Oh my god! We're destroying everything!

“We’re destroying everything. The air, the water, the land, the animals, the vegetation, even space. And worse, each other. We are in continual conflict with Nature. How can we change that? How can we get each other to stop being A-holes and get back into step with the natural world? It seems there may be no hope.”

Blah, blah, blah. You hear this nonsense all the time. But get this and get it good: We are not out of step with Nature. We are doing exactly as Nature has evolved us to do. We are being the very creature that evolution produced over many millions of years. If we could be anything else, we would be. The ape cannot be anything but an ape. A cricket must be crickety. The apple always comes from an apple tree.

Let’s be blunt here. Nature goes through chaos to order to chaos again. The cycle repeats continually. Creatures evolve; creatures go extinct. Some are hazardous to the health of the rest; some are sturdier and survive much longer. Some destroy, some build.

Only one—as far as we know—thinks about itself and knows it will die. That’s us. And we could not do that unless we had evolved to do so. We are being what Nature has intended us—through evolution—to be. So we are destroyers. So we are greedy. So we are often oblivious to the damage we do. We’re also artists, great lovers, achievers, creators, explorers, innovators.

Nature may be mysterious but She isn’t stupid. Nothing is happening in the universe that goes against Her. All the blowing up of super novas, the sucking sounds of black holes, the expansion of everything away from everything else may seem overwhelmingly out of whack to us; but Mom Nature has it all under control.

Are we damaging the world? Yes. Do bacteria and viruses damage the world? To be sure. Will it all work out to Nature’s satisfaction? Without doubt.

In the mean time, it behooves us to make this world the best it can be while we survive, so we will continue to survive. Why? Because Nature has given us the ability to do so. That’s what thinking does—gives you a choice.

The universe knew what it was doing when it brought the human frontal lobe into existence. It gave its creature the chance to share in the next steps of evolution on this planet. It also gave the creature the chance to bring it all to a screeching halt.

You and I are not mistakes. But we can make them. Let’s make less of them so that this world can be more. So that we can be more.

It’s our call. Nature has said so.

P.S. By the way, Armageddon is just another word for superstition. Honest!