We were staring at the origin of a piece of our own bodies inside this 375-million-year-old fish. We had a fish with a wrist.
Neil ShubinRead
Take the entire 4.5-billion-year history of the earth and scale it down to a single year, with January 1 being the origin of the earth and midnight on December 31 being the present. Until June, the only organisms were single-celled microbes, such as algae, bacteria, and amoebae. The first animal with a head did not appear until October. The first human appears on December 31. We, like all the animals and plants that have ever lived, are recent crashers at the party of life on earth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the brief time humans have existed compared to the vast history of Earth.
Neil Shubin's quote reflects on the immense timeline of Earth's history, illustrating that the appearance of humans is a very recent occurrence when compared to the billions of years the planet has existed. By scaling the entire history of Earth down to a single year, it highlights our status as 'recent crashers' in the grand timeline of life, promoting a sense of humility about our place in the natural world.
Themes
EarthTimeHumansHistoryNature
In practice
Example use cases
During a presentation on climate change, I shared this quote to remind the audience of our small footprint in Earth’s timeline.
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