--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We've almost been wiped out as a species…" description: "\"We've almost been wiped out as a species many times, going back millions of years, and we've survived by reinventing ourselves and enlarging our circle..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/david-grinspoon-5141_awareness_we-ve-almost-been-wiped-out-as-a-species_1575206.jpg" --- # We've almost been wiped out as a species many times, going… ![“We've almost been wiped out as a species many times, going back millions of years, and we've survived by reinventing ourselves and enlarging our circles of awareness, inventing new technologies and social structures.” quote by David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/david-grinspoon-5141_awareness_we-ve-almost-been-wiped-out-as-a-species_1575206.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/david-grinspoon-5141_awareness_we-ve-almost-been-wiped-out-as-a-species_1575206.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/david-grinspoon-5141_awareness_we-ve-almost-been-wiped-out-as-a-species_1575206.jpg) > “We've almost been wiped out as a species many times, going back millions of years, and we've survived by reinventing ourselves and enlarging our circles of awareness, inventing new technologies and social structures.” [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human survival depends on continual adaptation, expanding awareness, and creating new technologies and social structures. **In simple terms:** We survive by adapting and expanding our awareness. Key Takeaway Embrace change and broaden your perspective. Themes evolution innovation resilience Mood thoughtful urgent Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - environmental policy - technology development - education reform - community resilience Key Concepts Adaptive cycles collective intelligence Questions to Reflect On - What can we do to ensure ethical growth? - How can we balance innovation with sustainability? A Different Perspective Innovation can outpace ethical considerations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Awareness Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness-inventing-5937567/) [Back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back/) [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Inventing New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing-new-386787/) [Millions Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millions-years/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [Reinventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reinventing/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Survived Reinventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survived-reinventing-5937566/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Time and time again, our species has escaped existential threats by reinventing ourselves, finding new skills not coded in our genes to survive new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/time-and-time-again-our-species-has-escaped-existential-threats-by/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [As a student, I had a hobby of inventing new ideas for products. For me, thinking of new businesses is like inventing new products.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masayoshi-son/as-a-student-i-had-a-hobby-of-inventing-new-ideas-for-products-for-me/) [Masayoshi Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masayoshi-son/) > [“or just inventing a new letter (as our medieval ancestors did when they created the new letters j, u, and w).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/or-just-inventing-a-new-letter-as-our-medieval-ancestors-did-when/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I'm not inventing anything new, I'm just using existing material differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/i-m-not-inventing-anything-new-i-m-just-using-existing-material/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) > [What's interesting about the shift from an industrial age to a technological age is that we keep inventing new media: movies, records, radio, television,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gerrold/what-s-interesting-about-the-shift-from-an-industrial-age-to-a/) [David Gerrold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gerrold/) > [Individuals who break through by inventing a new paradigm are almost always either very young men or very new to the field whose paradigm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-kuhn/individuals-who-break-through-by-inventing-a-new-paradigm-are-almost/) [Thomas Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-kuhn/) > [People should stop inventing new things. They might make our lives easier in the short term, but they end up creating stress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-strachan/people-should-stop-inventing-new-things-they-might-make-our-lives/) [Michaela Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-strachan/) > [Intercourse with a porpoise is a dream for me, hell bent on inventing a new species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-hot-chili-peppers/intercourse-with-a-porpoise-is-a-dream-for-me-hell-bent-on-inventing/) [Red Hot Chili Peppers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-hot-chili-peppers/) > [The best creative solutions don't come from finding good answers to the questions that are presented... They come from inventing new questions!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-best-creative-solutions-don-t-come-from-finding-good-answers-to/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The problems of inventing a new language are staggering. But what else can one do if one needs to express one's feeling precisely?