After a long talk with a friend, I felt the need to dig out an old quote that I’m particularly fond of. For my own future reference:
“I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.” — Agent Smith
While it’s a cute quote, it’s not really true; many mammals follow a similar strategy of reproducing like wild and then having a population crash. Many rodents, for example (so yes, we’re like rats or lemmings in that regard).
It’s a good quote, but want agent smith calls equilibrium basically is the lose of many individuals through the natural selection process. Think how many birds die during winter due to the food shortage.
So I believe agent smith doesn’t see things clearly because of the hate he feels against humanity.
I can’t think of any species that won’t reproduce without limit in the absence of predators or food shortages. From a coldly Darwinian perspective, humans have just out-competed everything else.
Oh yeah, you know those AI programs and their irrational hate..
I think humanity functions more like a fungus than a virus, actually.
Zack +1.
When you think about it, humans are the only animal on the planet that ever even attempts to live in equilibrium with its environment. Can’t see bumblebees enacting a ‘one child’ policy any time soon.