Species

With over seven billion people in the world, the human species is becoming larger, more advanced. Is that necessarily a good thing? It depends on who you ask. Some argue the state of advancement will propel us into a future unlike any other, but positive. Others say that the larger we grow, the more dangerous we become, to the Earth and to ourselves. The truth is more than likely somewhere in the middle. “State of the Species,” and article written by Charles C. Mann, attempts to use different, unique examples to paint a clearer picture of his opinion and where the human species is heading.

The most interesting part of “State of the Species” is the section named “As Plastic as Canby.” It references a Norton Juster story, The Phantom Tollbooth, and ties that story into reality seamlessly. Behavioral plasticity is “the possession of structure weak enough to yield to an influence, but strong enough not to yield all at once.” The idea that human plasticity somehow has hurt the human population, while interesting, does not seem entirely true. While it has exhausted our resources quicker, and certain species have been casualties, behavioral plasticity was and is what makes humans so durable and inventive. Because humans adopt so easily to new ideas, new places, it has advanced exponentially, discovering places, resources, cultures that might have been lost without it. It is understandable to view this as a problem, as with this expansion the stress on the planet becomes greater, but to say that this is not our greatest attribute is silly. Without, it is a very real possibility the human species would already be extinct.

The section directly after that, “Discount Rates,” attempts to portray the upcoming problems the growing human population will face when it reaches 10 billion people in 2050. It is interesting to note that Mann seems against any sort of change. His biggest worry about the human population is how it will sustain itself on the current food production,...