Human beings are unique in the world because they are the only species that can understand it. If you remove them from the world, there's nothing left that can throw light in the world's misteries.
This is literally a conversation about a non-human species: birds. There’s habitability for humans, but we’re not separate from the ecosystem, we’re a part of it.
In some broad, abstract way of looking at things people can say, “well it’s all just star dust and will burn out in a billion years.” But we’re not just destroying our own habitat — we’re destroying countless other species. An entire web of life.
If Earth winds up a giant ocean of jellyfish, then, well - great for the jellyfish. Still a tragedy as far as I’m concerned.
There's a major question in ecology of how we feel about our "anthropocentric" civilization. For many environmentally conscious thinkers it seems like a world without humans would be preferable.
As a species, I don’t think those matter. They could kill off 90% of the population and humans will go on. Evolution is a bitch in that way, individuals matter not at all.
Or perhaps they'll observe and make contact with various different intelligent species on Earth, not just humans, and then decide that humans are making the planet inhospitable for other intelligent species like humpback whales, so we need to be eliminated to save the rest.
The fact that we've unintentionally wiped out so many species lends credence to the idea that, on average, very few individual specie are all that important. Of course, just leave it to us to find the exception someday...
"Would it be a tragedy if humans went extinct?" - The planet doesn't care. The only species that cares is humans. Tragedy? Not really. The universe will move on. We are quite insignificant as-is.
Unfortunately, as humans we care primarily about individuals who are alive, not about species in the abstract. Which means any outcome involving humans suffering and dying is an outcome we don't want.
Earth's gonna get hit by another big meteorite at some point. When we get to that point, any species that hasn't been lifted off the planet by humans (or whatever equivalent is around at that point) are gonna be wiped out regardless. We're the best hope for a continued existence in the long run, for all life.
And if the argument is that animals are happier without humans around, you should watch some nature documentaries. Nature is brutal.
If you care about animal suffering, human extinction is exactly the wrong way to solve the problem. Without humans, there will still be pain. Wasps will lay eggs in caterpillars until the Sun goes out. Intelligence is our only hope for abolishing suffering, not just for us but for all living creatures.
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