To fear about the future ecological balancing is positive fear and such type of fear helps us to be active as well as more and more conscious. "Future fear is not without its advantages (Eneyo 45)". When we have the fear of better tomorrow and with its advantages, we need to work hard to make it successful. "Fear is a moderator of our thoughts, actions and inactions (Eneyo 45)". Eco-fear is to be taken as a fear of motivator of our actions to balance the ecology and environment. ". . . fear moderates our thoughts into an informed idea that enables us know what to do when occasion warrants (Eneyo 46)". When we fear about the better tomorrow, we know the right and wrong and we can better handle the problem of balancing the ecology and the environment.
Positive fear helps to bring various types of the problems in life. B. Maria Kumar and B.S Susmita have produced positive driving force in "The Youth Don't Cry" in which they discuss about the positive fear. Kumar and Susmita write:
. . . handling of fear in a positive sense depends upon a multitude of factors such as frequency of positive social interactions, positive physical environment, levels of knowledge, education and wisdom, scientific temper, positive attitude, hope, etc. (167)
This quote indicates the positive fear of solving the problems of any kind. Levels of knowledge, education and wisdom can become the source of solving the future eco-fears. The youths need to develop the positive fear to balance the ecology and environment because youths are the future responsible and the dreamers more than the old people. Fear with reasoning to the youths can assist to guarantee the better tomorrow.
. . . handling of fear in a positive sense depends upon a multitude of factors such as frequency of positive social interactions, positive physical environment, levels of knowledge, education and wisdom, scientific temper, positive attitude, hope, etc.- B. Maria Kumar and B. S. Susmita
Conclusion
Fear in eco-turbulence has become the central issue all over the world. The chemical clouding has threatened the world. Nobody knows how much harmful effects we are facing in day to day life. We can feel only when we really experience the ecological and environmental effects in our real life. Until and unless we face the reality of its harmful results, we just fear.
The earth is in pain but "yet she endures". The implicit warning is that if human kind continues to exploit the earth recklessly, the earth may strike back. The ecological condition of the world indicates the darker picture of the future. But there is also hope for us because we can learn from the past mistakes. So, positive fear for better life for tomorrow plays the significant role to balance the ecology and environment. The positive fear in youths, intellectuals, ecologists and the environment experts can assist to become more and more conscious about the possible doom of the humanity. Hence, the positive fear is to be taken in positive sense to manage the fearless world for us and for our generation. But this type of positive fear should reach the hearts of all the heads of the government and administrators as well as from the laymen to the presidents to address this terrible issue. If it is not addressed. seriously and positively on time, the existence of any living creatures cannot be even imagined in future.
Author:
Bhawani shankar Adhikari is a Nepal born author. Bhawani Shankar Adhikari Born: 29 September 1968 Panchthar, Nepal. Teaches English language and literature in Balmeeki Campus, Kathmandu, Sanskrit University of Nepal Qualification: M.phil. (in English), Ph.D Scholars, student of LLB, B Ed, Father's Name: Khadga Prasad Adhikari Mother's Name: Chandrakala Adhikari His books: 1. Communism and Power Domination in George Orwell's 1984 and the Animal Farm 2. Sexuality And Sexual Perversion in The Waste Land of T.S. Eliot 3. Balmeeki: Prose Poems and Travelogue 4. More than 20 research articles Lives in Kathmandu, Nepal. Involved in NELTA and different private colleges.
Works Cited
Chaudary, Anuradha. "How Same We Are?" Flax- Golden Tales: An Inter-displinary Approach to Learning English. Ekta Books: Kathmandu, Nepal. 2008. Print.
China's War on Pollution. YouTube.
Diamond, Jared. "Adaptive Failure: Easter's End". Flax- Golden Tales: An Inter-displinary Approach to Learning English. Ekta Books: Kathmandu, Nepal. 2008. Print.
Eneyo, Michael Bassey. Philosophy of Fear: A Move to Overcoming Negative Fear. Xlibris. 2018. Print.
Fisher, R. Michael and Desh Subba. Philosophy of Fearism: A First East- West Dialogue. Xlibris. 2016. Print.
Fisher, R. Michael, B. Maria Kumar and Desh Subba. Fear, Law and Criminology. Critical issues in Applying The Philosophy of Fearism. Xlibris. 2018. Print.
Fisher, R. Michael. Eco-philosophy of Fearism and Eco-criticism: In an Age of Terror. Technical paper no. 68. 2017. Print.
Kalu, Osinakachi Akuma. The First Stage of the Fearologist. Owerri. The Penlords. 2017. Print.
Kumar, B. Maria and B.S Susmita. The Youth Don't Cry: A critical commentary on the Youth about their fears and hopes amidst adversities and opportunities. Indra Publishing House: Habibganj Police Station Road.2018. Print
Nissani, Moti and Shreedhar Lohani. Flex- Golden Tales: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Learning English. "Gaia". Ekta Books: Kathmandu, Nepal. 2008. Print.
Nissani, Moti. "Two Long-term Problems: Too Many People, Too Few Trees". The Heritage of Words. Ekta Books: Kathmandu, Nepal. 1998. Print.
