Chapter 3: Humans are Unique in the Universe

Scientists' best guess is that the universe is 13.8 billion years old. The fossil record indicates that life on earth has existed for approximately 3.5 billion years. In the last 500 million years, earth has recovered from five different extinction level events, the most famous being the Cretaceous-tertiary Extinction some 65 million years ago which killed 50% of living creatures on the planet and ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Humans have been on the planet for approximately 300,000 years, a sliver of time. And yet, look at what we have done in that time. We have changed the topography of the planet, altered the atmosphere, traveled to other worlds, and studied the deepest mysteries of the universe. Consider this fact: the coldest place in the entire universe, which spans billions of galaxies and trillions of stars, is most likely on planet earth, created by scientists and human knowledge. 

And yet, despite all of our accomplishments, it could all be wiped out by a stray asteroid or a massive supervolcano explosion. Human existence is predicated on luck -, that an extinction level event will not occur while humans are incapable of dealing with it. So, when one asks what is our purpose, shouldn’t one of the answers be to develop the knowledge to keep the human race as a growing force in the universe? To gain the knowledge to stop or dodge those events which can threaten human existence? After all, what good is a nice house, education, cars, tax cuts, a strong federal government if they can’t protect every one of us from events that could wipe us, our families, and our descendents out forever. 

Here is an utter certainty. If humankind doesn’t continue to gather knowledge, every one of our future descendents will be annihilated by some force of nature. Whether an asteroid, plague, or supervolcano, nature is more than able and willing to wipe humanity and life off the face of the earth. If we manage to evade these perils, we know with certainty that in about 1 billion years, the sun will warm to the point that our oceans will evaporate and the planet will become inhospitable to anything but the hardiest microorganisms.  That’s assuming we avoid our own impulses and talents for blowing ourselves up. 

The Hebrew and Christian bible is very clear about what humans must do:

Genesis says:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Whether you believe these are God’s words or simply the insights passed down doesn’t matter. Even our early ancestors understood that humans must tame nature and bend it to our higher purpose. We must be fruitful and multiply for the fate of all life depends on it.

This does not mean that we should destroy our planet in doing so. Humanity must develop the knowledge to expand while at the same time preserving the biosphere. We must “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

Doing this requires knowledge, and as I have already explained, humans are creating faster and faster ways of developing it. 

Humans are unique on our planet, in our solar system, potentially in our galaxy, and maybe even in this universe. We are sentient and self-aware. Those are important attributes although one might say that an ape or even a dog is self-aware. What separates us from other species is the ability to think and create knowledge. As we have discussed, knowledge is the universe’s currency and humans are able to traffic in this information. The march started slowly, taking hundreds of thousands of years for humans to learn how to reliably master fire, deploy the wheel, learn to cultivate plans, build irrigation, create alphabets, laws, and on and on. But as we have also discussed, the pace of knowledge creation has been growing exponentially.

Some would downplay this impact on the universe. Say that humans are no more than a microscopic drop of scum. That we must learn our place, accept our smallness in this vast universe and be humble. But this is incorrect. Humans are significant because given enough time and knowledge, we have the ability to reorder the very nature of the universe. David Deutsch explains in The Beginning of Infinity that, contrary to popular belief, the earth was never a friendly place for humans. Instead of being an Eden, it was a killing ground. The earliest humans were hunted and fed upon by predators, often starved to death, buffeted by the elements, felled by disease, killed by poison and broken bones and a million other things. Even 600 years ago life was brutal. 

Archaeologists recently analyzed bones from those who lived in medieval London. They found that the bodies of all classes of people - rich and poor - were full of broken bones, disease, and hardship that marked very difficult lives. 

“These were people who spent their days working long hours doing heavy manual labour. In town, people worked in trades and crafts such as stonemasonry and blacksmithing, or as general labourers. Outside town, many spent dawn to dusk doing bone-crushing work in the fields or tending livestock,” said Jenna Dittmar, lead author of the study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

The show Alone on the Discover Network shows just how harsh the planet can be without technology. Ten experienced survivalists are dropped into an inhospitable part of the world. 

They are allowed to bring ten items with them. They must then build their own shelter, find their own food, and survive without the amenities of the modern world. The one who survives the longest wins a substantial amount of money. To get even a tiny sense of how difficult life must have been for our ancestors, watch the show. You’ll see the participants struggle to fish and hunt game to fill their almost always empty bellies. A simple cut can become a life-threatening event. As the weather gets colder, they struggle to stay warm in shelters more primitive than what the Pilgrims had in Plymouth Plantation.

The only thing hospitable about earth is that it contains some basic ingredients that humans need to live - air, water, fire, animals, plants.  But we needed hundreds of thousands of years to gain the knowledge to master these advantages.

Humans were able to reorder the earth and make it a place that is comfortable for human life. As a result, we have expanded across the globe. There is no reason we can’t and won’t do the same for the moon, Mars, and planets beyond. They are also inhospitable places. But humans can create oxygen, and grow food, and capture sunlight, and increase gravity. Humanity can and will expand and our standard of living and comfort will continue to rise. Almost every person in the United States lives in more comfort than the richest person in Europe lived in during the Middle Ages. And the more people who participate in this endeavor, the faster this will happen and the wealthier we will all become.