MemeMachineGo!

Marine biologists just discovered a new species of whale. Meanwhile, the Japanese promote whale-eating. Last year, a new species of squid was discovered. The game show Reality Factor killed on the order of a hundred thousand squid for a gross-out stunt in which contestants had to dive in tanks of dead squid to retrieve weights from the bottom. Earlier last year, nine new lemur and two new marmoset species were discovered in Madagascar. It's likely they're already endangered as their habitat is being destroyed. How many undiscovered species are out there? Could our discovery of them possibly outpace their destruction with our casual contempt?

The 6th UN Conference on Biodiversity is currently underway. But if they're to have a chance, we need a new attitude toward animals. Recently, I reported on super-powered shrimp. How many wonders are we forever losing as we drive more animal species to extinction? How many things could we learn? Given how little we still understand about ecology, how many of the pieces can we afford to kick out without risking making it all collapse? Not even to suggest that what's in it for us is biodiversity's best justification.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. — Alice Walker.

And, of course, any progress on this front is going to require leaving places wild and ceasing to encroach on habitats. And if we're going to be even slightly honest, that's going to require reversing the growth of the human population.

"Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the Earth." — Genesis 1:28. We've done a bang-up job at the first two. Isn't it about time to consider that last?