Homo sapiens – (very clever, but seldom wise) has evolved with a Stone Age brain inherited from our ancestors on the African savannah. In the last 200 years we have discovered and exploited, in our cleverness, a one-time bonanza of cheap stored fossil energy upon which we have become almost totally dependent. We have succumbed to expectations of inevitable, never-ending progress. But it is a tragic delusion to assume that growth – on a finite planet – can continue inevitably. This is a dilemma that UUs, in service to our 7th Principle, have an obligation to address.

Jane R. Shoup is Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences at Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN, where she taught for 33 years. She holds a PhD in Zoology from the University of Chicago. She has spoken several times at UUFDC, most recently (Sept. 2017) on “Homo sapiens: Clever But Seldom Wise”.

Music: Jon Bass
Service Leader: Donna Johnson