Humans and Their Reign of Terror

Most of us would probably say that humans are the most intelligent creatures. Our species has evolved to such a ridiculous degree that we’ve created longstanding institutions, infrastructure, and have gotten to the point in which the world practically bends at our will.

The control we have over, well, everything is pretty incredible. But amazing as it may be, is our influence on the planet actually beneficial?

Preparing for an ecological collapse and global climate disaster at the current moment, it’s easy to forget that humans have slowly been destroying the planet for thousands of years before this major turning point. We’ve successfully killed off all of our competitors so that we can reign supreme at the top of the food chain, invaded pretty much every square inch of earth, and pushed hundreds (probably even thousands) of other species to extinction due to our domination of the planet.

We take from the planet and leave nothing behind besides the waste we create. Quickly it piles up and becomes useless. It merely stands as a reminder of what once was. Imagine if we gave other animals the opportunity to evolve as we did. There are many other animals who are extremely intelligent, such as dolphins and octopuses, but they have an evolutionary disadvantage because they were not the first to develop complex consciousness.

Is there room for humans to share the planet with other intelligent creatures or will we always view them as another enemy to destroy and overtake? Even deeper, is there room for humans to share the planet with one another, or will we always view anyone or anything slightly different from us as something that needs to be destroyed?