Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet

1. According to the poem, what is the main reason that people do not take action to fight climate change? Identify details in the text that support your answer. Do you agree with Atwood’s assessment? Why? What other factors might influence people to reject the need to act on this issue?

2. Atwood argues that religious belief started as a way for humans to connect to nature, but now people worship money instead. How can humans in the 20th century return to that original connection with nature when our modern lifestyle requires us to inflict harm on the natural world?

3. Near the end of the text, Atwood writes, “Some of our wise men turned to the contemplation of deserts. A stone in the sand in the setting sun could be very beautiful, they said. Deserts were tidy, because there were no weeds in them, nothing that crawled. Stay in the desert long enough, and you could apprehend the absolute. The number zero was holy.” How do you interpret this passage? Does the wise men’s worship of nothingness represent an important new insight, or is it merely a rationalization? Support your interpretation with evidence from the text. If you believe the desert worship is a rationalization, where else in the world do you see a similar approach? Why do humans so often rationalize problems instead of fixing them?