Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Extinction
Why do we get so upset when a critter approaches extinction these days? Whether it's something like a big, ugly condor, or a cutsey-wootsie panda or even a virtually unknown green-gilled aquatic whatsis, my question is - so what?
Let's face it, extinction is just a normal part of life. We'd be in a heck-of-a mess if the dinosaurs hadn't mostly gone extinct. If you're going to get all upset over a carrier pigeon, why not get upset over the trilobite - granted there's about a 250 million year gap there, but extinct is extinct. The main thing that the panda and koala have today is that they are cute. Look at the panda who was either dumb enough or unlucky enough to only focus on one food source - bamboo. That isn't a way to succeed. I'm sure homo sapiens will be eventually following the dodo, wooly mammoth, and snow leopard. Especially since we're evolving to focus on one food source - fast food.
Sure, it's a little sad the masked face of the bamboo-eating panda or the cute furry little snow leopard will probably soon be gone, but that's life. They weren't good enough to survive - they goofed someplace. Either geographically or physiologically, they didn't have what it took to survive. And to be honest, as we approach 7 billion humans on this planet, it wouldn't hurt if some of us started to go extinct; like home robber and homo assaultist, and homo rapist. (And not to change the subject, but why does the idea of a eating a furry canine bring up so much disgust - when eating a feathered chicken bothers hardly any at all.)
