--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With respect to phenomena like mass…" description: "\"With respect to phenomena like mass extinction, somebody might say why worry about it because in a geological perspective mass extinctions aren't so ba..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/richard-lewontin-20755_awful_with-respect-to-phenomena-like-mass-exti_2994448.png" --- # With respect to phenomena like mass extinction, somebody… ![“With respect to phenomena like mass extinction, somebody might say why worry about it because in a geological perspective mass extinctions aren't so bad, they wipe out some things and then 10 million years down the road we get new and interesting objects.But I tell you mass extinctions are really…” quote by Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/richard-lewontin-20755_awful_with-respect-to-phenomena-like-mass-exti_2994448.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/richard-lewontin-20755_awful_with-respect-to-phenomena-like-mass-exti_2994448.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cd/richard-lewontin-20755_awful_with-respect-to-phenomena-like-mass-exti_2994448.png) > “With respect to phenomena like mass extinction, somebody might say why worry about it because in a geological perspective mass extinctions aren't so bad, they wipe out some things and then 10 million years down the road we get new and interesting objects.But I tell you mass extinctions are really awful for folks caught in the midst of them.” [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mass extinctions are catastrophic for those living through them, despite appearing insignificant over geological time. **In simple terms:** Extinctions are deadly for present life. Key Takeaway Consider impacts on current species. Themes environment extinction humanity Mood somber urgent Type cautionary informative When to use this quote - conservation planning - policy making - education - media coverage Key Concepts geology ecology risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance long-term view with immediate suffering? - What policies can protect vulnerable species now? A Different Perspective Geological perspective can downplay urgency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Down the road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-the-road/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Mass extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-extinction/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [ “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/) > [Mass extinctions may not threaten distant futures, but they are decidedly unpleasant for species caught up in the throes of their power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/mass-extinctions-may-not-threaten-distant-futures-but-they-are/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [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/) > [Of the four billion life forms which have existed on this planet, three billion, nine hundred and sixty million are now extinct. We don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-the-four-billion-life-forms-which-have-existed-on-this-planet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Another expert, David Jablonski, characterizes mass extinctions as “substantial biodiversity losses” that occur rapidly and are “global in extent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/another-expert-david-jablonski-characterizes-mass-extinctions-as/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [We tell our children they're trapped like rats on a doomed, bankrupt, gangster-haunted planet with dwindling resources, with nothing to look forward to but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/we-tell-our-children-they-re-trapped-like-rats-on-a-doomed-bankrupt/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [“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. 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Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-t-bakker/) ## More by Richard Lewontin > [I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-australia-as-in-america-of-back/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [The vulgarization of Darwinism that sees the "struggle for existence" as nothing but the competition for some environmental resource in short supply ignores the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/the-vulgarization-of-darwinism-that-sees-the-struggle-for-existence/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/we-take-the-side-of-science-in-spite-of-the-patent-absurdity-of-some/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [In my mind the job of a natural scientist is to bend over backwards to say something which can be demonstrated to be true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/in-my-mind-the-job-of-a-natural-scientist-is-to-bend-over-backwards/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [If I ask you who is the most famous scientist who ever lived, or the greatest scientist who ever lived you'll say either Einstein…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/if-i-ask-you-who-is-the-most-famous-scientist-who-ever-lived-or-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [People who have various kinds of politics for whom it is congenial for their apriority politics to say yes, things are getting much worse.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/people-who-have-various-kinds-of-politics-for-whom-it-is-congenial/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/to-appeal-to-an-omnipotent-deity-is-to-allow-that-at-any-moment-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [There are a whole other range of sciences that must deal with the narrative reconstruction of the inordinately complex events of history that can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/there-are-a-whole-other-range-of-sciences-that-must-deal-with-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [As an American I must say I haven't been very encouraged by the way in which the people who run the government in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/as-an-american-i-must-say-i-haven-t-been-very-encouraged-by-the-way/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [Evolutionists ... have a prior commitment, a commitment to naturalism. 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