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Humanity is amazing. Billions of years of nothing but mindless senseless suffering and death in the natural world, and finally we emerge, a creature that can th

Humanity is amazing. Billions of years of nothing but mindless senseless suffering and death in the natural world, and finally we emerge, a creature that can think beyond the next meal, next kill, next rape. Even if we do it imperfectly, the fact we can try at all is possibly the most special thing that has ever happened in the entire universe. Humanity is amazing.

sasas 9y ago
You mean to say millions rather then billions? [1] Either way, thanks for the positive message. [1] http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/evolution/AnimalEvolution.shtml http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/evolution/AnimalEvolution.shtml
- rixed 9y ago
  Depends what he called "creatures" I guess: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary_history_of_life https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary...
- Simon_says 9y ago
  It's pretty crazy that life started on Earth about ~4 billion years ago, almost as soon as there was liquid water, but the Cambrian Explosion didn't occur until about ~0.5 billion years ago. Really makes you wonder what the heck was going on for three and a half billion years. Also, maybe it's an indication that life is easy to come by and exists in every little nook and cranny in the Universe, but complex multi-cellular life is a larger hurdle.
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    Yup, this is a very likely possibility, that even if life emerges the other conditioms may not be present to make it evolve to the next stage. Even the fact that humans have made it ahead of other species is not given at all. Other apes were far less lucky.
snambi 9y ago
Don't think too much about ourselves. Even a tiny ant is far more superior than anything technology has achieved. To achieve this "crap" technology, we have nearly destroyed the planet.
crispinb 9y ago
> Humanity is amazing True. > Billions of years of nothing but mindless senseless suffering and death in the natural world False ("nothing but" signals either a silly rhetorical flourish, or profound ignorance of the "natural world", which contains joys and sorrows in vast and complex patterns resisting such narrow simplification). > the fact we can try at all is possibly the most special thing that has ever happened in the entire universe Daft if you ignore "possibly" - we know almost nothing even of other regions of our own galaxy, let alone 'the entire universe'. Trivially true if you admit "possibly". All this aside, however amazing humanity undoubtedly is, it is failing, perhaps inevitably, at the signal task of our age, which is to maintain civilisation without destroying our home. There is no sign thus far that this can or will improve.
voltooid 9y ago
Did you mean to add a \s to your comment?
dang 9y ago
You've posted several comments like this and it's effectively trolling. Please don't do any more of that here.

sasas 9y ago

You mean to say millions rather then billions? [1] Either way, thanks for the positive message. [1] http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/evolution/AnimalEvolution.shtml http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/evolution/AnimalEvolution.shtml

rixed 9y ago
Depends what he called "creatures" I guess: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary_history_of_life https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary...
Simon_says 9y ago
It's pretty crazy that life started on Earth about ~4 billion years ago, almost as soon as there was liquid water, but the Cambrian Explosion didn't occur until about ~0.5 billion years ago. Really makes you wonder what the heck was going on for three and a half billion years. Also, maybe it's an indication that life is easy to come by and exists in every little nook and cranny in the Universe, but complex multi-cellular life is a larger hurdle.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  Yup, this is a very likely possibility, that even if life emerges the other conditioms may not be present to make it evolve to the next stage. Even the fact that humans have made it ahead of other species is not given at all. Other apes were far less lucky.

snambi 9y ago

Don't think too much about ourselves. Even a tiny ant is far more superior than anything technology has achieved. To achieve this "crap" technology, we have nearly destroyed the planet.

crispinb 9y ago

> Humanity is amazing True. > Billions of years of nothing but mindless senseless suffering and death in the natural world False ("nothing but" signals either a silly rhetorical flourish, or profound ignorance of the "natural world", which contains joys and sorrows in vast and complex patterns resisting such narrow simplification). > the fact we can try at all is possibly the most special thing that has ever happened in the entire universe Daft if you ignore "possibly" - we know almost nothing even of other regions of our own galaxy, let alone 'the entire universe'. Trivially true if you admit "possibly". All this aside, however amazing humanity undoubtedly is, it is failing, perhaps inevitably, at the signal task of our age, which is to maintain civilisation without destroying our home. There is no sign thus far that this can or will improve.

voltooid 9y ago

Did you mean to add a \s to your comment?

dang 9y ago

You've posted several comments like this and it's effectively trolling. Please don't do any more of that here.