On Preventing the Extinction of Mankind
Few will disagree that the continuation of our species as a noble goal to pursue. It just feels inherently plausible to us. But I think that we should nonetheless reflect upon whether this is really such a worthwhile and important goal to pursue.
Some say that we may be the only species in the universe with consciousness, and therewith the only ones able to appreciate the beauty of nature as well as to imbue it with meaning. I would say: so what? That we perceive our consciousness to be so special might be one of its many inherent flaws. There is nothing to suggest that our way of experiencing the world is any less valuable than that of other animals or plants or rocks for that matter. Furthermore, statistically speaking, in a universe with many billions of galaxies, it seems very unlikely that we are the only creatures capable of producing art, laws and language. Any way we look at it, given the vastness of the universe, it seems very likely that ending mankind will go largely unnoticed on a cosmic scale.
That being said, we are here for better or worse and a pressing question is what to do with our time. I believe that we carry within us a love for ourselves and for others, and that this love is something which we should embrace as a generous present the machinations of the universe have provided for us. We also carry within us a love for nature, for animals, for mountains, for stars, for the beauty of a grain of salt and the rhythm of rain falling on leafs. If we accept this love, we see that pursuing survival for ourselves and our planet and the species which inhabit it, might be a pursuit which is in balance with our nature and not in conflict with what we know about the universe.
In any case, we need to accept that humanity as it lives now is guaranteed to be extinct. We have made changes too drastic too our environment and we are on the cusp of gaining too much power over our own genes to continue existing within the bounds of our current gene pool. Drastically changing our nature might still take some generations to accomplish but it seems quite inevitable. Interestingly thus it lies within our power to shape our own biological destiny.
I think that achieving survival for our current generations and those which will follow us should be one of our top priorities. Apart from keeping order and peace and proving us with the basics we need for day to day survival, it should be a main focus of our economic activity. Sadly, though it is not. Our economies create demand by consumption of individuals. That is not a sustainable. We cannot continue to consume more and more to assure our economies are on a trajectory of constant growth. I think we should create demand for our economies by large projects and initiatives which we decide to be important. Some of these could be related to our survival on this planet; such as reducing carbon emissions, exploring ways to protect us from asteroids and supervolcanos. Even if we do not have a strong foundation to argue for the importance of humanity in the greater context of the universe, it seems very self evident that pursuing these projects is more useful than the ability to buy a new luxury sedan every couple of years.
Featured Image:聽The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Pierre-Jacques Volaire, 1777