To be human is not what I thought. I was told that to be human is to have original sin, and to also be the crown of god’s creation. These are lies, and I left them behind a long time ago, but I am still unpacking the ramifications.
I was taught that the Earth is about 6,000 years old, and that god created everything in six days. I was also taught that humans are the pinnacle of creation, and we have dominion over everything else on Earth.
At this point in my life, I understand a completely different narrative about what it means to be human. I realize now that science offers a much more consistent and accurate understanding of the world around me. This means I’ve been learning about evolution, astronomy, and the different eras of history that define what it means to be human.
Humanity is one short moment in an extremely long history of evolutionary time, in an even longer history of space time. We exist because of the instinct to survive that seems to show up in all forms of life. Trees survive. Fungus survives. All kinds of sea creatures survive. The ways we have managed this are weird and wonderful, but they take such long stretches of time that we can hardly fathom how long it takes for evolution to happen.
The Holocene period is rapidly drawing to a close, and that means many species on Earth are going extinct. Humanity may join them, or some iteration of our species may survive in small numbers. It is impossible to predict exactly how this will come about, but hopefully those of us alive today will not live to find out.
Human activity is causing the end of this epoch, but that’s too vague a statement. Most of humanity does not imagine the planet as a disposable thing to be subdued and conquered. What is altering the planet is the destruction and violence of white, rich, cisheteronormative patriarchy. When we imagine ourselves as white, we imagine ourselves as divine judges of other ways of being.
Throughout my life, I have had very different ideas of what it means to be human. I still struggle to accept that my feelings and fantasies seem so much bigger than the body I inhabit. The facts of how humanity came to exist are not easy to accept. I didn't choose to believe in evolution and a godless universe. This reality did not need to ask for my approval to exist. Learning about the world is fascinating, awe-inspiring, and even terrifying. I am doing my best to learn about myself and the world, and to cope with what I learn.
