Monday, April 20, 2009

Something to Think About…

It seems as if it has been months but I’ve finally had a weekend off from work and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Not only do I have four days off from work, it’s four of the most gorgeous and sunny days to grace my cold ol’ city in quite a while. So imagine my surprise when I woke up and found my siblings watching Life After People, a doomsday-esq documentary on the History Channel (I come from a fairly geeky family) rather than enjoying the beautiful weather. The premise of the documentary was a thought experiment chronicling what would happen to the planet if all humans suddenly vanished (the documentary does not dwell on the reasons behind humanity’s disappearance). What was nice about this documentary is that it bypassed all the doom and gloom of a possible apocalypse and focused on simply on what would happen to the planet if humans were simply taken out of the picture. The CGI effects detailing how the world’s major cities (and most notable landmarks) would eventually crumble were simultaneously creepy and fascinating. While some could argue that the documentary was melodramatic, it does a fine job of examining humanity’s place in the universe. Towards the end, the narrator states, “there was life before humans and there will be life after humans”. Ultimately, our life is too short and too precious to waste trying to destroy each other and/or ourselves. As for myself, I will be getting dressed in a few minutes and taking a very leisurely walk around the city, enjoying everything the day has to offer, being thankful for everything I have and not dwell on the things I do not.

5 comments:

Angry Nurse said...

A good summary of the show. I just finished watching it and enjoyed it immensely.

Marz's Bar said...

Like i was saying before, if another being was to evolve millions of years later and found our remains and stuff, I wonder if they'd make the same mistakes as us? Its freaky because there are so many things that are arbitrary, like dividing borders for countries, a country's name, a country's language, etc. I wonder if it would be really different.

Estelle said...

That is such a great documentary. The only problem is the narrator's voice always puts me to sleep; like Ambian without the sleep-driving.

Just a little snarky said...

I've seen that. Loved it too.

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