Dear Sir/Madam,

I watched the concluding episode of David Attenborough’s “Life of Mammals” on BBC1 the other evening. It dealt with the great apes, and in particular, the greatest ape of all, human kind, and I was looking forward to hearing what Britain’s most eminent zoologist would have to say about man’s situation on our imperilled planet, Spaceship Earth.

I was expecting him to tell us how modern man’s economic activities and materialistic lifestyles are threatening the survival of countless plant and animal species, including his own, but was disappointed. He refers to the warning example of Maya civilisation in Central America, which had flourished 1300 years ago, before disintegrating, probably because it exhausted the productivity of the countryside on which it depended, but he then went on to paint a glorious picture of modern man’s supreme intelligence and technological achievements, leaving no doubt that these products of his very large brain, projected into the future and even involving the colonisation of other planets, will ensure our survival.

He concludes in sagacious pose, telling viewers that up until now man has used his burgeoning brain to control the environment for the benefit of the population but that now it is perhaps time to reverse the process and for him to control the population to allow the survival of the environment.

Disappointingly, Britain’s best known zoologist, doesn’t seem to have a clue as to the true, dangerous situation into which our species has got itself, but instead points to overpopulation as the major threat.

Overpopulation is a problem, but it is not our major problem.

Certainly, our planet can only support a limited number of its greatest apes. However, whether this limit is nearer 2 billion or 10 billion all depends on their economic activity and lifestyles. If they all want a lifestyle which, like that of David Attenborough’s and many other affluent people, places a far greater per capita strain on our planet’s finite resources and carrying capacity than it can currently sustain, the number is liable to be closer to 2 billion.

Despite all his knowledge of animal behaviour, “David” fails to appreciate the implications of human animal nature and behaviour for the future of our planet and the survival of our species.

The reason that capitalism and our free market economy work so well is because they are very largely based on our animal nature, exploiting our primitive human fears, desires, competitiveness, and eagerness for a bargain or “free lunch”.

Our major problem – the one threatening the survival of our civilisation and perhaps even of our species - is that our planet has limited resources and a finite carrying capacity, while the ever increasing demands placed on it by our economy and lifestyles are insatiable.

Unfortunately, we don’t only use our big brain to solve difficult problems; we also use it to rationalise behaviour that stems from our more primitive nature, even when it contradicts reason and can be seen - by an unconditioned eye - to be leading us towards disaster. For example, when we plunder our planet’s finite resources and disrupt its climate and life-supporting ecosystem in pursuit of perpetual economic growth and non-sustainable lifestyles.