There Is No Try,

This morning I was watching a video on Facebook and it's one of the types of videos I have been quite into for a while and it's a bit of a strange one for someone who has been vegetarian for as long as I have. The video is one of these divers who hunts lion fish.

Now, as a first thing I want to point out that this is not me saying that I'm changing my mind about all animals and that I feel any differently about the way people do treat animals and the way that they should treat animals, because I don't, but what I have now realised is that the idealistic nineteen year old who lived near Richmond Park and was devastated about the deer cull each year really didn't know as much about the environment and animals as she thought she did. (I know, imagine growing up and being embarrassed that your nineteen year old self was a bit of a know it all without the knowledge to back it up - I'm sure that never happens...)

Essentially what I understand now is that there are certain creatures and plants and things which have been introduced into an environment they don't belong in, whether that's accidentally or by humans who didn't know any better (a certain popular gardener in the 90s and 2000s and bamboo in gardens is one because trying to get rid of that stuff now is a nightmare!!) and now it's causing a whole pile of problems, but some people are doing their best to address the problem and essentially being the living embodiment of We Didn't Start The Fire (no, we didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it). 

I've seen different things with certain crab species, there's the lion fish diving videos, there's murder hornets and balsam bashers and all that sort of thing, and I love it, because very often these people are trying to do two things at once and those two things are they're trying to make a difference and they're trying to educate people and those are two things I really value.

But the internet is a crappy place sometimes, and the video I was watching this morning (or the morning of when I drafted this) was addressing comments about how this guy can never solve the problem so why bother? The noise that came out of me would make a mechanic either die a little inside or be looking up jet skis because if an engine was making that kind of noise it would take a lot of time, effort and money to fix it. This type of comment and this type of attitude honestly hurts my brain. 

For whatever reason it also brings up the Yoda quotes that somewhat annoy me - there is no try, only do & do or do not, there is no try. I have a genuine mental debate over these two phrases, because a part of me hates them, because it feels like they're dismissive of the fact that sometimes we can't fully do a thing, but it's better to at least try, but then I also get that the original spirit of the quotes is to not be limited by your own perceptions of what you can do and just do the thing, rather than saying you'll try with at least some expectation of failure. As a Cub leader, I teach the young people to do their best (strangely not try their best) but when I explain that to them I always say that I'm only ever asking you to try something, and not to do the impossible, or something that's impossible for you.

I think it's quite easy to be someone who says, well, I can't solve this problem so I'm just not going to do anything about it, and actually, I'm going to suggest that other people do the same. You can't solve the problem of lion fish being in a part of the ocean where they have no natural predators so they multiply like rabbits and decimate the natural fish populations, so why try? Because trying is not a wasted effort and trying something is better than doing nothing. If on every dive this guy wipes out, say, 25 fish, then that's 25 less fish producing more fish, and from my very limited understanding of lion fish, they are prolific. If he was just going on one dive and then expecting a medal then yeah, I would kind of get questioning what the point is, but this guy dives a lot, and makes videos about diving a lot, so now he's not alone in his efforts, and this is more than just a one time thing, so everything he does is compounded when you try and look at the impact. Maybe he clears 100 fish a week, and maybe someone that also dives, but didn't know about the impact of lion fish, now also clears 25 fish a week, because they have a regular job, not a YouTube income so they dive less. That's not nothing. That's making a dent, or a big hole, even if it's not solving the problem; how can people be so dismissive of that?

Maybe this is just morning rambly nonsense, but I just get irritated when people try and wash their hands of having anything to do with a problem because they can't solve it completely, because we all have the ability to have some impact, however big or small, and as long as you're doing everything you can to make a positive impact, trying is doing something and surely it's better to try than to just give up?