Protect the last of the wild

Re:Protect the last of the wild by dharma1 on Thursday November 01, 2018 @04:49PM (#18358296)

I guess in the case of humans we have partly outpaced natural selection - nature hasn't had time to optimise for the reality we are creating, it's too slow. Short term impulses which have worked great (until now) still govern our behaviour.

It's not altruism to try to avert long term disaster beyond your own life span. It's in your own interest to ensure your progeny survives - even several generations in the future they still carry your genes. But I don't know if inbuilt mechanisms for this exist in evolution.

I'd like to think self-inflicted extinction isn't a likely outcome of evolution - but maybe it is once a certain species dominates.

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Re:Protect the last of the wild by yeswecould on Thursday November 01, 2018 @04:52PM (#18358334)

All of the things that humans have done, which you are referring to - can be traced back to one thing - cheap energy - in the form of OIL.

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Re:Protect the last of the wild by dharma1 on Thursday November 01, 2018 @05:10PM (#18358486)

It is curious how carbon based life that existed in the past (dead plants and animals in the form of oil) is the catalyst for carbon based life wiping itself out in the future.

I wonder if this ultimately also happens on other planets with carbon based life (if they exist) - a short period of hyper growth once life learns how to unlock energy from the past, followed by extinction.

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