• CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 days ago

    I can’t remember the name of the philosopher that pretty much said that because existing is so toxic to our environment, we should stop existing (i.e. stop having children, not commit genocide to be clear).

    I can’t fault him for being right.

    • BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca
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      6 days ago

      Anything that lives creates things that are toxic to itself. It’s a waste product. Or shit.

      The problem isn’t our existing, not even just the scale at which we do, but the methods we choose to use to do it. I’m pretty sure we could have 8 billion people sustainably and comfortably living here, maybe even many more, but we do it by investing in solar and wind, maybe nuclear, maybe whatever isn’t burning coal and gas. And we, as a society, are simply choosing not to.

      Besides, life will go on for a while without us, at least a few billion years probably. Even if some of us survive, I wonder what the trajectory is for human intelligence during a mass extinction event. Will we still be interested in the stars? Or maybe a more good natured intelligence evolves here from like octopuses or something and decides to look up. It’d be cool if a descendent of Earth could survive the Sun dying, anyway