for the most part. And while I won't argue that we're having a hand in their looming peril, I ask you to consider that it's really just the natural flow of life on this planet. Do you buy into the history that there were two mass extinctions in pre-history? Just for kicks, let's say they both involved hits by extra-terrestrial bodies (asteroids or such). Each time, life bounced back from the resultant debacle - greatly changed maybe - but life nonetheless. So who here spends time wringing their hands over the life forms that flourished prior to those events? Surely there were some awe-inspring creatures of those past epochs, no? Should they still be around? Would WE still have developed from the lifestock that existed?
Now, after that second mass wipeout - what resurged again? Life. And FROM that third edition, one of the niche developments was a creature with an enlarged brain. Niche developments like this had happened before - like the ability to take to the skies. But this new development was a brain so big that it was eventually able to perceive of itself and do more than just be a link in the food chain. It IS essentially a smart organ. Sadly, it having the ability to make tools and use them - it doesn't always care about the repercussions of it's actions. And with things like mega-homes and fancy sorts of conveyances to strive for, those consequences tend to be purposely ignored.
Even as we start to wallow in shit of our own making (climate change) we're driving around in giant SUVs and trucks - laughably to some degree, in the name of "safety". How comforting to know you'll survive a crash so you can suffer the results of the carbon your beast spat out!
That noted, I'm here to contend that our influence on the climate may be just another catalyst for a wave of extinctions. Sure, we can postulate and witness that we ARE the provocateurs of our own demise. But life WILL spring back after we're gone. And if it's lucky, there won't be a big-brained creatures that'll climb down from any tall greenery or pull itself out of the seas. That way it'll be up to asteroids or a dying sun to wipe the slate clean in the future!
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