When imagining the future, we typically envision ourselves embedded in a mechanized ecosystem populated by robots, devices, and virtual realities. The future is bright and technological, and we, humans, are the only actors in this beautiful world. However, this portrayal is a significant mistake, asserts biologist and ecologist Rob Dunn. No matter how hard we try to dominate nature, we remain a part of it and depend on it. At the same time, our dependence does not mean that nature depends on us: it will cope with any attempts by humans to ignore, fight, or dominate it, and the laws of life will continue to operate even after our species goes extinct. In his book "With Us or Without Us," Dunn discusses biological laws that are as ineluctable as the laws of physics, how the world around us is changing, what fate awaits known species, and where and how new ones will emerge. Throughout humanity's long history on the planet, we have inadvertently exterminated wild species that we depended on or could have depended on, while simultaneously facilitating the emergence of species that create problems for us.
Now, if we want to survive, we need to learn to understand and obey biological laws. Then our chances of living another 100, 1000, or even a million years will significantly increase. Well, if not — ecologists and evolutionary biologists have quite a convincing vision of how life on Earth will develop without us…
