I remember at school, and indeed, up until now, I was thought to be very gullible. Somebody would sort of suddenly say, this most extraordinary thing has happened. I would actually see the possibility that it could have done, before I would see the possibility that he was just setting me up. And I kind of think I’m alive to the fact that life continually throws very very strange and unexpected things at us, that, a very short while later, you’ve fitted into your mental landscape and have forgotten how strange it was when you first came across it.
I like to keep at the forefront of my mind, how strange things are when you first come across them. I think, going back to Last Chance to See, what was particularly gripping to me about that, was when I set out to do it, I actually didn’t know very much about these issues - about ecology, about the end of species, specifically about evolution, and so I was sort of encountering these things as an innocent, as a layman and gradually sort of learning, and sharing. And I’ve noticed that generally, if I have to explain something to somebody, I’m usually quite good at it because I can remember what it was like, not to understand it and how strange and bewildering it looks. And most people, when they have to explain something complicated, because it seems very simple and obvious from their standpoint, don’t actually explain it properly in terms of somebody to whom this is new, would necessarily understand. Because, what you’ve forgotten is how strange it was to you to begin with.
