From Richard Firmin, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, UK
Reading Fred Pearce’s piece “On the bright side” reminded me how indebted I am to New Scientist for reviewing Christine Webb’s book The Arrogant Ape last year, in which she highlights the dangers of anthropocentrism. I have read it twice and sent copies to several friends, which is a measure of how vital I believe her thesis to be (14 February, p 19).
In the book, Webb says she is neither pessimistic nor optimistic about the future, just hopeful – which I think is a more realistic attitude than the one expressed by Pearce. While he lists five reasons to be cheerful about the future, I fear his optimism is misplaced. Hopefulness enables a positive outlook, which can lead to useful engagement, but optimism runs the risk of creating complacency, potentially resulting in no action.
