if not homo sapiens, then some other species?
I was chatting with a biologist friend of mine, and during our discussion we came upon the idea that if homo sapiens hadn't developed technological dominance, some other primate species would've done it instead.
The reason homo sapiens did what we did -- evolved beyond hunter/gatherer -- was selection pressure. Then, once we did evolve beyond hunter/gatherer, there was no other species to stop us from taking the entire damned planet for ourselves.
Several competing primate species fighting over the right to be The Ones who climbed into the hyperdominance chamber.
Today, if every human suddenly disappeared, maybe the macaques would take over instead. They're occupying second place right now -- if we got out of their way, they'd be in charge. I know people who have interacted closely with macaques in Asia, those monkeys are pretty darn smart.
From a purely scientific standpoint, leaving aside morals, ethics, politics -- it may have been inevitable that one species would eventually take over. Even though this is fundamentally unstable for the planet's ecology. And then this species will crash into the Wall of Physics, die out, and leave the hyperdominance chamber available for the next in line.
There may need to be a reset period of a few hundred million years, during which newly generated fossil fuels can fold back into the tectonically active crust, and our current landfills can congeal into future mineral veins. But then the Earth will be ready for a new hyperdominant species to chew through its entropy stores.
Does that mean today we're off the hook? No responsibility for what we're doing? Because if we weren't doing it, somebody else would be? Hmmm. Do we even have free will, heh.
The reason homo sapiens did what we did -- evolved beyond hunter/gatherer -- was selection pressure. Then, once we did evolve beyond hunter/gatherer, there was no other species to stop us from taking the entire damned planet for ourselves.
Several competing primate species fighting over the right to be The Ones who climbed into the hyperdominance chamber.
Today, if every human suddenly disappeared, maybe the macaques would take over instead. They're occupying second place right now -- if we got out of their way, they'd be in charge. I know people who have interacted closely with macaques in Asia, those monkeys are pretty darn smart.
From a purely scientific standpoint, leaving aside morals, ethics, politics -- it may have been inevitable that one species would eventually take over. Even though this is fundamentally unstable for the planet's ecology. And then this species will crash into the Wall of Physics, die out, and leave the hyperdominance chamber available for the next in line.
There may need to be a reset period of a few hundred million years, during which newly generated fossil fuels can fold back into the tectonically active crust, and our current landfills can congeal into future mineral veins. But then the Earth will be ready for a new hyperdominant species to chew through its entropy stores.
Does that mean today we're off the hook? No responsibility for what we're doing? Because if we weren't doing it, somebody else would be? Hmmm. Do we even have free will, heh.