Extinction, We're On Our Way!

It was Darwin who once pointed out that success in existence doesn’t go to the strongest or fastest creatures, but those capable of adapting to the continual changes. Humanity was once the shining star in this category, but these days it is fair to wonder if we haven’t lost our touch. Perhaps it’s just momentary and humanity is enduring an evolutionary challenge designed to reach for a greater purpose, but it’s fair to fear the situation.

The lull we’re suffering hasn’t exactly been momentary. Through our quest for a more advanced society and better civilization, we’ve endure ups and downs originating from vestigial instincts and prehistoric behaviors to an endless support of megalomaniacal and sociopathic tendencies emanating from authoritative positions. From Caligula to Obama to Kim Jong Un to Putin and so forth, the people at large constantly allow extreme trouncing by those in positions of power. Why this bizarre paradigm of the human condition has come into existence within the framework of human evolution isn’t immediately recognized or even acknowledged, there has to be some element of benefit, at least from the start. Perhaps operating from a single focal point is beneficial, and if this point becomes polluted, recognizing such pollution is easier to see and therefore easier to expel.

But only after outrageous acts and threat of doom are such entities expelled. Look at the damage done by Hitler before he was finally handled. Look at was done by Caligula. Look at what is occurring in our world right now by lunatics such as the leader of North Korea and the mass of sociopaths focusing on the madness of Syria. The fact that the world (and humanity) allows these monsters to remain in power is a testament to how far into a sense of sentience humanity has NOT made it.

There are factors we must consider on a broad scale if humanity is going to survive beyond the common statistic. The statistic: More than 99% of all species that have existed on this planet have gone extinct.

A failure on the part of most of those species was the failure to adapt to the changes and then become stronger in the process. Now, it’s fair to say that those species lost (within the dinosaur era) during the time when the asteroid or comet struck just north of the Yucatan Peninsula didn’t get a proper chance. Those species that survived through that did so because they just happened to be adaptable to what occurred. The crocodile lived in conditions allowing it to slip through the cracks, so it is still here. Our ancient ancestors somehow pulled through.

It is reasonable to assume that Nature (and the conscious Entity ruling it) recognized that, if life is going to survive calamities such as that occurrence, the ability to function beyond the realm of commonality all other creatures exist upon must be explored. Through the last 65 million years, Nature recognized that various species functioned and thrived via migration, hibernation, broad-scale adaptation, or location-specific isolation. Some species move around, some adapt to the seasonal conditions, some are finely tuned to specific conditions only, and some just shut down when conditions prompt that. But nothing was prepared to cope with such external influences as a comet, asteroid or meteor.

Nature, in its infinite wisdom and endless ability, found a way to cope.

Humanity rose from the anonymity of being just another species to somehow rising over all others, developing conscious and discerning thought, self awareness, and eventually technology. So, running on the idea that some species flee harsh winters by migrating to other locations, let’s develop a species capable of migrating to a completely different planet, thereby developing a higher means of ensured survival. Thus, even planetary destruction is survivable and survival is the primary function of life.

But, as far as we know, humanity is the first species to undertake this extraordinary evolutionary event, particularly on this planet. And, statistics demonstrate that the first runs are rarely the surviving entity for long.

Nature began with humanity by developing a strong, adaptable and vivacious predator from it. From there, humanity learned to cope with and then master many aspects of the dynamic conditions of this world through methods largely unique to the stage- rather than adapt to the paradigms of nature alone, humanity learned how to adapt many aspects of nature to accommodate its needs.

But then we ended up stuck in a few ruts.

The predatory creature eventually ending up on the top of the food chain and found it had to adapt to natural principles (and their consequent checks and balances) by having to check its own numbers since nothing else could. It’s reasonable to assume war is humanity’s way of adapting to the continual threat to overpopulation. There is the good with the bad. Since nothing takes us out, we have to do it ourselves. But we ended up getting too good at this, thus developing a human trait of unmanageable cruelty. Slavery resulted and, even though we acknowledge it and state we do not desire it, is more prolific and widespread through the human condition today than it has ever been in history.

A marked lack of intelligent thought and sentience developed a heightened state of territoriality within the human condition, so much so that we’ve split our kind up into nations and states so deliberately marked and isolated that we ended up developing sub-species amongst ourselves, and these thus far have failed to integrate successfully. Then, one of the worst things we could have done is fail in carrying through with our creation of the monetary and economic systems, which started as an evolutionary marvel. Sure, we created a system allowing for trade and commerce in order to develop our societies and civilization in ways hitherto unavailable, but we ended up selling our entire species to it so completely that today we are willing to place human existence on the table in order to ensure the survival and comfort of a nonliving entity of our own design (an evolutionary backwash). In fact, our lack of ability to cope with our species-wide voluntary slavery to a procedure demonstrates a marked lack of ability to adapt to such a dramatic degree that it’s fair to assume Nature sees this as a way to facilitate extinction.

