Catastrophic thinking extinction and the value of diversity from Darwin to the Anthropocene - David Sebekowski

We live in an era where scientists, media, and popular culture repeatedly remind us of the danger of mass extinction looming ahead. We have been told that human activities are currently causing a sixth mass extinction, which may be greater than the five previous geological disasters that drastically changed life on Earth. In fact, there is genuine concern that the human race itself may be heading down the path of the dinosaurs, who were victims of another mass extinction that occurred about 65 million years ago. The way we interpret the causes and consequences of extinction, and the deeply ingrained moral imperatives that stem from cultural values of a particular historical moment, as author David Sepkoski reveals, the history of scientific ideas about extinction over the past two centuries is intertwined with major changes in how Western society has dealt with biodiversity and cultural diversity. It seems obvious to most of us that ecosystems and diverse societies have intrinsic value, but the current fascination with diversity is a relatively recent phenomenon. In fact, the way you value diversity depends entirely on our sense that it is unstable, that it is actively threatened, and that losing it could have dire consequences. In the book "Disaster Thinking," the author reveals how and why we learned to appreciate diversity as a resource, at the same time as we learned to think catastrophically about extinction.