Video of the Week: Talking With Attenborough (by Vsauce)

The first episode of Planet Earth 2 was released last Sunday, and it wasn’t disappointing in the slightest. Michael Stevens from Vsauce sits down and has an interview with the legendary broadcasting giant, Sir David Attenborough about his new series and what David hopes people will take away from it.

Planet Earth 2 was shot in Ultra HD with the intent of capturing not just the best scenes, but every amount of detail possible as the cameras follows the day to day life of animals in the wild across various and sometimes extreme conditions. The first episode focuses on the Islands. Uninhabited by humans, it’s incredible how life has adapted. It truly is a fascinating insight into how our world works.

During the interview, Sir David explains how he was blown away by what can be achieved today. Technology has developed a considerable amount over the ten years since Planet Earth 1 launched. What he believed was and still was impossible to film, the cameras captured it perfectly. Watching the first episode, seeing a sloth move with intent of finding a mate from tree to tree, swimming, but unfortunately unsuccessful. I was glued to my TV throughout the episode, not wanting to miss a single thing, and I was also amazed by how the cameras go so close with disturbing the animals.

As the video continues, Michael interludes the interview with information that he has researched along the way of making this video, and as always, it is some eye-opening stuff. He explains the importance of recording our world, and the potential it has to teach us and future generations. The very beginning of this video highlights that importance as we are able to hear the mating call of a bird that doesn’t know it’s the last of its species. Calling for a mate that will never come. Before the main feature begins, my heart has already melted, and throughout the interview, Sir David said some rather inspiring things, but none so much as inspiring as the quote, “I’m still learning.” Sir David is ninety years old, he is a legend and has gained an extraordinary amount of experience, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything. The world is constantly changing, adapting, progressing; his programs teach us that, and that he, too, is changing.

The things we have recorded today will live on to show what the world was like so many years ago, and teach so many people things that they wouldn’t have ever been able to learn because the world has changed. With what we have filmed, we can show the future what the world was like today, and they can learn a lot from that – an incredible amount even. Technology has allowed us to see just how massive our world really is, and the more advanced technology becomes, the bigger the world grows. Technology has been blamed for damaging our world. We wouldn’t have the advanced equipment we have today if it weren’t for us leaving behind some kind of footprint, but it’s the only way we know how to preserve our world. Future generations who will use the knowledge that we have captured and use it to better the world in ways we could only dream of today. Michael explained that Planet Earth 2 opened doors that were previously and thought to be locked forever. With the doors now open and having the opportunity to walk through them, I do hope we do at some point, to help not only ourselves, but the entire world as well; that is my hope.

One particular question that stands out, and we all have our own views and opinions based upon what we’ve learned and have seen of our world, “what’s the difference between animals and humans?”. David said that we are animals, but not in the same sense as those we live with, which is why we are able to record the various acts animals get up to. My opinions on the difference won’t be the same as everybody else’s, but that’s not the reason why I won’t be explaining my views, but instead because the line is so blurry and complicated, and the fact that we have so much to learn, our opinions constantly change. If I write down my views, they may not be the same, and therefore would be false, compared to what my views would be next week, or even tomorrow.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)