In the 190,000 years humans have lived on this planet
it’s estimated about 117 billion of us have inhabited it.
And though I’m the most important person in my life,
and at this point the only one, those 117 billion others
make me feel inconsequential and probably of no more significance than the other species that have populated this planet. You might attach greater importance to humans like I once did, but in the greater scheme of things globally and planetarily, I have to wonder if we really are of any more importance than the insects beneath our feet that live, procreate and die like we do. You could compare the intellects and great achievements of humans compared to, say, single minded ants that lack comparable intellects or any great achievements. But time erases intellects, even towering ones, and most achievements. And with a single mass extinction of the human race all those intellects and achievements would come to no more than an ant building a mound.
Bob Boyd