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How do we tell stories of humanity and nature at a time when our planet is burning? Novelist Elif Shafak invites us to listen to the trees, whose experience of time, stillness and impermanence is utterly different from our own. "Hidden inside [their] story is the past and the future of humanity," she says.
This talk was part of the Countdown Global Launch on 10.10.2020. (Watch the full event here: .) Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at
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Tree said : human is the only person who cut the tree make papers and write “SAVE TREES” on that paper……
“Man is the cancer of the earth.”
Emil Cioran
@Marvin Boggs no, rocks are sentient
*cough* her background *cough*
@Klutz lol
Ikr xd
If trees could speak then it would say that phytomining is awesome.
“It is your responsibility to learn of the natural world and to use it effectively in a manner that can be sustained. This has been learned throughout the ages. It is not a new learning. But humanity has forfeited this knowledge out of greed, out of corruption, out of ambition. And now the world has a great many people in it. The boat is full.
How will you manage such circumstances? How will you face the Great Waves of change? How can you bring and restore greater balance in the natural world for your benefit? The answer is beyond your intellect. Though you may have very good ideas, and there are many solutions that are being proposed that will be very helpful overall if brought together and if utilized fully, but really the answer to these questions has to go deeper than the intellect, deeper into you.
It is not a problem for other people to solve for you. It is a problem for everyone. It is not merely a problem for governments, or for science, or for politicians. It is a problem for everyone.
This represents your relationship with nature. If you violate the relationship, you will have a bad relationship. It will be unhealthy. It will be unstable. There will be friction. There will be difficulty.
Just like you having a relationship with another person, if you abuse that person, if you do not respect that person, they will behave in a manner and will respond in a manner that will be unpleasant and discordant. There will be difficulties between you. You will not function in harmony together.
It is like this with your relationship with nature. If you show no respect for nature, if you do not respect how it functions and how you must behave within this relationship, then the relationship becomes discordant—producing unwanted results, unpleasant experiences.
If you do not take care of your home, it ceases to be a desirable place to live. If your house is falling apart, if you cannot or will not keep it up, it becomes an undesirable place to live. The world represents the home of humanity. If it is not supported and sustained and managed properly, as far as you can manage it, it ceases to become a desirable place to live.
You cannot change the laws of nature. You can limit the impact of nature’s difficulties. You can enhance and develop its opportunities and its benefits. You can utilize natural forces to your benefit. That is what humanity has been doing all along, but it is a balance. And humanity has lost the balance.” A quote from the newmessage org > The message > Other Revelations> Nature and Natural Disasters
“To the outside, the dead leaves lay on the lawn Before they died, they had trees to hang their hope”
Hi, how are you? South Korea began to get cold after heavy rain last week. I hope health and good things will be with you this week as well. ^O^
If trees could speak they wouldn’t talk to this lady who is speaking in front of the evidence of a tree massacre
Hahaha
I like using tree trunks as a back scratcher post.
Very comforting
Vietnam War Veterans: Having Flashbacks…..
I love how at 2:56 she turns to the other side getting half of her face covered in shadow for effect.
This what happens when the shrooms kick in
hope you’re not making fun of shrooms. It will be our savior and cure the depression cause by a century of war & collective trauma.
It’s already in phase 3 of some FDA clinical trials.
@cyrilio chill dude… it’s a joke
LOL that’s exactly what I was thinking when I was listening to this.
Investing in bitcoin has been best decision I made this year, I wish I knew about it earlier than now, I would have been a millionaire by now, but it’s better late than never right!
+1 5 4 1 4 4 9 7 0 5 1
I didn’t believe it before until I gave it a try it was of no regrets
His not like other traders that will start telling you stories why your trade didn’t commence after collecting your money.
@michelle murphy thanks I will send him a DM ASAP
I’m so glad to come across these comments today
They would cry out, for they have suffered the greatest extermination in history
Wow, I can hear you clearly are a writer. The symbolism in word choice speaks for itself. You also have a good voice to listen too. Calm and smoothing. I myself would love to hear more from you here on TED. 🙂 Good luck with your career!
Way to assert dominance by sitting in front of so many dead trees
“The Giving Tree” a book will remembered.
I think so…. It’s successful her poems, if where, she while reading my soul.
Actually stunned by this. It is amazing how “they” are so believeable by repeated usage of “us”.
“If there is one thing that it is destroying our world more than anything
it is numbness.
When people become disconnected, desensitized, indifferent
when they stop listening,
when they stop learning
and when they stop caring about what’s happening
here, there and everywhere”
Elif Shafak
As an Arborist I find this monologue vapid and misleading, Harmony requires a balance of giving and taking, Old trees shed large lower limbs as they mature, we shed our idealistic impractical ideals of youth. She sits in front of a forest on a book shelf and speaks of tree blindness, OMG.
Agenda 2@3@ climate change = anti human (man is a parasite narrative)
FYI !!!!!
CO2 is literally tree food, in return their waste product is oxygen.
The sun’s output determines Climate cycles, always has!!!.
The pollution of our waters and soil is where we should be focusing attention.
But I’m afraid the energy and good intent of concerned eco-warriors have been hijacked by forces that do not believe in balance but in dominance and control.
If anything, the books let us witness our actions regarding the trees while hearing their perspective at the same time. Don’t cloud the message, guys.