Are humans inherently parasitic in relation to their surroundings?

[ZacharyFino]

its not that i see it as particularly unnatural its just a bummer because look at how amazing our planet is, but it would be perfectly natural to exhaust our planet and move on further in space, in the end our species in a whole is trying to survive its just sad that we can't cooperate a little better as a civilization imagine what we could achieve if we weren't so separated.

 

[DaveC426913]

Come to think of it, humans are probably the only species that are actively trying to limit themselves before they exhaust their resources and die slowly and painfully.

Not quite. The majority of species are self-limiting before "painful death"; they will limit their breeding in the spring if food is not plentiful and/or hasn't been plentiful the season before.

 

[drankin]

its not that i see it as particularly unnatural its just a bummer because look at how amazing our planet is, but it would be perfectly natural to exhaust our planet and move on further in space, in the end our species in a whole is trying to survive its just sad that we can't cooperate a little better as a civilization imagine what we could achieve if we weren't so separated.

Well, no matter what we do, the Earth will contintue to thrive well beyond human existence. There is absolutely nothing we can do that will destroy this planet. We could nuke everything and life will thrive within a thousand if not a hundred years (example, the bikini islands). Anything we do as a species to control the ecosystem is futile. Ultimately it will control us. We are just another animal doing what animals do with their resources. You can accept it or hate it, it won't change anything. Many of hundreds of thousands of years has seen a much harsher Earth than we could ever recreate. Yet life continues on this planet. So you can liken your own species to a parasite, virus, or cancer, but in the end it doesn't matter.