Because, after all, it doesn’t make sense to assume Nature failed somehow in its attempt to maintain the survivability of those species gone extinct; it seems most appropriate to suggest Nature expedited the process to eliminate what wasn’t working. To assume Nature goofed more than 99% of the time is more than difficult to accept. On a microcosmic scale, we find it easy to recognize a self-destructive behavior pattern within those who just can’t seem to cope or fit in. The same thing could be said for those species destined to extinction. If the stated species just isn’t coping properly, it might as well facilitate its final solution.

So, look at the state of humanity today. We have entirely enslaved our species to money, the body politic (thereby monitoring and governing the process towards extinction via the whim and design of the megalomaniac, with only chosen sociopaths at the helm) and polarized spiritual beliefs. Humanity actually sits back and voluntarily listens to various branches of humanity plot and devise the complete obliteration of other branches of the species, and without so much as a bat of the eye. During the Black Plague, ruling entities roamed the land in search of others they could annihilate through blame for what’s occurred, and in the present day humanity threatens this over religion and the presumption that global dynamics should stagnate on demand.

But mostly, we are not adapting to anything. Instead, we have become so adamant in our attitude of superiority over all else that we demand even the function of the very planet succumb to our wants rather than continue with our penchant for an eye to the stars, where Nature intended us to reach for the most likely survival. This has become such a problem that many people openly state that space exploration and discovery is just a waste of time and money, choosing instead to blame others for the failure of the planet to bend to their desire. Anyone with any sense would recognize this as a macrocosmic slitting of the wrist, drug addiction of the worst order, and a prepared noose dangling from every closet in the global house. To deny our primary function as a technological species is akin to all moth species actively seeking every available fire to fly into at every available opportunity.

So, humanity is on the brink of a major paradigm shift, or it is on the brink of extinction. It does seem Nature has provided the option for us to choose, what with humanity harboring some small level of self awareness and sentient ability. It does stand to reason that humanity shifted from becoming the custodian and final hope for all life on this rare planet to becoming the single most obvious threat to it. To assume Nature would sit idle and allow this would demonstrate a complete misjudgment of the scope and ability of Nature. Judging from historical relevance, Nature would recognize the sheer sweeping power of global annihilation and utilize technological prowess to ensure the process could be repeated on demand, thus bringing to light Nuclear Holocaust as a method of, yet again, wiping the slate clean in order to start over.

And why not? It isn’t as though Nature has anything better to do, and It has all the time It wants.

So, where are we in this situation? Are we, as suggested above, coming up on a new era in order to alleviate failed methods to make way for a resurgence in evolution, or are we being shuffled out of the way so another species can come in take over where we failed? The answer might be ours to choose, but then, thinking so might be a symptom of why we need to go. After all, humanity adores the notion that it is sentient and civilized, but there’s very little evidence to support this seriously. Rather, we have long been enslaved to our emotions and desires, and they have guided us to this brink of extermination. Now, before anyone suggests I am stating emotional responses equate to pre-critical action would be off the mark. Instead, I believe our emotional methods led us from the best course of action and therefore towards extinction, but that doesn’t mean they should not have been there. No, I believe humanity’s emotional spectrum should have recognized a stronger desire for sentience and civilization as opposed to multifaceted predation and begrudged consumption. Or, we should have found a greater capacity for love instead of hate.

Unfortunately, humanity fostered hatred, gluttony and cruelty more than it did love, charity and kindness. Sure, there are plenty of kind, caring people, but how many of them don’t possess some manner of polarized thought justifying the dismissal of others based on ideology? Albert Einstein is considered one of our greatest minds, and he stated that the world would not be destroyed by the actions of evil, but by the inaction of those who are not evil. Or, those who are evil will not succeed because of their evil, but because those who are not evil will do nothing to stop that evil. Today, we have hoards of people standing up to combat the evil overpowering our world, but they don’t come close to the hoards bent on complete destruction. Sorry, but they just don’t. Unfortunately, the majority population is the one sitting back, idly watching to see how it all turns out.

So, the world has become one big Roman Auditorium, where the evil are more than happy to do anything to win and the good only abide by a limited set of polite rules, and everyone else populates the stands, ready to cheer for the winner.

Extinction, we’re on our way.