Forces Driving More
dark made me an easy target, a rich source of food with plenty of meat
and fat. Not acknowledging what was happening worked against me. I
was not, after all, the only creature around with a desire to live. If there
were carnivores lurking about, then being here was about survival, not
recreation. The brilliance of the night sky would have to wait for some
other evening. Turning my flashlight on, I tipped my hat toward the
rustling bushes and walked toward the security of my cabin.
The human race has literally been bred to survive. The uniqueness of
each person’s DNA builds genetic variation into the overall population.
Some of those variations introduced traits that made survival harder for
future generations; their descendants eventually went extinct. Others
brought traits that made survival easier for future generations, which
explains our being around today.
Lest people feel too privileged, we should remember that humans
are just one of an estimated 8.7 million species, all following the same
script.^ Being bred for survival bestows opportunity for continued
survival but not immunity from extinction. Whether or not we live
depends in large measure on pressures created by our environment.
Our living on a planet spinning at ,000 miles per hour while hurling
through space at nearly 7,000 miles per hour is one example. The
outcome is mild-to-extreme variations in climate and weather—and,
subsequently, survival.
Also worth remembering is that the need for food is universal for
all species, not just ourselves. If food were easy to come by, survival
would be easier... at least until the number of living beings exceeded
the planet’s capacity to support them. To keep Earth from becoming a
barren wasteland, each species in need of food is itself a source of food.
This basic circle of life is why survival is tied to competition, and why
access to food is never guaranteed.
Perhaps one day, future generations will discover a planet, tucked
away in some far corner of the universe, that perpetuates life differently.
But for earthlings of all kinds, the only two options available are
finding ways to adapt, or going extinct. Barbaric as it sounds, eat-or-
be-eaten is how life on this planet rolls.