Is Humanity Flunking Its Survival Test?

Charles Darwin's idea that life is a struggle for survival applies both to individuals and to whole species.

Natural history museums display fossils of many species that have not survived.

Humans are not immune.

It may be going to flunk its own survival test by fouling its own nest one way or another.

Until very recently, there weren't enough people to have much impact on the world of nature. Humans were a tiny part of the huge ecosystems of our planet.

Also, we did not have technology that threatened to destroy us all, either directly, or by ruining the environment we depend on to live.

Both of these protections have now evaporated.

Thanks to progress in our understanding of biology, medicine, and agriculture, the world population has greatly increased, up from about 500 million people in 1500 to about 8.2 billion today.

Even without technological advance, such a big population could degrade the world environment.

But we have also greatly increased our understanding and control of nature, with amazing progress not just in biology but also in physics and chemistry. We are now "blessed" with technologies that intentionally, or unwittingly, could destroy humans.

Most obviously, atomic weapons could ruin the planet's ability to sustain human life.

The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, noted that given so many atomic power plants in Europe, another large war like World War II could destroy Europe's livability even if no atomic or hydrogen bombs were used.

The atomic power plants, designed to be reasonably safe in peacetime, couldn't withstand attack by massive conventional bombs and would release so much deadly radioactivity that Europe and possibly the whole world would become depopulated.

And anyway, we could not depend on no atomic weapons being used.

Another major threat would be biological weapons, either used intentionally or escaping from military laboratories accidentally.

The major advances in biological understanding that helped the human race multiply since 1500, ironically, have also created a technology that could destroy us.

The COVID-19pandemic — whatever its origin — gave us a taste of the potential disaster lurking here.

Even if there were no wars, which in 2025 seems hopelessly utopian, our peaceful technologies — coal, gas, and oil — could kill us all off if we do not get a grip on them.

The scientists who have devoted their lives to understanding the relationship between the gases these fuels pump into the atmosphere and the world's climate have found a strong correlation with the increasing temperatures, heat waves and other climate extremes caused by carbon dioxide and methane.

But leaders who have tried to do something to head off further climate trouble have run into sustained resistance from the economic interests that would be damaged by moving to cleaner sources of energy like solar and wind.

The climate scientists have no economic interests corrupting their findings. But these energy companies could be bankrupted if their products are displaced by green energy.

These well-developed industries are donating vast sums to political candidates who are willing to play along with them.

They are also spending huge amounts to hire spin-doctors to influence public opinion.

This public opinion is no small matter.

Although democracy is generally a good idea, one of its weaknesses is that even politicians who understand things well cannot put their understanding into legislation if public opinion has been corrupted by these spin-doctors.

Our leaders are often smarter than they act!

Oddly enough, an undemocratic country like China, where the leaders control public opinion instead of public opinion controlling the leaders, is in a stronger position to do something about the climate problem, and it is doing it on a grand scale.

The bottom line is that the human race is confronting a monumental challenge to its very existence and has thus far been unable to rise above tribal rivalries and wars, short-sighted economic interests, and, often, pure hatred of "the other," to cooperate in protecting itself from becoming another extinct species.

As things stand now, we are likely to flunk our survival test.

As the lyrics of the Kingston Trio's sardonic 1959 "Merry Minuet" concluded, "what nature doesn't do to us will be done by our fellow man."

Paul F. deLespinasse is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Computer Science at Adrian College. Read Professor Paul F. deLespinasse's Reports — More Here.