Exemptionalists
Science has come a long way since its conception in the Hellenic era. From then, man has tried, and I dare say, achieved feats in understanding earth and the universe at large (Cairns, 2014). This understanding has led to countless advancements in this field, and said advancements had helped humanity jump leaps in terms of perfecting ‘living.’ Improvement of science over the centuries has led to the development of medicine, technology, transport, food production, etc. which has all improved the standards of living (Cairns, 2014). All this has come at a great cost. Climate change, for example, is eating away at our planet. It is because of this that two revolutionary groups have emerged, each fighting the other but both fightings to save our world.
These groups include the environmentalists and exemptionalists. The focus of this paper is on the later, a group that does not only acknowledge the superiority of mankind above all things nature, but the fact that we as humans, transcend all other lifeforms and as such have the ability to think, and to come up with solutions that can save the world without necessarily regressing to our baser instincts and falling puppet to the laws of nature (Cairns, 2014).
Exemptionalism insists that humanity is excused from the binding laws of nature that would dictate our survival in the world (Cairns, 2014). It sets its beliefs in the achievements of humanity through creativity, technology, ingenuity, and economy rather than Darwinian principles that tie us to a dependence on ecology for support and sustenance. Resource depletion should not be the focus of the world at the moment. There are several alternatives to these resources (Cairns, 2014). Fuel, for example, can be replaced by solar and wind energy (which are gifts of creative thinking and not conforming to being controlled by nature.)
My view on the matter is that the advancements of science can solve any issue created by the advancements of science. If the world’s ecological system is broken, surely, with all that is at our disposal, can’t we fix it?