Evolution?

Evolution is the fundamental drive behind any species. Earth has reached a crisis point for evolution. We cannot evolve further because the planet has become overcrowded. At the same time, animal life and other species of plants can't evolve because of interference from Men. Should we actually save these living things from extinction or should we just let it die out and allow evolution to move on?

Let's assume for a second that Men does not exist in such vast numbers. Let's say, in this make-belief theory, we cut down the population of Man by half. Then we look at all the endangered species of animals, be it, the whales, pandas, birds etc Will they really be endangered or go extinct? What is causing the pandas to die out? Is it because their natural habitat has been destroyed? Is it because their species is just genetically weak at adapting to changes? Or is it because they're just shy and fussy to breed? In the case of whales, it will be less hunting of whales, will that mean that there will be more whales in the oceans? There will be less beaching of whales? Most of the time, it's because the natural habitat of these living things are being destroyed. Man cut down trees and clear the way for freeways, roads, cities, malls etc.

But if you look at it, evolution is also the ability to adapt to your new environment. If, for example, a species cannot adapt to the environment, it will die out completely because it cannot find food or shelter or something else that enables it to live on. Bats are abundant and live in the caves and in the dark. They have a particularly adaptive immune system that prevents them from suffering any ill effects of disease that they pick up. However, if we get bitten by a bat, they can transmit any of those nasty diseases they are holding back to us.

Men are surviving on this planet because of our vast numbers. But we are bleeding all the natural resources of this planet till there's nothing left. One day in the not too distant future, Earth will become an empty husk. Men do not replenish this fuel we use up. Soon there will be no more oil left. Oil is the lifeblood of this planet. We have based our entire transportation system on oil. We need to look towards more imaginative forms of fuel: Giant birds, beaming technology, catapults etc.

Men are an adaptable species, we will not die out because we are able to imagine ways to outwit extinction. We breed in vast numbers and live for long years, well, long enough in one generation to make a difference. The one major flaw for men is that we do not know how to make a self-contained system, in which everything can be recycled and reused. We are always dependable on something else for survival. I guess that's the fate on this planet, every single living thing depends on something else for their survival. Should we colonise the moon, we will still be dependent on Earth for most of the resources, because the moon has nothing to offer whatsoever. If we colonise another planet, say in a few hundreds years, let's hope that new world has new resources we can make use of to power us.

All this might sound science-fiction, but an active imagination allows survival. If we stop imagining, we will cease to become creative, that in turn prevents us from adapting to new circumstances and challenges, and that will eventually put us on the path to extinction.