A while back someone shared this video with me. And as sometimes happens, it got me thinking. (As my daughters might tell you, that could be dangerous.) Take a look at the video now.
The laws of physics in action. Gravity, mass, angular momentum and a bunch of other concepts. They combine to keep the universe in motion – and our little piece of it as well. But the scale beggars the imagination!
Given the billions and billions of planets out there, it seems an absolute certainty that there are other intelligent species evolving in their own ways. Some are likely less advanced than we are. Some no doubt are far beyond us.
Yet, there are vast numbers of people on this planet that believe humans are the centre of importance. And a significant subset of those would not even include all humans – only those that looked, and talked and believed as they do.
That represents arrogance of the first order. This same arrogance seems to be behind the lack of regard for the finite resources of our small planet and the nasty things we are doing to it, and to ourselves in the process. They seem to be saying, “We are so important that we will be alright no matter what we do, either to others or to the environment in which we live, as we seek to better our own situation.”
Arrogance has got in the way of rational thought. In the vastness of the universe, we are insignificant. Half the human race could be wiped out and the universe would not care one bit.
If we are to survive as a species, we need to give some thought to our place in the grand scheme of things. How can we steward our planet so that those of us who live here have adequate supplies of healthy air, water and food to sustain us? How can we work together for our mutual benefit on an ongoing basis? If the population continues to grow we will outstrip the capacity of the planet to provide for us. Yet we are some considerable way away from having the capability to find another planetary home. It will require large scale cooperation to avoid destroying ourselves. What will it take to get a critical mass of people to realize this?
We are not the centre of the universe. And to act otherwise could well spell our doom as a species.
#cosmos #future #foodforthought