Detail of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

by Tracy Jamison*

Mark Lynas is an optimist. On February 29th, Mr. Lynas lectured here at OSU at LaSells Stewart Center on his book, The God Species. According to Mr. Lynas, humans are a God species and consequently we have to “run the planet as if we were gods”. Not the kind of Gods found in Greek mythology, when humans were still learning the nature of the world, but kind, benevolent gods who recognize that we have to be good stewards of our planet. Mr. Lynas related that the earth is estimated to be approximately 3.7 billion years old and Homo sapiens are estimated to have been on the earth 100,000 years.  Mr. Lynas stated, “We, as humans, have gone from poking sticks in an anthill to creating global communication systems”. At the risk of sounding anthropocentric, we have come a long way. Continue reading