Everything experiences change. Some things change quickly while other things change over the course of millions of years.  Do we know exactly what changes will occur in the future?

Evolution is sometimes used as another word for change.  Although we can trace the course of evolution back to pre-historic times, evolutionary questions add to our immaturity.

We know that change is a part of our existence.  How are we to live within this state of change?  Are any of us mature enough to have the exact answer?

13: What is humanity to Earth

Human intelligence has been a significant addition to the planet.  The ability to think allows us to interact according to the choices we make. We have many explanations about our existence.

Many people now agree that every species on Earth is related to every other species. People once believed that the more advanced species were supported by the less advanced species. New discoveries now maintain the interdependence of all species of life on Earth.  It is an amazing performance.

The existence of life on Earth is maintained through the balance and diversity of its components.  Trees play a crucial role in maintaining the atmosphere.  Insects play a crucial role in maintaining the soil.  New species evolve and adapt in an effort to maintain a role within a healthy community of life.  Some people refer to this as Earth's circle of life.

In the human body, we can witness a similar system of health. Everything in the human body has a role in achieving a healthy existence. There is no hierarchy of being within the human body. A brain cell may perform different functions than a blood cell, but neither is less important to the overall body of health.  Balance and diversity maintains our human body's circle of life.

There are many problems associated with doing a check-up on Earth. When we go to a doctor and ask for a check-up on our health, the doctor compares our health to what is considered normal human health. Earth has experienced many different stages of health; none of which can be labeled as normal.

There have been many periods in history when Earth's circle of life has been damaged or sick. One example is when all the dinosaurs died along with many other species. Many people believe that something from outer space crashed into Earth. The impact was destructive causing dust and gas to be propelled into the atmosphere. The rapid changes in the air weakened Earth's circle of life. Since the foundations of existence were damaged, many species could no longer survive.

Although many species of plants and animals have ceased to exist throughout history, life on Earth has survived.  In the wake of such disasters, Earth has rebounded to health with new and diverse forms of life.  While the planet is strong and durable, Earth's circle of life experiences many changes.

Now that our human minds have a role within Earth's circle of life, many conclusions have been made about what type of influence our decisions have had.

Many scientists believe we are now witnessing another period when the current circle of life is sick. Indicators such as the depletion of habitat and the existence of weapons of mass destruction point to a weakening and threatened circle of life.  This affects everything in the circle of life, including the human species.

12: What will happen to the circle of life

An enormous amount of water can be found on Earth.  Most of it is salt water while a small percentage exists as fresh water.  Fresh water is crucial to life on Earth.

When the human population was relatively small, fresh water was available in ample amounts.  As our human population grew, we needed more fresh water.

We used our human intelligence to find and tap many sources.  The amount of water on Earth didn't necessarily increase or decrease; we just found new ways to harvest more of Earth's fresh water supply. Fresh water will not disappear from the circle of life, but access to fresh water will be restricted according to its availability.

11: Will we make the same decisions made in the past

For thousands of generations, the human species has enjoyed an abundant means of survival on Earth.  Our population was small enough to survive and expand without threatening the balance of Earth's community of life.  It was just a matter of harvesting the abundant means of survival.

By the time our human population could be measured in the billions, maintaining our existence became more of a challenge.  We discovered more efficient means of farming to produce more human food.  We discovered new ways to drill deeper into the planet to extract resources.

As a larger percentage of the Earth is harvested to maintain a growing human population, less is available to support other plant and animal species.  The diversity of Earth's circle of life will continue to weaken if fewer plant and animal species exist.

We are faced with a dilemma. We have the ability to take as much as we want, but it clearly is not in the interest of the community of life which we all are a part of.

10: So what are we waiting for

Evolution means that everything is changing.  We don't have the option of avoiding evolution.  We can't try to replicate a state of evolution from the past and we will always fail if we try to maintain the current state of evolution.  We are subject to change.  History will always progress and our human decisions will influence its course.

We are not capable of controlling evolution.  We only influence change through the decisions we make.  For example, many things happen naturally within our human bodies that we can't control.  We don't consciously decide when new blood cells should be created or when old skin should be shed.  However, we can choose to put toxins into our human bodies. 

If we harm our human body's circle of life, then our means of survival will be damaged.  It is our decision to make.

In a similar way, we can't control Earth's circle of life.  Most of the changes on Earth happen without human permission. However, we can choose to pollute Earth's circle of life.  If we harm Earth's community of life, then our means of survival will be damaged.  It is our decision to make.

As human beings, we make the decisions for how we live.  Should we only consider the choices we have made in the past?  Should we maintain strict explanations and calculated plans even though everything around us continues to change?

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