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In the interim, I have been discussing this subject via rambling internal dialogue off and on since posting the question that is basically, “What have humans done to improve the planet.”

Ruminating (chewing the cud of ideas) on Mello’s example, and my response that it was a neutral thing, and not really an improvement, sat as an undigested greasy lunch in the gut of my awareness overnight. This morning, doddering stiffly to make coffee while the dreams of the night’s sleep faded into today’s (mis)adventures with reality, clarity came that neutrality is the natural order of healthy systems. Fantastic Fungi, that sort of thing. Working separately while functioning together, no need for ego; interconnected in unimaginable complexity, yet without chaos; betterment - what is that in an organism that is already great? The very idea of humans making the planet better is a narcissistic, self-absorbed, small minded delusion that we are gods, and our ambitions are superior to the Great Organism into which we are born (but never understand).

Taking what we need - no more… giving what is necessary - no less. Humanity’s curse is having a large but brain lacking a decent owners manual and sufficient training in its safe and sane operation.

The Fungus is among us - learn from it! Viva la Fungus!!

Of course Loggy how does this work with the globes economic imperative to produce more, consume more, and raise living standards? A microwave in every kitchen along with a dishwasher and a freezer that has an icemaker. Don’t forget the air conditioning.

Of course one might find it easy for us Westerners to disparage the idea of consuming more and “living better”. What about all those people that have never had much of anything.. material wise… that is. Although the Taliban seem to have inherited a bunch of Uncle Sam’s sophisticated military equipment, not to mention several million bullets. If they only had an uninterrupted supply chain of replacement parts and trained mechanics and logistics people, they could be sitting in some sort of catbirds seat.

Until a nuke takes them out..that is.

“Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.”


― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

It doesn’t.

Oh, Loggy...you've got it all wrong.

There is nothing mankind can do to hurt the planet in any way.

It's a fecking ROCK! By the same token, there is nothing mankind can do to help the planet either. To imagine it can is hubris of the highest order. We might help ourselves to survive...but it's looking more unlikely as time goes on.

I looked up 'hubris' right after one of my last posts and thought about slipping it in somewhere. Thanks for working with me like a real fun guy!

Picking a nit here, but - isn’t’t there a difference between improving the planet’s environment, and improving the planet itself? I was hard enough put to come up with an environmental improvement; I don’t have a scooby what would constitute am improvement to the planet.

And it's a fair nit to pick!

OP said:

I suppose some humans have shat upon the earth and helped a plant to grow at some point but that's about as far as his contribution to environmental improvement.

We act like we don't have a symbiotic relationship with this carefully engineered spaceship.

You're in luck... I retracted my hubriscious challenge and adopted neutrality as the highest form of interaction.

“Hubriscious?” As in, “filled with hubrisciousness?”

I am truly impressed…