Article snippet: visited the devastated area on Saturday. Of course, the fire that engulfed Paradise is only one of many raging fires in California; as of November 17, the statewide death toll stood at 71—and will undoubtedly go higher. So we can see: Californians have suffered a clear defeat—a defeat at the hands of nature. Whoa, the reader might be saying. And the answer: Sure, it’s exactly the right word. Moreover, if we follow the principle of John Donne’s famous 17th century devotional, No Man Is an Island, such losses of life are defeats, not just for Californians, but for all of us. So that’s why we build defenses against the elements, including walls, Speaking of the 17th century, it was another Briton of that era, Sir Francis Bacon, who put the upward path of civilization in proper perspective—as a matter of ultimate victory for humanity. After all, if we have the right science and technology for the situation at hand, we In fact, we need all of these gains, because, as the famed 20th century scientist Carl Sagan explained, “Extinction is the rule: Survival is the exception.” In other words, from the tiniest virus to the biggest asteroid, nature is always finding some way to kill us. That is, for the sake of survival, we must adapt, and that means adapting our environment. To be sure, not everyone agrees with Bacon’s worldview. For example, as Trump has argued, in their opposition to logging, the greens have allowed forests to become denser, and thus more v... Link to the full article to read more