This will come to an end.
99% of the four billion species that have evolved on earth in the last 4.5 billion years are extinct. On our current trajectory, humanity has a 95% chance of succumbing to the same fate in just 7,800,000 short years. Far before our planet becomes uninhabitable.
Remaining optimistic, humankind is set apart from other species by our free will, and ability to comprehend the future. Given that, the extended existence of our species isn’t impossible, but relies heavily on our reach for the stars, and the guarantee of near 0 emissions within 9 years of today. Without achieving those things, our time on earth may come to an end much sooner.
The shortening clock on our existence brings forth perspective on the way most of the population live their lives in 2022. If the doom of our species is inevitable, why do we submit to the tight regiment that has been forced on us by those with money and power. We have no choice but to wake up every morning, and feed a machine that is responsible for the hurried destruction of our planet. For what? A salary that barely affords us the comfort of a roof over our heads and food on our table?
I struggle daily with grasping the true insignificance of my own existence. In the vastness of the universe, By size alone, earth and its inhabitants are comparable to a single atom viewed from human perspective.
The achievements we make on earth, our strides in technology, medicine, and even space travel, Will not be noticed by the cosmos. When we are gone, we will not be missed. We will not leave a legacy large enough to hold value to any extraterrestrial civilization that may come upon the carcass of our planet after our demise.
It almost seems unfair to be forced into such a meaningless existence, with the express purpose of employment, consumption and reproduction. We are not given the option to choose where we draw the line between what is worth doing during your one century on earth, and what things we simply don’t have time for.
We’ve dreamt of removing ourselves from the cog, but that’s the trick of the system. We cannot remove ourselves from the machine because the machine is designed to keep us dependent on it. This is the most obvious human dilemma.