Nature and Man

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There was this ad on Discovery or National Geographic (I can’t remember which) that asked why we humans were put on this earth. If I remember correctly, it goes through some animals and what benefits they give to the planet, and questions our role in it. The answer they give is that we are the only ones capable of protecting it.

In my opinion, the only thing that this planet needs protection from is us. The ad is a contradiction in itself. If there weren’t any humans, the planet would not need any saving, because most of the damage is done by us, specifically the artificial world that we have created.

Nature on the other hand can take care of itself. It doesn’t need protection from itself. It knows what is best for it and if there is a problem, it will take the necessary steps to rectify itself. There is equilibrium to everything.

Then along comes Man, who basically throws in a spanner to the cogs and shatters the balance with his artificial world. His advances in the field of medicine allow him to fight diseases and give him longevity in life. This ultimately leads to exponential increase in population, not sustainable by the planet. As the population increases, more resources are needed to up keep them. More forests are cut down to make room for agriculture, the mines are dug deeper and deeper for more minerals, waste material increases, and so the list goes on forever.

As Agent Smith memorably said, humans are a virus. We spread all over, sucking the life out of our host, mutating to overcome the defense mechanisms thrown out by the host.

Or, is it the other way round?

If the planet is anyway heading for a natural catastrophe, then humans are the only species capable of doing something about it. We are the architects of technology. This technology must be used to ensure that life will be able survive whatever disaster that is going to happen, and carry on for evermore. We humans are its guardians. For all we know, there is only one planet that has complex life forms in the whole vast universe.

It begs the question, is there an unknown master plan, which was aware of a future peril so great that it choose one animal out of millions to develop the intellectual capacity to one day ensure that the flame of life does not extinguish forever from the universe? If it is so, I only hope that we can live up to that expectation.