posted 2026-06-09 17:56:44

Human intelligence was a curse in disguise

With it we created this massive pool of knowledge, skills, inventions

And humans kept aiming ever higher

It felt like progress at the time

From creating spoken languages to inventing a pocket-sized computer to use at all hours of the day

Modern conveniences made our lives easier, better, more comfortable

I used to think, “how lucky am I to live in this modern world” while reading Laura Ingalls Wilder

But humans flew too close to the sun

We have thought and invented our way straight into extinction

We have doomed ourselves and every species on this planet

And when we die, our memories, knowledge, languages, and history will be erased forever

Everything we ever worked and suffered for will be gone and forgotten

But we continue living as if our place on Earth is permanent and guaranteed

What else can we do?

For as long as humans have been humans, mothers have cared for babies who grow up and have babies and grow old and die

Rinse and repeat for generations after generations after generations

How many billions of lives have existed at some point on this planet

And how novel to be one of the last generations of human lives

For now, we can reject our programming

We don’t have to bring more lives into the world only for them to witness the sunset of our existence

And when we are gone, the world will go on

Silently waiting for life to bloom again