--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I mention all this to make the point that…" description: "\"“I mention all this to make the point that if you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/bill-bryson-340_biology_i-mention-all-this-to-make-the-point-tha_2916913.jpg" --- # I mention all this to make the point that if you were… ![“I mention all this to make the point that if you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and keep a record of where it has been, you wouldn't choose human beings for the job. But here's an extremely salient point: we have been chosen, by…” quote by Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/bill-bryson-340_biology_i-mention-all-this-to-make-the-point-tha_2916913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/bill-bryson-340_biology_i-mention-all-this-to-make-the-point-tha_2916913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/bill-bryson-340_biology_i-mention-all-this-to-make-the-point-tha_2916913.jpg) > ““I mention all this to make the point that if you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and keep a record of where it has been, you wouldn't choose human beings for the job. But here's an extremely salient point: we have been chosen, by fate or Providence or whatever you wish to call it. It's an unnerving thought that we may be living the universe's supreme achievement and its worst nightmare simultaneously. Because we are so remarkably careless about looking after things, both when alive and when not, we have no idea-- really none at all-- about how many things have died off permanently, or may soon, or may never, and what role we have played in any part of the process. In 1979, in the book The Sinking Ark, the author Norman Myers suggested that human activities were causing about two extinctions a week on the planet. By the early 1990s he had raised the figure to about some six hundred per week. (That's extinctions of all types-- plants, insects, and so on as well as animals.) Others have put the figure ever higher-- to well over a thousand a week. A United Nations report of 1995, on the other hand, put the total number of known extinctions in the last four hundred years at slightly under 500 for animals and slightly over 650 for plants-- while allowing that this was "almost certainly an underestimate," particularly with regard to tropical species. A few interpreters think most extinction figures are grossly inflated. The fact is, we don't know. Don't have any idea. We don't know when we started doing many of the things we've done. We don't know what we are doing right now or how our present actions will affect the future. What we do know is that there is only one planet to do it on, and only one species of being capable of making a considered difference. Edward O. Wilson expressed it with unimprovable brevity in The Diversity of Life: "One planet, one experiment." If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-- and by "we" i mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp. We have arrived at this position of eminence in a stunningly short time. Behaviorally modern human beings-- that is, people who can speak and make art and organize complex activities-- have existed for only about 0.0001 percent of Earth's history. But surviving for even that little while has required a nearly endless string of good fortune. We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. And that, almost certainly, will require a good deal more than lucky breaks.”” [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity is both the universe’s greatest achievement and its greatest threat due to our careless impact on biodiversity. **In simple terms:** Humans are uniquely powerful yet dangerously careless. Key Takeaway Recognize our impact and act responsibly. Themes environment responsibility existential extinction humanity Mood concerned reflective Type ethical environmental When to use this quote - policy making - conservation projects - education programs - personal lifestyle changes Key Concepts anthropocentrism planetary stewardship ecological crisis Questions to Reflect On - How can we measure our true ecological footprint? - What actions can individuals take to reduce harm? A Different Perspective Our knowledge is limited, making precise impact assessment difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Doing right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-right/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ## Related quotes > [It's hard not to be kind of pessimistic about human beings generally, because we do tend to mess things up. If you just look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/it-s-hard-not-to-be-kind-of-pessimistic-about-human-beings-generally/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Often extinctions in the ocean occur at the same time as those on land. Then again, the ice age extinctions lost many big animals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-t-bakker/often-extinctions-in-the-ocean-occur-at-the-same-time-as-those-on/) [Robert T. Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-t-bakker/) > [“But for now it’s goodbye to the beaches, and indeed many a celebrated island of yore now lies deep under the waves. An entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/but-for-now-it-s-goodbye-to-the-beaches-and-indeed-many-a-celebrated/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [“The First Wave Extinction, which accompanied the spread of the foragers, was followed by the Second Wave Extinction, which accompanied the spread of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-first-wave-extinction-which-accompanied-the-spread-of-the/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [For thousands of years it has been understood that, just as civilizations have to come to an end, there can even be times of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/for-thousands-of-years-it-has-been-understood-that-just-as/) Peter Kingsley > [“Don’t believe tree-huggers who claim that our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo sapiens held the record among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/don-t-believe-tree-huggers-who-claim-that-our-ancestors-lived-in/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Recent studies funded by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council provide support for those concerns. (Thomas, et al, 2004; Stevens, et al, 2004) While there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-h-lipton/recent-studies-funded-by-britain-s-natural-environment-research/) [Bruce H. Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-h-lipton/) > [“In ordinary times—times here understood to mean whole geologic epochs—extinction takes place only very rarely, more rarely even than speciation, and it occurs at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/in-ordinary-times-times-here-understood-to-mean-whole-geologic-epochs/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [It saddens me that in the 21st century, with all our knowledge and power, we are hearing more and more stories of possible extinctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gisele-bundchen/it-saddens-me-that-in-the-21st-century-with-all-our-knowledge-and/) [Gisele Bundchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gisele-bundchen/) > [“The romantic contrast between modern industry that “destroys nature” and our ancestors who “lived in harmony with nature” is groundless. Long before the Industrial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-romantic-contrast-between-modern-industry-that-destroys-nature/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Intent on their small extinctions, they are ignorant of the greater death going on all around them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-haley/intent-on-their-small-extinctions-they-are-ignorant-of-the-greater/) Guy Haley > [The more we heat up the planet, the more it costs all of us, not just in money, but in colossal famines, displacements, deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/the-more-we-heat-up-the-planet-the-more-it-costs-all-of-us-not-just/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [ “It’s\] pretty clear that times of high carbon dioxide—and especially times when carbon dioxide levels rapidly rose—coincided with the mass extinctions,” writes University of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brannen/it-s-pretty-clear-that-times-of-high-carbon-dioxide-and-especially/) [Peter Brannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brannen/) > [The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-extinctions-ongoing-worldwide-promise-to-be-at-least-as-great-as/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [In the history of the world, all five mass extinctions have been accompanied by massive climate change, so we are facing an incredibly serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-russell/in-the-history-of-the-world-all-five-mass-extinctions-have-been/) [Cameron Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-russell/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-dining-table-was-a-plain-board-called-by-that-name-it-was-hung-on/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“From almost nothing, France in four years built up an aircraft industry that employed nearly 200,000 people and produced some 70,000 planes. Britain built…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/from-almost-nothing-france-in-four-years-built-up-an-aircraft/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Explore all 656 Bill Bryson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## More Biology quotes > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [“Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-luiselli/genetics-is-a-science-full-of-gods-mr-sanchez/) [Valeria Luiselli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-luiselli/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Evolution happens in jumps, very rapidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/evolution-happens-in-jumps-very-rapidly/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. He was impressed by perfection of this system.Why did existence have the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideaki-sena/toshiaki-learned-that-all-living-organisms-were-governed-by-their-dna/) Hideaki Sena > [I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-m-all-about-evolution-i-m-the-first-person-to-judge-myself/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. 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But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Evolution... is the most powerful and the most comprehensive idea that has ever arisen on Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-huxley/evolution-is-the-most-powerful-and-the-most-comprehensive-idea-that/) [Julian Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-huxley/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Browse all 3,034 Biology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I mention all this to make the point that if you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and keep a record of where it has been, you wouldn't choose human beings for the job. But here's an extremely salient point: we have been chosen, by fate or Providence or whatever you wish to call it. It's an unnerving thought that we may be living the universe's supreme achievement and its worst nightmare simultaneously. Because we are so remarkably careless about looking after things, both when alive and when not, we have no idea-- really none at all-- about how many things have died off permanently, or may soon, or may never, and what role we have played in any part of the process. In 1979, in the book The Sinking Ark, the author Norman Myers suggested that human activities were causing about two extinctions a week on the planet. By the early 1990s he had raised the figure to about some six hundred per week. (That's extinctions of all types-- plants, insects, and so on as well as animals.) Others have put the figure ever higher-- to well over a thousand a week. A United Nations report of 1995, on the other hand, put the total number of known extinctions in the last four hundred years at slightly under 500 for animals and slightly over 650 for plants-- while allowing that this was \"almost certainly an underestimate,\" particularly with regard to tropical species. A few interpreters think most extinction figures are grossly inflated. The fact is, we don't know. Don't have any idea. We don't know when we started doing many of the things we've done. We don't know what we are doing right now or how our present actions will affect the future. What we do know is that there is only one planet to do it on, and only one species of being capable of making a considered difference. Edward O. Wilson expressed it with unimprovable brevity in The Diversity of Life: \"One planet, one experiment.\" If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-- and by \"we\" i mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp. We have arrived at this position of eminence in a stunningly short time. Behaviorally modern human beings-- that is, people who can speak and make art and organize complex activities-- have existed for only about 0.0001 percent of Earth's history. But surviving for even that little while has required a nearly endless string of good fortune. We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. 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