Humans have populated every environment on earth. We live on the frozen tundra and in the searing deserts. We live in thriving cities of millions and in isolated camps of a few dozen. Some societies seem simple because they are small and their members are selfsufficient and use simple tools. Others seem complex because they have large populations and people depend on each other for food and goods and use sophisticated technology. In between, there is a range that fills the spectrum. All of these differences are cultural, learned behavior, the result of a complex interaction between our inventiveness and our natural environments. As we search for new horizons, our inventiveness thrusts us across the boundaries of space, into new worlds. This new view of earth dispels an ancient myopia the artificial boundaries of our states and the politics that often divide us. Here is a vision of one planet and one family of humankind. But the view from earth reminds us of a common human dilemma, the
Funding for this program was provided by. Human beings are all one species. We are all equally capable of language, creativity, and thought. The differences among us lie in our cultures, our beliefs, how we organize our societies and how we make our living. Humans have populated every environment on earth. We live on the frozen tundra and in the searing deserts. We live in thriving cities of millions and in isolated camps of a few dozen. Some societies seem simple because they are small and their members are selfsufficient and use simple tools. Others seem complex because they have large populations and people depend on each other for food and goods and use sophisticated technology. In between, there is a range that fills the spectrum. All of these differences are cultural, learned behavior, the result of a complex interaction between our inventiveness and our natural environments. As we search for new horizons, our inventiveness thrusts us across the boundaries of space, into new worl
Humans have populated every environment on earth. We live on the frozen tundra and in the searing deserts. We live in thriving cities of millions and in isolated camps of a few dozen. Some societies seem simple because they are small and their members are selfsufficient and use simple tools. Others seem complex because they have large populations and people depend on each other for food and goods and use sophisticated technology. In between, there is a range that fills the spectrum. All of these differences are cultural, Learned Behavior the result of a complex interaction between our inventiveness and our natural environments. As we search for new horizons, our inventiveness thrusts us across the boundaries of space into new worlds. This new view of earth dispels an ancient myopia the artificial boundaries of our states and the politics that often divide us. Here is a vision of one planet and one family of humankind. But the view from earth reminds us of a common human dilemma, the ri
Our beliefs, how we organize our societies and how we make our living. Humans have populated every environment on earth. We live on the frozen tundra and in the searing deserts. We live in thriving cities of millions and in isolated camps of a few dozen. Some societies seem simple because they are small and their members are selfsufficient and use simple tools. Others seem complex because they have large populations and people depend on each other for food and goods and use sophisticated technology. In between, there is a range that fills the spectrum. All of these differences are cultural, Learned Behavior the result of a complex interaction between our inventiveness and our natural environments. As we search for new horizons, our inventiveness thrusts us across the boundaries of space into new worlds. This new view of earth dispels an ancient myopia the artificial boundaries of our states and the politics that often divide us. Here is a vision of one planet and one family of humankin
Halfway around the world, in california, are clues to understanding the fall of mesopotamia, as farmers here struggle to overcome a threat to this fertile garden land. The ruins of ancient societies may hold keys to our own survival as, out of the past, archaeologists explore one of the greatest of mysteries the decline and fall of grand civilizations. Mission control ignition. And liftoff. Liftoff. Keach for more than five millennia, humankind has seemed to dominate earth, both creating and destroying grand civilizations. Each of these human experiments has changed our planet. This high Vantage Point brings us a new and sobering view. For the first time, we behold our world as finite, limited. On the darkened face of earth, the lights of cities record the expansion of our kind. Just 50 years ago, two billion people lived on earth. Today our global population has reached five billion. Within the next generation, it will double once more. Our exponential growth now threatens the very re