The World Without You

I just finished reading the book The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, for the second time. It's not often that I read a new book twice, back to back, but this one needed it. It's one of the deepest books I've read in a long time, and it took me a couple readings to really understand where he was going. Once I did that, the book became even more incredible.

The premise of the book is to imagine a world without human life... not from the beginning of time, but from right now. Imagine if people somehow vanished from Earth. What would happen to the planet? That question is what Weisman answers throughout. Clearly, the book is entirely hypothesis... BUT the "answers" are based on Weisman's vast scientific background, as well as the research provided by others. In answering the question, he wonders about species of plants and animals that are extinct, close to extinct, and currently in perfect condition. He wonders about the decomposition of man-made materials and infrastructure. He takes into account global warming and even a belief in God/s. I HIGHLY recommend the book to anyone who is interested in books based on theory and research.

That said, after reading the book, I went off in a different direction. What would the world be like without ME? The answer is a pretty far reaching one, and I'll blog about that another time. But think about this for a minute...

What would the world be like without YOU?

Most of the time, people think about what they'd like to do with their lives, but not many people think about how their own personal stamp on the world would be felt if they no longer existed. So think for a minute... think about all of the people you have met; your job; your dreams; your kids, family, and friends; the things you have already done in your life...

If you were to just disappear tomorrow and life continued with the things you have done but without your presence and project that out... what would the world that you left be like? What would happen to all of the things listed above if you were no longer here? How would your personal stamp on the planet look tomorrow? 1-5 years from now? 10 years? 50-100 years? When thinking about this, try to have some fun with it!

Feel free to comment on this one. I'm still digesting this...

Oh yeah... for more information on the author and the book, click the link/s below.

http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html

http://www.worldwithoutus.com/did_you_know.html