"The planet does not need more successful people"

[Cary]

1. Mr. Orr overstates our importance, IMHO

Let's put this in the proper perspective. The planet has been here about 4.5 billion years and will probably be here at least that much more, regardless of what we do. By contrast our species, homo sapiens sapiens has been here a mere 50,000 years at best. For a little contrast Neandertal was around about 200,000 years.

I put the odds at at least 50 - 50 that we are not around for more than a couple hundred more years or so and that our adaptation of our intelligence will be what does us in, ultimately, in one way or another. That may mean that we render our own environment uninhabitable. For ourselves. Clearly we will take other species with us as we have already wiped out quite a few. But equally clear in terms of the earth's time frame whatever we do will be a blink of the eye and relatively meaningless.

From an even larger perspective look at ourselves and even our earth and our sun compared to the known universe. We can be even humbled if we look at contemporary physics and what we now think we know about time and reality but that's for another thread. I think I have made the point here.

Our species is nothing but a minute little experiment. I think we have potential but if we fail it's no big thing. The earth will be just fine without us and if we succumb to our own stupidity, which I think we will, then we get what we deserve as far as I am concerned. I would hope we could be smarter, but I'm just not seeing much evidence that we are.