I read "Covenant of the Wild" last night, and found parts interesting (in between some maddening inferences, and his apparent animosity towards the animal rights movement). I did agree with the premise that life and nature are a constantly changing, adaptable, and complex system, full of organisms that are as brutal as they are beautiful; as opposed to the more traditional view of nature as fixed pantheon of noble creatures.
I also found his views on the formation and spread of agrarian culture to be thought-provoking, and in line with my recent thoughts on the human propensity to create ever-more-efficient means of fueling their burgeoning numbers, regardless of the impact on the very system that allows their existence. The thing is, it really is a very simple set of characteristics that drive all life to expand and fill every possible niche, and humans are no different than any other organism in these fundamental motivations and actions. Life will continue to evolve and adapt around us, regardless of what we do, and in many cases, because of what we do. The question is, what will become of us?
With each "leap" we have taken; agrarian, industrial, electronic; humans have increased the apparent carrying capacity of the planet for their species. The cost of these revolutions is that we have also increased the velocity and certainty of our path towards a catastrophic depletion of the resources and ecosystem that we rely upon. I often wonder just how and when we will crash as a species; just how many revolutions do we have left before we hit the ground? Maybe we'll miss the ground altogether, for now. Perhaps an inevitable revolution in our line of "progress" (if we make it so far) will be for humans to become an interplanetary or even interstellar life form.
We could spread out across worlds and even solar systems, filling every habitable space and creating many of our own along the way. Would such progress really save us though, or just increase the scope of the impending catastrophe? I'm leaning towards the latter, with what our history shows us thus far. Can we as a species really have any hope of railing against the very instincts that have cultivated our existence? I am doubtful. I think it's more likely that we will continue to use every resource available to grow our numbers, until there is nothing left for us to consume, and no place new for us to expand into.
Perhaps that is the point, though. In the end maybe we are no more than an interstellar slingshot for life; a fire that flares across worlds, but brings seeds on its scorching wind and leaves them behind on fertile ground, to bloom and grow long after it has burned out. Perhaps life is using us just as much as we are using it. "Covenant of the Wild" definitely struck that chord with me.
We will take life just as far as we can, and then it will proceed along without us, ever adapting, evolving, and spreading. It will tip its hat and thank us for the ride, or as a better writer than me once said, "so long, and thanks for all the fish."
