Humanity is Dead as the Dodo

Socrates / Op Ed

Posted on: June 4, 2013 / Last Modified: June 4, 2013

There was this unique bird. It was endemic to a small island called Mauritius. It flourished there for thousands of years. It then went extinct. It was called the Dodo.

There was this some-what intelligent species. It was endemic to a small blue planet called Earth. It flourished there for a couple hundred thousand years. It then went extinct. It was called homo sapiens…

This is what history will say some time from now.

“Why so dark and pessimistic?” you may ask.

“On the contrary!” I would reply.

Species go extinct all the time. In fact, a certain percent of species going extinct is a normal part of evolution. Why would the Homo Sapiens be any different?!

Take the dodo, for example. The dodo thrived because it was lucky to live in such a safe environment – with abundance of food and no predators, that it didn’t even need to fly. So eventually it got fat and lost the ability to use its wings. When new predators entered its realm the Dodo was unable to either fight or flight. So, it went extinct.

“Yes, but we are different”, you may want to reply. “We are smart.”

“Not smart enough” I would say. What’s worse is that we’ve gotten fat and comfortable. Complacent. Inflexible. Conservative. Unwilling to change. Most of us have lost their ability to fly i.e. think independently, dream big and have the guts to chase after those dreams.

But we could be so much more. We could be masters of the universe. We could be immortal.

We could be gods!

And some of us will be.

But not those who hang on too tight to “our glorious past,” “human nature” or God, whatever those words may mean.

It will be those who dare to change, to move on, to embrace the new, to risk and to adapt. To embrace technology in a smart way and give wings to humanity.

To be/come transhuman.

And those humans who refuse to change will, like the Dodo, eventually go extinct. Perhaps not at once. But gradually, in time, they will die… off.

And those who thrive and prosper will not be mere humans any more. They will be more. A lot more.

So, the only thing that matters to you is this:

Are you ready to evolve?!

Or are you dead as the Dodo?!