Earth Day reminds us there are responsibilities to being the apex predator. Many fool themselves into believing being on top means we have the right to gorge ourselves. It does not.

Others imagine we’re ghosts trapped in physical form who should dominate and use the Earth according to our will.

Those are delusions. Harmful delusions.

For one thing, Homo Sapiens’ self-serving narrative of being nature’s capstone is as fanciful as the name we gave ourselves. (Man the wise? Spare me.) Dinosaurs dominated the planet for 165 million years. Homo Sapiens has been around for about a quarter million years, and for most of that time, struggled to cling to a precarious existence.

Maybe a little prudence and humility are in order.

Instead of making choices based on other-worldly criteria –what should be, instead of what really is — maybe we should take the time to reevaluate our goals and choices so they contribute to long-term survival rather than short-term gain.

Here’s an article and some stories to spur that reevaluation:

The Barbarian and the Playwright – We’ve tried fooling ourselves about our true nature, and look where that brought us. In this essay, I suggest it’s time to look at ourselves realistically, with help from the unlikely team of Robert Ardrey and Robert E. Howard.

Hunting Ground – A fantasy tale exploring the dangers of fracking and the mindset that Earth exists to supply us with raw materials.

A Tree Amid the Wood – An inventor finds a way to meet human needs while protecting that which sustains us – if only he could remember it.

Notes from the Underground – A rock-music dystopian tale exploring what could happen to a species that fouls its own nest.

Mirrors – Earth Day shouldn’t be all doom and gloom – we as a species have some good qualities we can build on.

Happy Earth Day!