> The celebrated “antinatalist” philosopher David Benatar argues that the disappearance of humanity would not deprive the universe of anything unique or valuable.<p>I say that there is nothing in the universe more unique or valuable than a human mind, and I believe this could be proven rigorously using observable measures of entropy, though I don't have the skill or time right now.<p>Without humans there is no other intelligence that can attempt to contextualize life within the known universe and _care_ that it exists in the first place, and so no chance of protecting life on Earth from the wider universe.<p>While humans exist, life on Earth has a chance of spreading and surviving beyond our planet. While climate change is real and catastrophic, so are planet killing asteroids and supervolcanoes, and we know that these things have wiped out far more species that humans can ever hope to.<p>Humans have destroyed biodiversity on Earth, but while they can still wield their engineering power for good, there is still the (ever so slight) possibility that they can create a future with more biodiversity than otherwise would have existed. And if not, then humans will destroy themselves and their capability to do harm in a way that probably still won't be as cataclysmic as an eventual fire from sky or from below.<p>The evolution of the universe is toward greater knowledge and understanding of itself and the human mind is the pinnacle of this evolution. David Benatar sounds to me like a toxic sophist who I take comfort in knowing will eventually disappear, though I think he ought to lead by example rather than sticking around to infect other valuable human minds with his useless malware philosophy.
I think these folks should spend more time chatting with loved ones and friends. We should balance the zoomed-out view with a zoomed-in one every now and then.
It's mostly well-to-do privileged people saying things like this. The people that have too much themselves, who consequently think all humans are terrible for the Earth. Go around the world and most will find that idea is ridiculous. Some even live in communion with nature, and actually help to benefit it.
Good read, but I was expecting to see some Last Messiah in there.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Messiah" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Messiah</a>
The greatest battle capitalism ever won was against our Imagination<p>It's easier for most to imagine the end of the world than an end to capitalism