Scientists at NASA are getting their test tubes in a twist over reports that water may infrequently flow on Mars. Which inevitably leads to the age old question of whether life could exist on the red planet… which in turn leads to a more pertinent question: How long before we wipe it out?
Humans, huh…!!! You gotta love ’em…I mean us…you gotta love us, because I am unfortunately one of us (repeat ad infinitum to deflect suspicion…”one of us, one of us”). But seriously, I do question my humanity at times. Don’t you? I mean, how can I be made up of the same DNA as some of the specimens that frequent the darkest, dirtiest corners of the internet (and this isn’t even a people of walmart post). Darwin’s theory of evolution is mostly good until you try and equate it to humans.
For instance…
We all know there’s been a huge backlash against trophy hunters across social media, and although they may spin their story to suggest they’re providing benefits to endangered animals and their habitats–by going over there and shooting them (much akin to burning down your flat to light a cigarette)–it’s just an attempt to justify their appetite for death and destruction in the form of unfair combat against defenceless animals (usually the safety of a jeep and with a high-powered rifle).
But we can’t just blame trophy hunters for the sixth great extinction event that (according to scientists) is now underway. There are potentially thousands of examples I could use, but you’d be hard pressed to find anything more stupid than the EU fishing rules that encouraged fishermen to throw millions of dead fish back into the sea if they were a by-catch of the fish they were actually allowed to catch.
“You’re allowed to catch 20 tonnes of this particular fish, Mr Fisherman. But if in doing so you catch 100 tonnes of these other fish, we want you to throw them back into the sea. Dead.”
Yeah..take a moment to let it sink in. Pretty retarded, right?
Which leads me to think we should maybe take the time to get our own house in order before we worry about what life might be found on Mars and beyond. Because I’m pretty sure if any sentient extra-terrestrial spends half an hour scouring our internet, they might just be of the inclination to do some trophy hunting for themselves. And I’m not alone in that thought.
Scientists who entered a contest to compose a message to aliens (they’re a busy lot these scientists, aren’t they) have questioned whether it should be sent for the exact same reasons. To quote: “Listening out for aliens is one thing, but trying to contact them raises myriad concerns about what happens when civilisations collide.”
Well, the way I see it, it could go one of two ways….
Live long and prosper, fine internet people!
Blurred Worlds 
“I’m pretty sure if any sentient extra-terrestrial spends half an hour scouring our internet they might just be of the inclination to do some trophy hunting for themselves.”—Ha, yes, well said.
Thanks, Carrie!
Seriously? A giraffe? What a monsterously dangerous beast that man must have been in so much danger. I mean, it could have run away from him really fast or even *gasp* head butted him- well I guess it could have if he weren’t chasing it in a jeep… That thing is like an over sized bunny rabbit. Shit. Sorry I ranted about the photo and not your post, it was really good I just got hung up on the kitty killer
And they’re all so very proud of themselves… Anyway, I enjoyed your rant. People like this need to be shamed and vilified.
At least NASA says it won’t send any rovers to that location in order to avoid contaminating any Martian microbes with Earth bacteria. We’ve messed up this planet enough, and I’d hate to see us carry that record forward into the solar system and beyond.
Vivid portrayal in your article. We really should take long look at ourselves and soon, but that won’t ever happen. I have a Conservation section in my blog to raise awareness but I feel like day to day we are p*******in the wind, met with these faceless wonders who allow the degradation of species and our planet. It makes me ashamed, and what would I say if I ever met another species, not a lot I could say and what is more we are so conceited to think it would bear the hallmarks of us…man….don’t give up your day job.
It really is a disgrace. These faceless wonders care more about how many zeroes they have in their bank balance than the natural balance of the planet. I’ll go over and check out your conservation section. Myself and a fellow blogger have just started a conservation blog at http://www.dodoexpress.org if you have anything to contribute.
Amazing site and work. The film previews it took me to made me shudder, and the most annoying, infuriating thing is, as someone said, ‘a lot of the solutions are easy.’ We get in the way of that.