Everything we know about biological sciences, medicine, agriculture, disease, whatever, is based on studying one example of life. Life on Earth. Life as we know it. If we find another example that’s different, a second genesis, and independent origin of life, comparing those two might enable us to answer questions that we would never be able to answer if we only had one example to study. That could provide practical benefits for humans as well as better understanding of how to manage ecosystems, etc.
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If we are looking at what oil really provides to society, and what keeps us going for essential services and goods, then our life support system is in jeopardy. We are not preparing for peak oil. We are not reorganizing ourselves for a degraded ecosystem. So we are heading headlong into collapse, and this is something that is not being discussed. It is taboo to imagine that the whole growth scheme somehow comes to an end or that there is something like peak oil that doesn’t translate into some transition of renewable energy to make possible a green consumer society with this level of population.