Scientist estimate that there are about a trillion species on earth. Take a moment and let that sink in a trillion is a huge number! A trillion dollars is a thousand billion. A trillion dollar bills laid end to end, would stretch 96,906,656 miles—further than the distance of the earth to the sun. So who cares about how many species there are and why it is such a large number. I care because, with the James Webb telescope online and the ARtemis mission bringing humans back to the moon I cannot help but wonder if there is intelligent life anywhere other than the earth.
When I consider the intelligent life question I wonder about the phrase Intelligent life.. Some would say that humans are the intelligent life here on earth and I cannot help but think that this is wrong and participating in lite speciesism. Humans have accomplished some incredible things however so have ants, Gorillas, Meerkats, Giraffe’s and many other animals on earth. The only major difference I see between Humans and Gorillas is the ability to completely lay waste to ones home. I am not referring to the home that has a roof and walls I am referring to the earth itself. Humans have done more damage to the earth than any other species on the planet. Humans are only .01% of all living things yet they have caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half the plants.
I am all for space exploration however I do not think we as a species will ever be able to accomplish great things like the other animals on earth have accomplished until we as a species learn to respect life here on earth. Even though humans do not respect or protect the rights of animals the animals have rights and they should be respected.
History and present times show that the only thing humans do better than the animals is lay waste to life up to and including the life of their own species..
Lets all try to be the best animal we can and act more like our pets.
The Corrigan Encore 