Wouldn't the world be better off without humans?

Question

Humans destroy, abuse, kill, rape.They do not contribute a lot to the world. Wouldn't it be better for other living things and Earth if humankind just didn't exist? Answer this not from a human being's point of view, but more from a general perspective.

It seems most of you here think that the good of humans outweigh the bad. But with the direction we're heading towards - what with religious, nuclear etc. issues causing so much tension between countries - it almost seems as if a World War 3 will start soon (and this is no exaggeration). Then picture a world without humans. Peaceful. Yes, we would not be able to appreciate it, but why be so selfish?

Destroying, abusing, killing, and raping does occur with other animals, but not to the extent and intention of us humans.

And yes, there are worldwide movements which TRY to preserve and conserve animals and plants. But as long as politicians do not co-operate, no major change can be made. By the time they are forced to do something, it'd be too late.

Answer 1

What an intriguing discussion.....

our species has destroyed more species of plants and animals in the past ten years than has happened ever before in the existence of humans on this planet. We exploit, often cruelly, those things (alive and not) that share our planet in ways that cannot be changed. We might do good for ourselves, but at the expense not only of other species, but of less powerful members of the human race.

I do not believe that we were "meant to" be here. If so, then botuslism, typhus, cancer, and the HIV virus were meant to be here.

For other living things, it would be better if we had not come along. If, as someone pointed out earlier, the human race might someday save this panet, it would be from some hazard we ourselves created.

For a perspective *beyond* that of the human, i would recommend reading the Xenogenesis Trilogy, also known as Litlith's Brood, by Octavia E. Butler-- the three books are called Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago.

Thanks for asking...

Answer 2

Destroying, abusing, killing, and raping all exist among other species as well. I'd like to think that most humans have the cognitive resources to understand and honor the idea of morality though.
Take a herd of deer that doesn't have any natural predators in a particular area: they don't realize when their numbers have grown so much that they're eating more than the sustainable yield. Now, you can say they'd have plenty of food if humans hadn't developed that land and killed/driven out their predators, and you'd likely be correct, but humans, on the other hand, have that ability, with science, to think about the future, and predict how long their resources will last. After all, humans everywhere have never truly had predators, and only recently have their practices seemed threatening to the planet.
There's a strong movement these days (and it's worldwide) to save and preserve animal and plant populations everywhere. While this doesn't undo the damage humans have caused, it shows that humans are definitely capable of having the will to be good stewards of the planet. Whether or not the global economy can make room for that movement in the near future remains to be seen, of course. But, it certainly will happen one day, because eventually there won't be a choice, and I'm afraid a lot of barbaric things may happen when there are global shortages.
We have an idea that land untouched by humans is pristine, but honestly, where does that exist anymore? It's only an idea. Humans have lived for tens of thousands of years, and they've been drastically altering landscapes for at least a couple thousand. As terrible as releasing dense carbon to the atmosphere has been, coal and oil provided an incredible relief for the Earth's vegetation, which had previously been used as the primary fuel.
I believe that history will record this century as a great environmental awakening, but it won't come cheap.

Answer 3

Yeah I once asked the question 'would the world be a better place if everyone simultaneously committed suicide'. It depends on the concept of 'better' and 'good'. Does an absolute definition of good exist, or is it just a human concept? If so, then it wouldn't technically be better because there would be no humans to judge so. As for destroying nature, everything is nature including us. Even if the world was a giant nuclear waste heap, it would still be nature. What you mean is upsetting the natural balance before humans came along, which is sad. But say we do destroy it altogether so that the world is only inhabitable by humans living in giant, artificial-atmosphere domes - to aliens veiwing earth for the first time, that would be considered the natural balance. So, if everyone isn't going to simultaneously kill themselves any time soon, and you don't consider yourself 'evil', the only reasonable thing to do is go about rectifying the situation. Considering that our whole society is built around fossil fuels, it's frigging hard to do anything. The choices are to go 'backwards' to go 'fowards', or else try our luck with new technologies. I have a feeling that new technologies are just going to end up like the old ones, in a slightly different way. Nothing comes for free, if we want copious amounts of energy we have to forcibly steal it.

Answer 4

Well of course, the answer you're looking for is yes, and with the way you're asking, I think so. But then you have to to question whether or not humans are intended to be on the Earth. We obviously evolved and are here as a creation of mother earth. The question you're asking is loaded. Take out that last sentence from your question and my answer is different. I think the Earth is mostly pointless without us (or any other intelligent life form that would eventually evolve thus following our same path of destruction). Without us, what good would actually come out of life on Earth? Eventually all life would end up being destroyed some way or another (last resort would be our sun losing hydrogen to fuel itself and growing to a red giant) and then what would the billions of years of evolution have to show? Nothing at all. We at least have the chance of surviving when no other species could with our technology.

Answer 5

Human beings have a mind and consciousness. You could argue that people who destroy, abuse, kill and rape are not exercising their consciousness and minds at all. I believe human beings are an important emergent property of the universe - we were given minds and consciousness so that the universe can understand itself, and create art, music, language, math, etc. Unfortunately in the creation of consciousness, there has been a degree of free will given that can be incredibly destructive... but it might all be worth it, we just might not find out that it's all worth it until thousands or millions of years in the future. Human beings are an experiment - there have been ugly nasty side effects in the experiment, but the cure of consciousness for the universe might turn out to be genuine.

Answer 6

When you talk about better or worse, you are speaking from a human perspective. Humans are part of Earth's environment, if we weren't meant to be here we wouldn't be here.

Would Earth be different without us, yes. Would it be better, I think not. Who's to say that humans won't be the ones who one day save Earth from destruction by asteroids, solar flare or who knows what? Who's to say humans aren't just a blip on the radar that will soon disappear and Earth will continue on without us?

We're here. Why not deal with that instead of dealing with maybes and might have beens.

Answer 7

Not all people kill destroy and abuse. There are lots of people who do good in the world and they outweigh the majority of people who are bad. Aboriginals in our country took better care of Australia than whites. We can learn from others.

Answer 8

wow dude! This thought runs through my head a lot. I thought I was alone on this matter but it's good to know that someone feels the same way. Yes the world would be better off with humans from an objective standpoint.

Answer 9

The human race will not last forever. Lets just hope whoever takes over does a better job. Provided of course we leave behind a world that is still inhabitable.

Answer 10

i see were you are coming from, we as a race take and take and give nothing back. and yes if we weren't here there probably wouldn't be some of the environmental problems that we're having now. but it could also effect the balance of life. every animal has a role in the life cycle and we are animals as well. so i see were you are coming from and do agree to a degree