Earth is around 4.6 billion years old and it is only 3,00,000 years ago that modern-day humans start to appear in fossil specimens. Moreover, humans have a recorded history of only about 6000 years. To give things more perspective about 97% of our history is lost and we certainly have no clue how we came to be on this fabulous planet. There have been so many theories that try to explain the origin of humans, but one theory that caught our attention is that humans have actually come from another planet. Over the years we have seen the earth from our perspective and it is difficult to imagine that we did not originate here on the planet that we call home.
The Premise
The world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking gave a reminder to mankind in one of his last appearances about the existential challenges we face and how our future depends on the colonization of another planet like earth.
He said, “It could be a new virus, climate change, and nuclear war, artificial intelligence gone rogue”
Today, humanity faces challenges that are unprecedented. Some of these pressing issues have altered the way we live and certainly made us think in the direction of leaving this planet. Unlike dinosaurs who could do very little to evade extinction, humans certainly have proven that he can use his intelligence and ingenuity to make breakthroughs, eventually emerging victorious even in the grimmest situations.
But a question that comes to mind is that what if similar events made us colonize earth thousands of years back? There may be some possibilities in this theory. Let’s try to dig in more.
We are not in tune
Humans have scaled the most savage mountains, swam to the depth of the unknown, tamed beasts, built civilizations, and even landed on the moon, but when it comes to the food chain we are not the apex predators. We might be on the same trophic level as the pigs or anchovies.
Our appearance also seems a bit odd. Although, we have evolved to live on earth but not completely in seems. For instance, two legs extremely fine coat hair growing out of odd places, opposable thumbs, huge heads, and big flat feet. Compared to other species living on earth we definitely stick out.
Lack of hair on our body made us wear fur in freezing conditions and we duly suffered in Africa too, where we have been thought to have originated from. But these things do not happen with other species. They are perfectly in harmony with nature.
We modify
Generally speaking, evolution means that a species adapts to their climate, but we do not seem to want to play that game. A significant part of the hypothesis is due to the fact that we have modified the world to suit us, rather than the other way around.
We simply cannot seem to tolerate living in the natural world the fact that we have so dramatically altered our immediate environment makes it seem as if we are actually not adapted to live in the natural habitat of the Planet. But what we are doing does not appear to evolve as much as terraforming.
We are clueless
Even after walking the earth for centuries and going through customary evolution, we have to rely on technology to warn us about natural calamities, but many species have built-in sensors for natural events like earthquakes, tsunamis, and even just the ability to predict the weather.
In ancient times humans even relied on the behavior of such animals as a sign of some upcoming natural calamity. In fact, many of the technologies we have developed has come through a close study of many animals and their interaction with the environment.
Our eating habits are unusual
We can’t consume any of the food on this planet without altering it in some way. Whether it is by cooking it or by selective breeding. Much of our food is not as nature intended.
Some might say that because we are the apex species and have evolved to modify the food for our liking, we do not consume raw food. But, that is why this argument is so apt, why modify food if it was intended for us?
We are invasive
Humans are spreading as a result of rapid overpopulation and they are multiplying quickly. This small little planet has over seven billion of us crammed into it. The number is still climbing and tipping the ecosystem balance. This is almost like we are an invasive species. Referring to our high school science class, do you remember what happens when you introduce a new species into an environment that they didn’t evolve in, most of the time they take over the environment due to the fact that they do not have the natural predators and the local flora and fauna is not equipped to defend themselves against them.
This means that the non-native species have a free invitation to hunt eat and breed with the potential to decimate the local environment. Unfortunately, this is how we interact with the environment today. We are so developed mentally that we are transforming the environment, killing off species living in it, and definitely becoming invasive.
The curious case of Easter Island’s
Do you remember the Easter Islands? The place where huge megalithic heads protruded out from the earth. For ages, the island was a bone of contention among experts on how the Rapa Nui people came, settled and one day vanished from the remote island leaving the huge stone heads behind.
The Easter Island story somewhat resembles ours. Like us, they traveled from distant lands, settled on the Island. Inhabited the island by practicing farming and fishing and eventually died out firstly, while fighting among themselves. Secondly, because of overexploitation of resources and eventually because of a mysterious disease brought by Spanish conquistadors.
Today, we are trying to colonize Mars, and let’s say we are successful at that. But after years of living there successfully, we fall prey to an unknown disease or come close to extinction because of a natural calamity and only a handful of humans remain who then recolonize the planet. Somehow during all these development and centuries of evolution, all the history is lost and we have no recollection of where we have come from? Don’t you think something of this sort might be a reason for the complete amnesia of our origin? Like gold came on an asteroid and crashed into the earth and went into a molten state to mix with other inorganic materials to be found at various places on earth, did humans also come from another celestial body or maybe we were left for dead on this planet by a more superior race who we often refer to as aliens?
Although this article may not have solved various questions, I hope I have allowed you to think out of the box and in a way that we are not taught to. It is perfectly fine to be provocative sometimes because the theory of evolution and the story of our beginnings have not been able to answer any questions related to our origin, I suppose it’s time to search for clues elsewhere, and our universe certainly is a place where we can start.
Let us know what do you think?