Subba, Desh. Philosophy of Fearism: Life is Conducted, Directed and Controlled by the Fear. Xlibris. 2014. Print.
Subba, Desh. The Tribesman's Journey to Fearless. A Novel Based on Fearism. Xlibris. 2015. Print.
The Devastating Effects of pollution in China (part ½ ) 2014. YouTube.
Comments
Kudos to Adhikari for sensitising the world society effectively about one of the major global issues through philosophy of fearism.
A Swedish psychologist Arne Ohman found in his research that fear has been shaped by evolution as the animals always felt threatened by environmental dangers in prehistoric times. In humans also, certain fears are found to be inherited. Fear of wrathful nature, as experienced by ancestors can be passed on to the progeny through genes. Such instinctual fear is arational. When the individuals grow up, they develop certain phobias vis-a-vis environmental calamities like wildfires, floods etc which can be referred to as irrational fears. Some fears of environmental dangers can be rational when they are assessed and calculated, such as storms, landslides etc.
Therefore environmental threats, if viewed from global perspective or aptly termed by Adhikari as eco-turbulence can evoke fears at three levels namely arational, irrational and rational. Adhikari has dwelt broadly and meticulously on calculated risks of ongoing as well as impending environmental dangers in terms of rational fears which call for expeditious interventions. Arational and irrational fears can be converted into rational through learning, awareness, planning and execution of interventions by neutralising and mitigating the potential environmental disasters.
But on the other hand, there seems to be a problem of human psyche in rationalising imminent dangers. A study published in “Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences” (Times of India, February 28, 2019) found that people learn to accept extreme weather as normal and underestimate the extent of global warming, given that it has already caused extreme temperature changes. Such tendency is nothing but amounting to indifferent attitude towards explicit threats of erratic climate. “It is not a sign of good health”, warned Jiddu Krisnhnamurthi, an Indian philosopher, “to be well adjusted to a sick society”.
In such circumstances, fear of eco-turbulence as envisaged by Adhikari, can play a crucial role in activating collective human mind to embark on timely measures so that possible large scale environmental disasters could be thwarted.
Thank you for your positive comment and advice of editing version of it. Infact it is the responsibility of fear conscious people to make people aware in the world from possible disaster of degrading ecological condition. People do not go into the depth of the problem even if they know and if it is ignored, unimaginable misfortune may come to the whole humanity and the living beings and if fear is properly handled and the global eco-problem is addressed on time, the whole humanity can be saved.
It's interesting to see more people taking up philosophy of fear (fearism) more seriously. Eco-Philosophy of fearism is indeed another area of fear studies that demands more philosophic attention by any serious fearist/fearologist. It's the largest faculty in fear territory.
Human beings were supposed to be custodians of the things in their environment, but with all indications, it seems to be that custody has already evolved into abuse. Humans wrong interference with the environment has threatened the assurances of a fruitful and productive environment for a better life. The acts of deforestation, acidification, digging of borehole, sand-filling of rivers, bush burning, etc, are part of the reasons of incessant earthquake, volcanic eruption, climate change, global warming, building collapsing, etc. This in turn creates more fear.
At this point, we need to be courageous in approaching this problem by introducing measures on how to tackle this unhealthy condition of our present existential situation. We need not to be defeated by this fear and tension caused by our abusive way in tempering with the ecosystem. Rather, we should learn from our mistakes and work toward restoring and reviving our environment to reduce this atmosphere of fear created by our wrong interference.
Eco-Philosophy should work toward creating global awareness on how human ought to care for his environment, by nurturing it for the betterment of the present and the future generations. If human beings can take good care of their environments, the many incidents of fearful occurrences will be reduced. Thus making the world to be relatively fearless or fear positive.
We must learn how to show respect to the things in our environment. We should inculcate the habit of nurturing them. We must know that a destruction of and part of being (including our environment) is an attempt to destroy the whole of beings. Eco- Philosophy of fearism is a welcomed study into the field of fearism.
I look forward to the edited version of this article and more writings on this topic. Congratulations Adhikari
Thank you for your response.
fear in ecology is really a burning problem of the world. It is to be made the subject of public debate from common people to the policy makers. Fear of eco-philosophy is a wide area of study and it is essential to think on time to save the possible disaster in the world.
I am pleased to see the new branch eco-philosophy of fearism (extended beyond philosophy of fearism)... as indeed, the greatest fear(s) are arguably going to be eco- related in terms of suffering and death in the world, as cascading crises face the human-planetary problematique. Thanks for Adhikari (and Desh) to continue this work. I look forward to more. Editing Correction: Adhikari quotes me as saying "It is time for Eco-philosophy of Fearism. Sooner or later we must do it. We have a fear of global warming, pollution, increase of mass destruction weapons. There are source of many philosophy of fearism. Everyone needs to do specialization. We are waiting how new scholars grab it." (3), when this is actually Desh Subba's words, cited in my Technical Paper No. 68, p. 3 (Fisher, 2017). ALSO, please add a bio. for Mr. Adhikari to this article, that would help readers understand more where he is coming from. Thanks.
Thank you for your correction of ideas. I will edit the citation that you have mentioned. I hope you would be guiding me all the time whereever i make errors.