Shadows of forgotten ancestors(Sagan, Carl)

 1. Without the sun, there would be nothing.

Animals, plants, and microorganisms are closely linked to each other, forming the gears of a huge, complex, and beautiful ecological machine.

The sun provides the power for this huge machine, which is as big as the Earth.

Ultimately, all of this comes from sunlight.

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Many of the resources on Earth in the past were replaced by other resources by early single-celled bacteria, changing the structure of the Earth's internal resources, and organisms grew while adapting to the environment.

Only now have organisms adapted to the current environment been able to live, and this is still ongoing.

All of this progress is ultimately due to the infinite energy source called the sun and the resources inside the Earth, and is the result of what the Earth has accomplished over the past 4.5 billion years.

If the Sun's energy were to run out someday, all of Earth's organisms would disappear.

The sun, which is estimated to be about 10 billion years old, is currently 4.6 billion years old, so there are still 5.4 billion years left, so there is no need to worry too much.

Our ecosystem is truly amazing, and each organism plays its own role and continues to exist.

Humans did not take over the earth, but are simply living creatures that parasitize the earth thanks to the sun.

We should not be arrogant and live well in harmony with other organisms.

2. About free will

How much of our daily actions are based on our own (free will) judgment, and how much is controlled by an automatic control device?

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I think the reason I like Carl Sagan is because he is not just a person who thinks about theoretical science, but also a person who thinks philosophically.

He seems to be a person who thinks about life, asks questions, and thinks about the future of humanity.

Other living things, except humans, can be thought of as machines that move automatically, and only humans have free will.

Of course, I agree to some extent.

However, humans also act instinctively in certain areas and do not act rationally.

If you look closely at your habits, you can find things that you do without thinking.

For example, shaking your legs without realizing it, or repeating the same thing over and over again when a certain topic comes up. If you look at yourself objectively, you are also like an automaton.

Then, I think it is worth thinking about whether free will really exists, and whether it is something that is possible only with thorough reason, completely unrelated to instinct.

3. Humans must continue to learn.

The reason why higher animals have a long infancy period is closely related to their large brains and the need for education for their offspring.

In such an education process, the offspring are freed from the relative lack of freedom that relies only on pre-programmed genetic information.

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Humans are one of the creatures with large brains, and most animals with large brains have long infancy periods.

In other words, compared to animals that act instinctively, we need a long time to educate them, and I think that this education will change our future lives.

That's why education at an early age is important, and it is said that the human brain grows rapidly until the age of 3.

Since human culture is very diverse and complex, it is very difficult to live in this society without education at an early age.

That's why I think that a lot of education should be done at home and that barriers to education should be eliminated to live in society better.

Also, looking at the ever-evolving science and technology, humans need to continue to learn and adapt.

Everyone uses computers now, but in the past, only a very small number of people knew how to use them.

Even with the current language-based AI (Chat GPT, Gemini, etc.), there are bound to be people who are increasingly accepting new technologies.

Humans need to accept and learn constantly evolving technologies and societies.

4. All living things are connected.

All living things are relatives, so to speak, 'distant cousins'. This is clearly revealed when comparing how living things originated, how they lived, how they changed their forms, and how they passed on genetic information.

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If you look at the shape of the early embryos of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, they all look similar.

Some parts degenerated and some parts developed depending on their living environment.

It was humans who classified species such as fish and mammals, but in fact, the development process would be different depending on the internal DNA structure.

We still do not know much about DNA or life.

It may be revealed someday, but in any case, I think everything started from a single bacterium and went through growth/reproduction/food chains and came to this point.

5. All living things on Earth continue to adapt to survive.

All adaptation is a transaction that involves a certain amount of sacrifice. 

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Humans have developed their sense of smell less while developing their sense of sight more.

For example, dogs have a sense of smell that is tens of thousands of times better than humans, but their sense of sight has limited color perception compared to humans.

Dolphins can use ultrasound, but they must live only in water.

All living things trade with the environment of the Earth, and in return for the negotiation, they gain some abilities and lose some abilities.

Even now, in various environments on Earth, such as mountains and oceans, each living thing adapts to the environment, and gains or loses some abilities in the changing parts.

Humans have developed products (air conditioners, clothes, etc.) that can adapt to the environment, so they tend to adapt well to any environment.

Just as a fighter jet cannot become a submarine, I don't think anything can adapt to all environments.

It would be good to recognize that if you gain something, you have to lose something.

6. Failure is inevitable.

In a typical modification, there is one success and approximately 200 million failures. mobile e-book : 885p

All of us who are born and living on Earth are creatures who have overcome at least 200 million to 1 chance of being born.

Therefore, we must not forget that we are incredibly lucky, and failure is natural in life, and the reason we are walking well now is because we have fallen down countless times.

Rather than running away from a new obstacle out of fear of failure, we must first encounter it and fail to become familiar with it.

Running away without even trying is no different from not getting more benefits or events in life.

If you have played RPG games, you will know that there are numerous quests, but if you do not try, it is no different from not achieving anything.

Therefore, we must continue to challenge and fail, and occasionally obtain the sweet fruit of success.