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-motherwell/the-problems-of-inventing-a-new-language-are-staggering-but-what-else/) [Robert Motherwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-motherwell/) > [1968 in Paris renewed my options. There was suddenly a desire of inventing new things, and I while I was working as an editor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babette-mangolte/1968-in-paris-renewed-my-options-there-was-suddenly-a-desire-of/) [Babette Mangolte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babette-mangolte/) > [Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-jahn/creativity-has-more-to-do-with-the-elimination-of-the-inessential/) [Helmut Jahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-jahn/) > [I'm inventing new principles. The audience has a point of view that no one can predict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/i-m-inventing-new-principles-the-audience-has-a-point-of-view-that-no/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [“The human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, or, indeed, of creating a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-human-mind-has-no-more-power-of-inventing-a-new-value-than-of-2/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## More by David Grinspoon > [I think the best SF writers are very aware of what we, in the scientific community, are doing, thinking, and discovering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-think-the-best-sf-writers-are-very-aware-of-what-we-in-the/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [If we gutted NASA Earth Science, it wouldn't be NOAA or some other agency that would take the lead. It would be the Chinese…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/if-we-gutted-nasa-earth-science-it-wouldn-t-be-noaa-or-some-other/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [When you think about alien intelligences making art, you then have to think about what art is and how bound up it is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/when-you-think-about-alien-intelligences-making-art-you-then-have-to/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [What if life is not carbon-based? Can life exist as a gas or a plasma? Could planets or stars in some sense be alive?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/what-if-life-is-not-carbon-based-can-life-exist-as-a-gas-or-a-plasma/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [What I'm interested in is the conversations going on about the Anthropocene and what it means to view ourselves as a part of Earth's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/what-i-m-interested-in-is-the-conversations-going-on-about-the/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [I do comparative studies of climate evolution, and the interactions between planetary atmosphere and surfaces and their radiation environment, and try to understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-do-comparative-studies-of-climate-evolution-and-the-interactions/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [I'd been politically active ever since my parents wheeled me in a stroller in a 'ban the bomb' march in Boston in 1963.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-d-been-politically-active-ever-since-my-parents-wheeled-me-in-a/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [Through space-based climate studies, my colleagues and I have learned that a stable and comfortable climate is not something to take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/through-space-based-climate-studies-my-colleagues-and-i-have-learned/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [We have all this very clever technology and all these abilities to manipulate the world in all these ways, yet we are faced with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/we-have-all-this-very-clever-technology-and-all-these-abilities-to/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [The planet Mars - crimson and bright, filling our telescopes with vague intimations of almost-familiar landforms - has long formed a celestial tabula rasa…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/the-planet-mars-crimson-and-bright-filling-our-telescopes-with-vague/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [Certainly for me, as an astrobiologist, science fiction has played an important role. One of the quandaries of our field is that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/certainly-for-me-as-an-astrobiologist-science-fiction-has-played-an/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [Time and time again, our species has escaped existential threats by reinventing ourselves, finding new skills not coded in our genes to survive new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/time-and-time-again-our-species-has-escaped-existential-threats-by/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [I think that an advanced planetary civilization will modify their own planets to be more stable, to prevent asteroid impacts and dangerous climate fluctuations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-think-that-an-advanced-planetary-civilization-will-modify-their-own/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [Responsible global behaviour is ultimately an act of self-preservation of, by, and for the global beast that modern technological humanity has become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/responsible-global-behaviour-is-ultimately-an-act-of-self/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [Venus and Mars are our next of kin: they are the two most Earth-like planets that we know about. They're the only two other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/venus-and-mars-are-our-next-of-kin-they-are-the-two-most-earth-like/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) [Explore all 103 David Grinspoon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) ## More Awareness quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. 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Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [I know the importance of highly trained awareness of the “moment” and the immediate and intuitive response of the photographer. 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You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [I'm part of a team that raises millions of dollars and raises awareness of HIV and AIDS all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-evangelista/i-m-part-of-a-team-that-raises-millions-of-dollars-and-raises/) [Linda Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-evangelista/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. 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