Imagine Earth Without People

New Scientist has an interesting article that imagines how difficult it might be for future non-human archeologists to establish human presence on the earth. I can readily accept that our current levels of "civilisation" are a fragile thing, and will wither away very quickly in less than geological timescales. But fossil evidence will persist for a while, even though those future archeologists will have no comprehension of what drove our lives. I’m reminded of Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "History Lesson" published in 1949.

 

But one thing is certain, the title of the New Scientist article is wrong. Give it long enough and you won’t have to imagine earth without people – it will be a plain fact.