Humans are pretty smart. Indeed, Linnaeus was so impressed with us that in 1758 he named our species Homo sapiens ("Homo" is Latin for man, "sapiens" is Latin for wise or knowing). We have certainly had our share of geniuses. Look at all we've accomplished: art, music, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We recognize the periodic table of the elements, physical laws of motion, the laws of thermodynamics, as well as Einstein's theory of relativity. We have dated our cosmos back to the big bang 13.8 billion years ago. We have studied the fossil record and know when life arose and how it has evolved. We know how genetics works and we can sequence and interpret DNA and even splice genes between different species to make genetically modified organisms (which may well prove to be a grave mistake). We know about microscopic viruses and bacteria as as well as our own microbiomes. We have begun to explore space. It is a tribute to human intellect that we even have words like eternity, infinity, and hypervolume, all concepts totally alien to our limited existence in time and space. We are the only product of natural selection that understands where we came from and how we got here. These are truly remarkable feats and humans have much of which we can rightfully be  proud.

Unless we can change our behaviour, humans are facing the end of civilization. Our problem has several elements. (1) We have invented social and economic systems that encourage greedy behaviour, and we have actually institutionalised runaway greed. (2) We are in a state of complete denial about the growth of human populations. (3) Earth's finite resources simply cannot support 7+ billion of us in the style to which we'd like to live. (4) We must make a choice between quantity and quality of human life. (5) To head off the inevitable collapse, we can no longer wait and merely react but we must become proactive. We must find ways to control dangerous human instincts, especially our greed and our urge to procreate.