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Reproduction.
That's both the definition of life and the goal. Do it and you grow. Fail and you die. So is the goal of every person to have as many children as possible? That depends on how big your big picture is. Let's do some hypothetical tradeoffs. Ask somebody if he wants to stay alive. Sure, he'll say. Is it the most important thing in his life? He might well say yes. If he had to choose between between his own life and the life of his wife and children, he'd probably sacrifice himself. So they're the most important thing. If he had to choose between the lives of his family and a thousand people in his town, he'd probably choose his town. So they're more important. If he had to choose between his town and his country, his town's probably history. What if he had to choose between all humans or every other species? Tough call. Personally, I think I'd have to say that the Earth is more important than humanity. But it's definitely a tough call. We're programmed for self-preservation pretty hard. I think of the planet as one giant organism, of which humans, and each of us as individuals, is one tiny part. Is it really alive? If we want it to be alive, we have to help it do the one thing life does: reproduce. Humans have the ability to be the brains of earth. We can decide how to help it. We have the ability to help it reproduce itself, to spread our seeds of biology throughout the galaxy, and propagate our ecosphere forever. That sounds like a worthy goal to me. It's a lot better than being a cancer on the Earth, dragging its health down and down until it's incapable of reproduction. We live today in a time and a place of unique importance in all of history. We are at a crossroads, with paths that may lead to unimaginable prosperity for our planet, and other paths that lead to the very destruction of all life on our planet. Our communication has enhanced our intelligence and potential a thousand-fold, turning humanity into a hive-mind that can save or destroy everything we love. Americans, by historical and world standards, are wealthy beyond compare. The biggest thing we lack is a challenge worthy of our ability. We flail for a goal, and have settled on seeking money or power or fame. Most find the pursuit empty. How about a bigger goal: Go forth and multiply! Not just humanity, but our whole planet. We serve. We protect. And with humanity's technology and intelligence, we can help our world soar beyond the stars. |
Filed Wed - February 15, 2006, 09:38 AM in
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