In a discussion about
the value of conservation, I am now obviously moving on an extreme macro-scale.
On a micro-scale, conservation is always a good thing. But think about it. To
our knowledge, we are the most advanced civilization alive, and if we have the
potential to someday become an intergalactic species colonizing other planets
around the universe, which is more important? To keep evolving to reach our
full potential as a species, or to halt all development and live in peaceful
co-existence with our planet and its other more primitive species. I mean, on a
geological scale, what’s a few more hundred years with orangutans compared to
an eternity of existence throughout the infinite reaches of space. Evolution
has and always will require sacrifices. This is sad but true. But nature and
animals would do the same to us if they had the chance. Natural selection is
all about survival of the fittest, not the weakest. No species ever succeeded
by being nice to its competitors. ‘Here, take some of my resources.’ A starving
carnivorous animal would kill you in an instant if it got the chance. Humans
would do the same to other humans if they were threatening their own existence.
It is precisely this survival instinct that has brought us to our current level
of evolution, and if we want to keep evolving, we have to keep surviving, and
right now, this unfortunately clashes with other species on the planet. But
does it really have to?
This is as grim as my
transcender point of view takes me. But surviving at the cost of our planetary
roommates and the natural world will not solve the bigger problem; the survival
of our species beyond the death of our planet. Exhausting the rest of our
natural resources to feed and protect our growing population will only buy us
more time, but not time enough on the timeline I am talking about. Instead, we
need a long term solution which requires an increased focus on new
technologies. We need to become a Type I civilization. This is really the only way to save ourselves and nature on the macro scale. In terms of the natural world, this is a race
against the clock though. Conservation today only works on a micro-scale. It is
not addressing the root and cause of the problem, humans. First we need to
evolve our own species, then we can save our roommates. I truly hope we will
have a solution ready while there are still forests and animals left. The
problem with the human race is contentment. We only really get off our ass as
soon as the shit hits the fan. Look at all the technological developments that
occurred during World War II or the Space Race. Competition breeds progress.
Contentment breeds apathy. This is the greatest threats to animals and the rest
of the natural world these days. Maybe a renewed global crisis is what humanity
needs to make that final push into becoming a Type I civilization. Or maybe I
am just trying to put a positive spin on the recent shift in Western politics.
However, as any
conservationist will love to tell you, if we cut down too much rainforest, or
we overfish the oceans to a point where the ecosystems collapse, then the
oceans and forests will no longer produce the oxygen that we need to survive. I
am not going to get into a discussion of whether or not this is true. There are
many doomsday prophets around these days, but I always look at it like meteorology,
qualified guessing. Whether or not these guesses will become truth, the race
against the clock is not just concerning the animals but to our own wellbeing
as well. With our current level of technology I know we could easily survive
climate changes, changes in the atmosphere or ozone layer and even global
hunger…as a species. But in all those scenarios a lot of people would have to
die, quite possibly the majority of the population. Maybe this is the form that
the next global extinction event will take, who knows? On a geological
timeline, events like this are not uncommon though, caused by humans or not, rather
I look at it as yet another type of natural selection, one governed by the
Earth itself. Another pattern in the clockwork. The important thing in such a
doomsday scenario would be to ensure the survival of our species at any cost,
again with the ultimate end goal in sight, to become an inter-solar species or
a Type II civilization.
No comments:
Post a Comment