Over the past six months, I visited old mines, volcanic hot springs, limestone caves, and sand dunes. At first, I thought they were completely different trips. But looking back, I realized they had all taught me the same lesson. Over millions of years, the Earth built mountains, formed limestone, created caves, brought hot springs to the surface, and carried sand to form vast dunes.
But the Earth never says,
“There is gold here.”
“This is a famous hot spring.”
“This cave is worth visiting.”
It is people who give these places names, discover their value, and decide how to use them. A mountain may contain valuable minerals. But if no one needs them, no one looks for them. It is simply a mountain. Only when someone discovers those minerals, develops the technology to extract them, and society finds a use for them, do they become a resource. As time passes, things change. Cheaper materials become available. New resources are discovered. Even if the minerals are still there, they may no longer be considered valuable. Today, lithium and semiconductor materials are in high demand. But a hundred years from now, the world’s most important resource may be something that no one has recognized yet. What will people call a resource one hundred years from now? Maybe seawater. Maybe minerals hidden beneath the deep ocean. Or perhaps materials brought back from the Moon or asteroids.
And oil, which countries compete for today, may simply become something people once dug out of the ground. When I think about it that way, I realize that there is no such thing as a country that is permanently rich or poor in resources. Something becomes a resource only when people need it and have the technology to use it.
The Earth has been here for millions of years. What changes is not the Earth. What changes is the way we see its value. I thought I was traveling to learn about nature. But in the end, I was really learning about human history.
この半年で、鉱山、温泉、鍾乳洞、砂丘と、さまざまな自然遺産を巡りました。最初はそれぞれ別々のテーマだと思っていたのですが、振り返ると、どれも同じことを教えてくれていました。
地球は何百万年、何千万年という時間をかけて自然をつくります。一方、人間はその自然に名前を付け、価値を見出し、資源や観光地として利用してきました。
地球の時間と、人間の時間。
この二つの時間が重なった場所に、歴史や文化、そして私たちの暮らしがあるのだと感じます。
自然の営みを見に行ったつもりでしたが、実は人間の営みを学ぶ旅でもありました。