- Obi Wan Stevobi
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- Exalted Mythic Member
I have found that over the years, my views on economy, hunting, religion, politics, war, and a great number of things have shifted because of a rather simple notion. I no longer feel that I am special. Nor do I think anyone reading this is. We, as a species are nothing special. I believe we're as temporary as dinosaurs, and the great apes that came before us.
In paraphrasing Sir Martin Rees, Christopher Hitchens says the following:
Most educated people are aware that we are the outcome of nearly four billion years of Darwinian selection. But many tend to think that humans are still somehow the culmination of that. Our sun, however, is less than half way through it's lifespan. It will not be humans that watch our suns demise six billion years from now. Any creatures that then do exist will be as different from us as we are from bacteria.
When we think of creatures gradually watching the sun die and they're not us. They're as far from us as we are from bacteria. It makes me feel that we must not consider evolution as producing us as it's last word. That would be an insult to any scientific process. We happen to know that even in the measurable distance of the past few thousand years that progress is going on in our brain formation. I think our job is to remain without allusions, integral, intact. Keep the planet the best we can, and pass it on so this experiment gets more interesting.
I agree with him. I think much of our sense of entitlement, greed, and disregard for the lives of others comes from our belief that we are the ultimate species, the apex of life, and superior to all others, destined to use or misuse the planet as we see fit. Yet, the more we learn, the less sure we are of that "fact" that we are anything special. In the grand scheme of things, we may be trivially smarter than a chimp. We see animals that can use tools, animals that recognize themselves, animals that can work together to solve problems, animals that fashion spears to hunt other animals. There is a long list of things we once thought unique to us that turns out to be rather unextraordinary in nature.
As speculation continues about the possibility of microbial life on Mars being confirmed, I'm reminded of what such a discovery would mean to us. It means that life thrives, even where it seems impossible. It would mean that we are not alone. Our planet isn't much more than a pale blue dot amongst the billions and billions of stars, just in our galaxy, that all have planets of their own. Other planets where life can, and likely does thrive, with the universe full of beings that would find it hilarious that we consider ourselves advanced. Even if we don't find another species with the technology we have, I'm still reminded that in a thousand generations, our distant ancestors will probably look back and marvel at our intelligence only in comparison to other primitive creatures.
TLDR: I don't think our dominance as a species will last. We are just another future missing link to something greater, and we do owe it to future species that will be superior to us to keep this place in better shape than we do.
How about you? Do think humans should ever bother to inconvenience themselves for other species that might come next?