THE SAVIOUR SPECIES    

 

February 13, 1977

 

     While day-dreaming in the shade of an acacia tree, I was rudely awakened by the lowing of a herd of cattle tended by seven spear-toting Masai – seven of the 42,000 Masai that inhabit the crater.  The vision of the African Eden was shattered in a flash.  My immediate thought was: Ngorongoro Crater minus Masai minus cattle equals Eden.  The thought then broadened to: Earth minus humans equals paradise.  Without us humans, there would be no clearcut logging, no cattle overgrazing, no commercial seal hunt, no grizzly bear trophy hunt, no whaling, no driving the tiger to extinction…

     “Why don’t you just click your fingers and make Homo Sapiens disappear?” I asked Raminothna.

     “Tell me.  What, according to science, is the ultimate fate of the Earth?” Raminothna asked me back.

     “According to science, the Sun will burn out about five billion years from now.  It will become a red giant, whose radius will exceed that of Earth’s present orbit.  Even though the deceasing mass of the sun will allow Earth’s orbit to expand, it would not be enough to keep life on Earth from being incinerated.”

     “Can this be avoided?” 

     “What?  To keep the sun from burning up?  No.  All stars sooner or later burn out, and so will our Sun.  That is a certainty.”

     “So, the ultimate fate of life on Earth is utter and total destruction?”

     “It does seem that way.”

     “What to you would be the meaning of life then, if its inevitable fate is incineration?”

     “If the ultimate fate of life on Earth is destruction, then, I would say that life would be meaningless.  Unless…”

     “Unless?”

     “Unless it be delivered from the Earth to some younger, safer solar system before hand.”

     “And by whom, may I ask?”

     “By some interplanetary saviour, such as you?”

     “No.  By some indigenous saviour species capable of space technology, such as you, Homo Sapiens,” said Raminothna.

     “Hmm.  I see.”

     Later, I asked Raminothna, “So what if we blow ourselves up with nuclear weapons?  Or what if an asteroid smashes down?”

     “Then, life on Earth would regress by some millions of years, and another space-faring species would evolve into being again.  It might not resemble Homo Sapiens by appearance, but it would be capable of space technology, like Homo Sapiens.”

     “But given five more billion years before the Sun blows, what is the hurry now?”

     “As you mentioned just now, an asteroid can come smashing down a hundred thousand years from now, or next year.  A species capable of diverting or destroying this threat is needed to protect Life on Earth, and this, again, for now, means you, Homo Sapiens, the Saviour Species of Earth,” said Raminothna.