Eight billion people and counting, drawing on a finite biosphere — and a common future selected, moment by moment, through our daily actions. An appeal to our higher evolved survival instincts.
Eight point three billion and counting — that's the number of human beings living on planet Earth as of this writing. That's a lot of creatures consuming the resources of the planet, and not always in a way that is replenishing or sustainable to the current healthy ecological state of the said shared biosphere.
What can be done? Well, we could eat each other, as in Soylent Green. Become even more efficient at killing each other, for whatever stupid sub-human behavior — probably oil or some other dwindling resource — as we constantly seem to be doing.
Or maybe, just maybe, we could evolve . . . I mean technologically evolve. Enhance ourselves to become more than just physically human. Human + (plus) technology. Am I talking evil Nazi eugenics? NO. Am I talking smart phone ⟶ Star Trek Borg implants, Matrix simulated realities, AI-controlled cultures like The Forbin Project? Space expansion through human technological evolution? Honestly, I don't know. But certainly something we can't imagine yet.
Or maybe you would prefer a more bleak future? One in which 90% or more of the population has been wiped clean by a natural or artificial contagion? Maybe a global nuclear war? I'm saying the time to choose is now.
Through your daily actions — you, myself, all of us — are selecting a common future moment-by-moment. Let's make it the best one it can possibly be, for the most human-acting people possible.
For just a few moments a day, I appeal to your higher evolved survival instincts — or rather, those of common sense. Let's put aside our greed, jealousy, prejudice, and fear, and rise to the best we humans can be: intelligent, creative, compassionate, cooperative, communicating, altruistic beings worthy of this biosphere and its diversity.
Worthy to survive as a continually evolving species on this planet — and later, expand out into the universe. There to eventually meet others who have survived as well.
Eight point three billion futures — which one will it be? Which one doyouwe want it to be?