It starts with a joke. After a lecture on climate change attended by Jonathan Lear, a young academic stands up and declares, “Let me tell you something: we’re going to be Not Miss!” The audience laughs. But what’s funny about the idea that not only is humanity bringing about its own end, but that no other surviving species sheds a tear for it? Of course, the joke is that as humans die out, so does theirs own ability to miss would disappear from the face of the earth, mourning. Because of their destructive activities, people not only do not deserve to be mourned – there would simply be no one left who could do so. But is that a reason to laugh?
Philosopher Jonathan Lear on the power of mourning – culture
