Jane Goodall's Reasons for Hope
September 04, 2009 - by Molly Mann
This past Wednesday evening, I was very pleased to see Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and humanitarian, speak at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. She came on stage a frail-looking, diminutive woman, but her immense presence and magnetic personality soon held the audience in rapture, stealing the show completely from her interviewer, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner.
Though Jane spent a good deal of time recounting her experiences as an apprentice to Louis Leakey and studying chimpanzees in the Gombe forest of Tanzania, which she has since helped turn into a nature preserve, I was most interested in her perspective on our environment and our future. Jane has traveled all over the world, from the deepest wilderness to the busiest city, so if anyone can speak wisely and candidly about the state of our planet, it is she.
"When I think about what we've done to the world," she said. It makes me shamed, angry, and desperate."
These are harsh words, especially from a woman who has been called pollyannaish in her outlook.
Of course, it is not in Jane's nature to leave us entirely without hope. Rather, she believes that "without hope, there is no future," and has plenty of reasons to maintain her famous optimism. Paraphrasing her book, Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, Jane recounted what she believes are our paths to a brighter future: the human brain, the "indomitable human spirit," nature's resilience, and the determination of young people. You can read more about Jane's reasons for hope at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) Web site.
I find the last of Jane's reasons resonates most with me. She was 23 years old when she went to Gombe for the first time, to begin the work that forever changed the way humans relate to our animal brethren. That is the same age Charles Darwin was when he set sail on the H.M.S. Beagle. I am now 21. Though it often seems like I lack the experience or wisdom to effect any real change, and this frustrates me, Jane's example shows me how false that perception is.
"Because you did it, I can do it, too," Jane says young people often tell her. "You make me realize that my life has more value than I thought it did, that I can do more."
Perhaps we must add Jane herself to that list of reasons for hope.
