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6/03/2014

Perhaps, Perspective.



When you were little, did you have an Ant Colony?  Me, neither.  But I know about them.  As do you, probably.

The thing is, ants live their lives in service to the larger group.  Each ant has a job to do.  And that job, as little and as insignificant  as any one ant's job might be, is part of the larger group's aim of preservation of the species.

And so it is with us.  We have grown a civilization which cradles the intellect and ability of our kind, like ants cradle the queen, doing all the labors necessary so that she might give birth to more of the species.  Our "queen" is the pursuit of knowledge our kind has taken up, the incubation of science and technology our kind is capable of.  So we are ants, taking care of other ants who, collectively, do the things and acquire the knowledge which will, ultimately, preserve our species.

To survive, we must leave this planet.  Not abandon.  Not forsake.  Just leave.  Expand.  Grow beyond this Earth.  That, ultimately, will be the salvation of our species.  Earth is, in one way or another, doomed.  Our species, if it cannot grow beyond the boundaries of Earth, will not survive.

Yellowstone could bury the U.S. in enough ash to kill millions and destroy our economy.  The whole world would be plunged into chaos that "civilization" would be hard put to survive.  Science and Technological progress would stop.

Comets could do the same.  Any one of half a dozen super volcanoes could do the same. 

BUT.

Colliding neutron stars anywhere, ANYWHERE, in this galaxy, whose gamma ray jet happened to be pointed at US, would sterilize the surface of our planet.  Everything, and every ONE, would die.

What meaning then, to our wars and conflicts, our petty dictators and elected governments?  What sense then, to History and all the lives that came before?

The only thing that counts is that we, our species, becomes immortal. 

The only thing that counts is our ability to leave home, otherwise you and me and everyone else mean nothing. 

Nothing at all.

Ndinombethe.  Ubuntu. 

5 comments:

Big Mark 243 said...

...deep ... though the self-interest of the species does not seem to have an effect on the lust for power or the greed and avarice of those consumed by things...

Anonymous said...

Will we still be fighting about our differences, when we leave? Will the Russians and the Pakistanis go off to different planets and evolve in to different species, telling their kids fairytales about the evil godless people at the other side of the galaxy? - Nan

Shadow said...

That IS the most sensible and logical solution. Is it attainable? In time? We surely hope so...

PattiKen said...

Sadly, the self-interest of the species is in direct conflict with the self-interest of some individual members of the species. And those members hold all the cards, the money, and the power to change the current direction toward destruction.Those members care not one whit about the future of the species or the planet as long as they've got theirs today. If we don't change that, we may truly be doomed.

Danelle Ice said...

Has it already begun? Is there already an exit plan or colonization in place? Only the government knows...