October 2012
Are humans flexible enough to escape the fate of every “successful” species that lacks competition—i.e. the headlong consumption of all available resources until there’s nothing left?
By luck or superior adaptation, a few species manage to escape their limits, at least for a while. Nature’s success stories, they are like Gause’s protozoans; the world is their petri dish. Their populations grow exponentially; they take over large areas, overwhelming their environment as if no force opposed them. Then they annihilate themselves, drowning in their own wastes or starving from lack of food.
No, we can’t escape our fate because it’s never been done in the history of life on Earth—it’s not how organisms behave.
Yes, we can escape our fate because we’ve demonstrated our ability to change for the better (e.g. abolition of slavery).
Discuss.
If you liked the life-saving warnings of weather scientists, you might also enjoy the work of climate scientists.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 29, 2012
The Telegraph has a bucket list for dogs:
1. Flop down in front of a morning fire
2. Go for a swim in the sea
3. Go mad in the snow
4. Dig up a flower bed…
I think if you cross all of these off you’re going to be just as happy and fulfilled as your dog.
Image from Hyperbole and a Half
via Karl