It is striking that in the 13.7 billion-year history of the cosmos, we have only known its precise age for twelve years. Even if we consider the entire history of human civilization, the relevant time scale is roughly 10,000 years. This amount of time compared to the age of the universe is equivalent to the blink of an eye (less than a tenth of a second) in the length of a day. Through the work of Copernicus and others, humans have come to realize that they currently occupy a very small and rather insignificant space in the grand cosmic web. The current discussion emphasizes that we also occupy a relatively scant amount of time compared to the age of the universe. Both of these observations should give us, as humans, pause.

As mentioned earlier, our Sun and stars have enough fuel to burn for many billions of years hence. Therefore, in principle, the human race (or some sequence of species evolved therefrom) could live and thrive for billions of years, taking advantage of the energy from the sun. In practice, however, we should consider the odds that we are living during the first 10,000 years out of a human history that is to last, say, another ten billion years. These odds are one in a million (the ratio of ten thousand to ten billion). It is worth weighing two possible futures: (1) we are one-in-a-million and the human race will last for billions more years, or (2) human civilization will not last ten billion years—something, likely of our own making, will truncate it. The fact that possible future (1) is so unlikely should concern us and motivate us to take measures to stave off possible future (2).

As humans we have developed a view of ourselves as masters of our own fate. We glorify our short history and its heroes, imagine creation stories based only thousands of years in the past (not coincidentally the time-scale of human civilization), and otherwise consider ourselves as permanent fixtures of the universe, someday zooming around the stars as its stewards. This view is incredibly dangerous for our species if it blinds us to the reality that our time on earth is minuscule compared to that associated with the natural processes that brought us into existence. If human civilization is to last for billions of years hence, then we must understand and pay heed to these natural processes. We have not yet found a way to upset the evolution of the stars, and therefore we need not worry about the Sun ceasing to provide its life-giving energy. However, we have been quite successful at altering the course of geological and evolutionary history here on earth. Climate change promises to alter the face of the earth and may displace large populations of people. Our ability to kill using weapons has developed far faster than evolution intended. Together with the disastrous effects of global warming, our ability and willingness to kill one another may present the right conditions to fulfill the million-to-one odds that human civilization will be truncated prematurely.

By disrupting natural processes that operate over hundreds of millions of years, we humans are likely awaking giants, with catastrophic consequences for our civilization. Any hope of prolonging civilization rests on the uniquely human capacity to comprehend ourselves and the world around us. So long as defense outstrips education, private interests trump climate, and prejudice chokes out love, we have little reason to hope that humanity will beat its long odds.