A better balance between life and death

Alan Weisman, author of World Without Us describes what would happen to the planet if we weren’t on it in this interview. I would imagine that it’d be as relevant as what happens on the other 8 (or is it 9 again?) worlds in the solar system, or as pressing as what might be occurring on any of the hundreds of worlds discovered around dozens of other stars in our galaxy over the past decade. It’s our existence and consciousness of our environment that gives meaning to its value on the planet in the first place.

He says “I didn’t write the book because I want people to go away. We’ve created so much beauty. My hope is that if people imagine the planet without us, then our longing would be to stick around and be a part of this and to find a better balance.” It’s hard to know what to make of this; What is the “balance” between our life and death on this planet, in universe swarming with billions of “worlds without us”? I prefer to continue contemplating the world with us along for the ride.