I heard a fantastic question today. I ate lunch with a bunch of friends visiting from Michigan and North Carolina. Some of them are quite religious. Somehow we got talking about living in Australia and one friend asked another "how does your faith explain extinction of the dingo?" The question was then asked to all of us - how does your personal belief system explain the extinction of animals that is not caused by us. For example, the dingo became extinct all by itself (as far as we know - we may be wrong but I think the question is still valid anyway) - so what does that mean? My devout christian friend Melinda suggested that perhaps this means that life isn't as sacrosanct as we assume. I'm not sure what it means really.
So what does it mean to you? If an animal has become extinct without our interference AND we had the ability to bring it back, should we? For the religious amongst us, does the dingo's extinction mean anything significant? Does it mean God would allow us to become extinct?
This is easily answered by telling your friends the dingo isn't extinct.
Well like I said, we could be wrong. But I think the question (but with a different animal) is still valid.
Mrbungle you must find more learned friends lol
Dingo's are not extinct at all they are very come. Ummmm does it say something about dingo's in the bible (note to self, check to see if dingo's are talked about).
Maybe me really meant Thylacine. They still think they are around. Look at all those animals they thought are extinct and now started finding them again.
I don't think it's such a big issue. If something becomes extinct, it's impossible to say whether mankind has or has not had an effect on the population at least indirectly. Afterall, man is so numerous and effect almost all ecologies in one way or another.
As to the question of bringing a species back should it become extinct, I reckon that's up to us. Afterall, God gave man dominion over the Earth and all the creatures so we can pretty much do as we please.
My traditional side comes out and says no, if we found something we could extract DNA from and clone it no we should leave it alone. Nature has a way in taking out the trash. Hurricanes kill off old trees, alligators eat the weak and old at the end of the water buffalo herds and vultures even do a nice clean up. Nature does not need man...we need nature (mother earth). If man could evolve with nature instead of earth evolving to man the world could be a nicer place to live.
I am not religious, but if the course of nature was to take the trash out with humans I don't think it would matter much, the body is just a shell that my consciousness is experiencing this realm in and we just go to the next dimension whatever you believe that it may be. Eventually we all make that move anyways.Earth is pretty durable though has already been hit by meteors and ice ages still sustaining life. Earth will never destroy man- man will have to destroy man. How God fits into that is your belief.
Man may evolve into a version, so improved, that it will be given a different name. Relative to the new, we may be as Austrolepithicus is to us.
In any case, in about 5 billion years, the sun wil become a red giant and the outer layers will expand to encompass the solar system; they will still be hot and will turn the worlds to cinders.
Dingos are extinct? What ate that baby then?
Given that 99.9% of all species that have ever lived are now extinct, its a fair bet that we shall eventually die out. As London points out it will be either from evolution (as per 5 or 6 of our homo ancestors (no sniggering about gay uncles)) or from a natural catastrophe.
As for bringing animals back from the dead, we needn't worry about any Jurassic Park style incidents. Its pure science fiction.
We're all worm food, it's just that some of us are gourmet. )
If an animal has become extinct without our interference AND we had the ability to bring it back, should we?
No, there's a reason that things become extinct. If it wasn't due to me and a shotgun, then obviously Mama Nature had a reason for that. And it's not nice to do things like that to Mama Nature.