The bad news is:
1. Homosapiens are fallible
2. Our planet's stability is fragile
3. We have attained a significant level of technological maturity
Our technology is powerful enough to alter our biosphere. It did not happen in one year - it took one century. The most dramatic changes occurred over the past few decades. Unquestionably, if we continue along, status quo, this planet will become both unstable, and unrecognizable in a few more decades. We will render ourselves powerless to stop it. We will reduce in population size, not by choice, but by attrition.
Bottom line: our social and ethical maturity has not kept pace with that of our technology.
The good news is:
1. The future is unwritten
2. We can learn from our mistakes
3. New technologies can actually help if they are tempered with reasonable behaviour
I have faith in this species to which I belong. As individuals, we are, by and large, quite dignified in our actions most of the time. As a collective, we can be better, though we are, at times, worse. Even when 10% act horrifically, if some of them command significant sway, it takes the other 90% to simply hold them at bay.
Bottom line: we must allow civilization to mature from a sociological standpoint, and make the kinds of decisions that give us the right to deem ourselves an intelligent species.
