Is our earth our home?
It sounds like a second-grade question. And it is. Because my second-grade daughter just asked me the question and expected an answer and explanation. She is waiting with her eager eyes to listen to what I have to say. Should I say the truth or lie to her? So, I said,
Yes, it is our home, and in someways we cannot call it our home. I did some second-grade explanations, to explain why it is our home and why it is not. Let's look at the question with philosophy once again.
What is home?
According to Mariem Webster home is where one's place of residence or place of origin. But it does not give in which context. If you consider you as a member of your family, your place of living, is your home. Maybe your parents and siblings still live there. If you are a microbe- like demodex - a human face is your home. So, in what context Earth is our home and in what context it is not?
When is our earth our home?
When we consider ourselves human race, earth is our home. It is our origin as well as our place of residence. Even we can consider, animals and plants as a same biome, If you would know anything about biomes, it is a self-sustaining ecosystem where multiple species flourish. Yes, we like the idea of earth being our home. When Elon musk want to travel to mars, and when Neil Amstrong set foot on the moon, we felt like it is 'our' step. When there is an asteroid which comes towards earth and a massive mega scale volcanic eruption happens in Yellowstone national park, we unite ourselves as a single human race and call, earth our home. And like I do, we like to teach our children the Earth is our home, until they get older and learn themselves all the races, countries and religions, and learn themselves that the earth is not our home.
When is our earth is not our home?
So, I said, although we call earth our home, we are not free to travel. For political, cultural and religious reasons, and even environmental reasons. You cannot travel to, top of the mountain Shishapangma, the 14th eight thousander, you cannot, travel to Gaza strip without getting killed. You cannot travel to Europe without a security check, if you are from Africa, and you cannot travel to heart of the Africa, with your Jewlery and wallet, without getting robbed. You cannot dive deep ocean and watch a shipwreck. So, reality is much and much more limited than our imagination. It seems Earth is our home, looks like a supernatural dream.
So, I had to explain that because there had been nasty people who carry knives and weapons, who smuggle aero planes, I had to undergo a security check every airport. It doesn't feel like freedom at home. And when I am out of my country, no matter how long I stay, it doesn't make me feel like home. So, it is true earth is our home, and wrong at the same time.
Limits of our earth our home.
Then I thought about it, maybe the earth was truly our home, back in the day, when there were Indians lived in the central America until they were invaded. They could travel anywhere and settle anywhere. No, unless we have universal ruler and Universal rules, or none at all, the earth is not our home. Still, it will be only partially true, as long as we could not overcome our physical barriers. And it really feels like we are small human beings in front of a mountain. Nanga Parbat seems to be bigger than all the atoms of humans ever lived on the planet earth. Now, I have explained the truth about earth being our home. How about another way of looking at the problem.
Is earth our prison?
If you read my previous article on the spider and web, it will enlighten you furthermore.
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