Jane Goodall is by far one of the most powerful voices our precious planet has. Her vision and actions encourage me to follow my dreams and to defend nature even when it seems hopeless. But, above all, she inspires me to be my better self.
Perhaps listening to her in this wonderful video inspires you too...
I certainly hope so!!
Jane Goodall opened the barriers existing between us and the rest of the animal kingdom when she proved that, in certain aspects, we are not so different from highly complex creatures such as chimps; as a matter of fact, there are many traits we share with them.
For example, chimps are capable of highly complex emotions: they feel love, happiness, sadness, fear, despair, compassion... while this discovery may sound obvious for some of us, it was not so evident for everyone until recently. She also proved chimps not only develop different personalities, but also an extremely rich non verbal communication as well as other extraordinary abilities. Until just a few decades ago, science had defined human beings as the sole tool makers in our planet. Jane saw that chimps did so too, and with utmost dexterity! For example, a hungry chimp uses a stick, carefully chosen and prepared in advance, to get his food. When he finds a termite nest he pokes a shoot into it, waits for the insects to crawl onto the stick, then pulls it out and has a fine meal. In a different community, a chimp drinks water from a muddy water hole using a moss sponge to filter the water clean, this new behaviour is rapidly broadcast among the group, and starts to be imitated by his mates. This is the way chimps learn and spread new abilities, and that is how the community develops its own culture. Yes! I said culture; which is understood as the behaviour transmitted within a social group from generation to generation by imitation, so thanks to Jane we know now that this social characteristic is not exclusive of humans beings.
As you see, the line that separates us from other animals, for example, chimps, has its doors and windows. I think, this wonderful scientific knowledge and understanding we now have could work as a driving force to feel more empathy and respect for other fellow animals living with us in this planet.
CURIOUS VISIONARY ORIGINAL
Follow her Path in this 80th Birthday Tribute by National Geographic
What you do makes a difference,
and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall is Doctor in Ethology by the University of Cambridge and Doctor Honoris Causa by more than 30 universities of the world. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program and has been distinguished with more than 90 international prizes. www.janegoodall.org
You should check this out:
www.rootsandshoots.org
A youth service program for young people of all ages. Its mission is to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for people, other animals, and the environment.