Life on Earth

The only thing I think about life on Earth that is bizarre is that it has evolved to the point that it is now in the process of collapsing.

The late Jane Goodall asked how it was possible that the most intelligent species in the world is destroying its only home.  The answer, of course, is that intelligence is just one of the many characteristics of humankind.  We mustn’t forget about greed, cruelty, and a host of cognitive biases that make it (apparently) impossible to get along with one another.

Had anyone been watching the goings-on here on Earth for the last four billion years, they would have been stunned that a) Homo sapiens was such a tribal species, and b) we were unable to overcome this critical frailty–even as people are starving, the planet is baking, our schools are failing, wars are raging, and so forth.

To those who think I’ve missed the mark here, ask yourselves how it’s possible that we’ve just re-elected Donald Trump to be the most powerful person on Earth.