By “we” I mean humans and humanity.
The first question to answer is very binary.
If we start with the basics, there can only be two underlying principles that can be used to explain the current universe, including Earth and life upon it.
The principles need to be looked at devoid of emotion, because emotions are just part of a mechanism we have been given to help us operate optimally socially and generally from an early age, without any prior learnings. It’s like a BIOS for a computer which has not yet had an operating system and a database installed.
We, as adult, mature beings capable of complex cognition can be heavily hindered by emotion, which is designed mainly for survival and when dealing with a gigantic civilisation, its impact on the environment in which it exists and the future of it – emotion is not going to help us as it clearly got us down a potential dead end. You can argue about love, compassion but read on and you’ll see that the question here needs to be answered without emotion in the mix.
The key principles
Here are the two principles and you need to pick just one to subscribe to in order to work out the main reason we’re here and what to do next:
1) Humans and all other species, including animals, insects, plants, bacteria, viruses, stone, water and earth and so on are all just molecules, atoms, superstrings, waves and fields – matter of different type – organised in varying levels of complexity. Humanity and the civilisation also being just very highly organised matter.
2) Humanity and all living things are something special, rare and unique as opposed to just gas and rocks flying around in space. Humans are even more special because we are also highly intelligent (some would argue). Perhaps there is more to life than meets the eye.
If you believe in reason 1) or some form of it, then it does not matter what we do, just like it does not matter that water erodes rock or a meteorite smashes into another. It’s all just molecules, atoms and underlying components bouncing around, forming new bonds, breaking old ones and so on. Physics will take its course and it does not need our help.
Meaning of life
If you believe in 1) then it does not matter if humanity lives or dies, if Earth survives humans or not or if we all end up living in a post-apocalyptic nightmare and so on and so forth. Live a simple life travelling and enjoying the view or build a corporate empire – it’s all just molecules moving around so just do what you enjoy – there is no responsibility that we have. No, really.
If you believe in 2) then there is another binary set of options:
2.1) If life is special and we want to preserve it and ourselves, then we need to take care of our habitat so as not to render it useless and die ourselves.
If you believe 2.1 then you have a further 2 options.
Saving the Earth
2.1.1) Go back — or as close to as possible — to the caveman days, back to our small tribes of hunter gatherers, living simple lives, in harmony and balance with nature, in greatly reduced numbers. I recommend books by Derrick Jensen, e.g. “The end game”. Radical changes, decentralisation, shift of focus on environment vs saving human lives (and not caring about any other), allowing nature to re-balance (if it’s still possible – it may be too late and we have already passed the tipping point).
2.1.2) Reduce our numbers on Earth by getting off it (to Mars and/or other planets) and/or slowing down the birth rate. The latter is apparently already happening and the rate at which the population is exploding is slowing down – but probably not enough to rebalance nature to prevent Earth’s demise. Perhaps with not all humans having children and those having children – only having 1 or 2, the population growth may even get reversed (though unlikely).
Switching to a vegan life style and renewable energy ASAP is a must or soon there will be so many environmental issues that forget humans alone – most life on Earth – will soon perish.
2.2) If life is special and we are the most special form of it — due to our superior (subjective) intelligence, perhaps that is the trend and the goal. If evolution and matter organising itself in more complex ways and structures is the pattern, there are therefore further steps to be made and further evolution to take place. Perhaps in the form of humanity evolving into machines and AI, just like protein molecules evolved into amoeba and amoeba evolved into more complex lifeforms which eventually evolved into humans.
If you believe 2.1.1 or 2.1.2 then you have the answer of what we should all be doing.
If it’s 2.2 then again there are a further 2 options.
Silicone vs organic
2.2.1) AI and machines are likely to not need most things that carbon based life forms do – in fact, silicone based life form would probably do very well on a hot (overheated and unsuitable for humans) planet with a readily available, easy source of energy.
In which case it does not matter what happens to us or Earth and we should continue to raise and eat animals at industrial scale, pollute the Earth through use of fossil fuels and drink, gorge and selfie ourselves into oblivion ushering the age of the machines.
2.2.2) If the evolution is to go in a different direction, but still through humans and organic life — and since nothing major has happened still — we need to buy more time for ourselves to allow this change (provided you’re still in the 2.1 camp).
We might evolve into a species able to use energy without aids of machines and forgo the need to eat and drink to survive, capable of “feeding” off light, electricity and other more direct energy sources. Able to travel in space by thought alone, perhaps even travel into other dimensions beyond the known 4… I digress but hopefully you get the point and the ballpark area. Back to the main question(s).
For now, we live on Earth — with no immediate means to go to other planets. We live on Earth by using other life forms: plant and animal, including the fact that plants convert CO2 we exhale into O2 we inhale. Considering all this, we still also need to make sure that said plants and animals survive — as well as us — for some time longer.
For some time longer, while we evolve into the next species or harness inter-planetary and interstellar travel. Basically, the same plan as 2.1.1 or 2.1.2.
To do that – survive on Earth for some time longer – we need to go vegan, get off fossil fuels ASAP and probably decentralise from cities and slow down intercontinental travel and trade.
Conclusion
So it’s actually 3 options:
1) “it’s all just matter” – don’t worry about anything, keep doing what you’r doing, nothing and nobody to save
2) “machines will take over soon” – same as 1
3) “we need to survive” – vegan, renewable energy, population growth stop and reduction, etc
Epilogue
The problem we have here is that perhaps as high as 90% of the population does not understand any of these issues, does not care about them or have been manipulated into thinking that it’s either not true or that they should not care.
Back to the emotion point — we are where we are as a civilisation because the main forces that drive it are based on material possession amassment through dishonest manipulation of resources (humans and other). These are not thought out, they are not logical and are perpetuated because all the way from the top everybody is focussed on increasing their material possessions, many only focussing on virtual material possession — money.
It all goes back to the caveman days and simple needs to store food to survive, which were all fuelled by emotion and instinct. Greed, the desire to buy more, own more — it all dates back to the same origins.
Powers at the top, largely controlling the way things go in this world are all driven by the same forces — all originating and steeped in emotions and instinct, not logical thought that humanity has become capable of, often to very advanced levels.
Who knows, perhaps with the advent of technology, the internet and social media and the fact that information can now be spread easier and more freely than in the days of the horse, cart and plague — the tide may turn and we may re-set our goals as a civilisation.
Disclaimer: considering I write this as a member of society and civilisation which is quite far from the reality of the natural world that we live in – well, quite far from actually — thoughts below could be also quite far from reality by that same logic.
Mind Iterations 