Essay of the Week: 8/19/07-8/25/07

You have got to like a paper that starts out by saying….

All else being equal, not many people would prefer to destroy the world. Even faceless corporations, meddling governments, reckless scientists, and other agents of doom, require a world in which to achieve their goals of profit, order, tenure, or other villainies. If our extinction proceeds slowly enough to allow a moment of horrified realization, the doers of the deed will likely be quite taken aback on realizing that they have actually destroyed the world. Therefore I suggest that if the Earth is destroyed, it will probably be by mistake.

Thus begins an excellent exploration of man’s innate tendency to overestimate what he knows.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *