What is the Human Role Here on Earth
I sat at the edge of a pond the other day. It was dusk and the night sounds were coming to life. The crickets were chirping. The cicadas chimed in. Birds busied themselves in the last rays of light. Fish and turtles sent bubbles to the surface of the water. Bees gathered the last bits of pollen for the day. Spiders spun webs among the plants, preparing for the night’s catch. Swifts swooped over the water catching bugs, every now and then dipping their little beaks into the water to take a drink. A great blue heron swooped overhead, passing by the pond for what was perhaps a better fishing hole.
And as I sat there, watching all of this unfold, I marveled at the perfection of nature. Always in balance, everything serving its purpose. As the bees pollinated the flowers, I thought about the various species of humming birds, some whose beaks are so perfected that they can, and will, only pollinate a specific species of flower that is shaped exactly like their beak. Everything truly in balance, with purpose . . . and perfection.
So this got me wondering. If all species on this planet seem to serve a purpose and keep something about this ecosystem in balance, what is it then that is our purpose on this planet? What is it that we, the human species, are keeping in balance?
I have not yet come up with an answer to that question, and that bothers me a bit. It bothers me because of something my Dad pointed out many years ago. It was something so profound that it has stuck with me all these years.
And as I sat there, watching all of this unfold, I marveled at the perfection of nature. Always in balance, everything serving its purpose. As the bees pollinated the flowers, I thought about the various species of humming birds, some whose beaks are so perfected that they can, and will, only pollinate a specific species of flower that is shaped exactly like their beak. Everything truly in balance, with purpose . . . and perfection.
So this got me wondering. If all species on this planet seem to serve a purpose and keep something about this ecosystem in balance, what is it then that is our purpose on this planet? What is it that we, the human species, are keeping in balance?
I have not yet come up with an answer to that question, and that bothers me a bit. It bothers me because of something my Dad pointed out many years ago. It was something so profound that it has stuck with me all these years.
My Dad is a scientist. A chemist. And as we chatted on the front lawn one evening those many years ago, he put forth the thought that perhaps man is like a virus, using up the host until it, along with the virus, dies or moves on to another host.
That really isn’t the pretty picture of balance and perfection I hoped for. But all these years later I still can’t seem to find a better model that fits our role here on this planet. Huh. There just isn’t much that is beautiful about a virus.
Now I find myself wondering if we will have the means to find another host to exploit, or if perhaps we will soon perish as life on this planet dies, and the planet shakes us off like fleas, to once again start life anew as it has done before.
Copyright 2006, RL, All rights reserved
posted by EvolutionUS | 6:27 PM
2 Comments:
Short answer: music.
Longer answer: a) you are assuming that just because nature outside of humans seems to be in balance, that is the "proper" state of existence. Perhaps it is just, in the grand scheme of things, a momentary pause in the natural volatility of existence. If a volatile world was mapped like a sine wave, it would seem perfectly in balance to those that existed as it crossed the center between high and low. There were mass extinctions, natural disasters that wiped out thousands of species, diseases, and more long before man picked up a tool.
Or maybe you are looking at life at too great a level of detail, where humans appear to be an ananchronistic force out of balance with the rest of life. Maybe if we were to zoom back and look at universal existence, our role would be clear. For all we know, it is our destiny to rapidly advance to the point where we play some as yet unknown role in a greater universal struggle--where we are the answer to some other force that needs to be balanced out.
Or maybe we're a virus. Who the hell knows?
This is the the brother I know. The one who asks questions and sometimes comes to the realization that we humans are not all that wonderful. We destroy everything with which we come in contact. Maybe "it" has momentary beauty, but overall, nothing we've created has positively influenced our world.. can yout hink of one?
Post a Comment
<< Home