The Solution in Practice
The elimination of life on Earth seems like an impossible task, but it is actually quite achievable when compared to indefinitely maintaining an utopia. Even today we were able to cause an extinction of many species. We could do even more using our nuclear arsenal and possibly trigger some volcanoes to make Earth much colder and darker for a long time.
Of course, some primitive life is capable of surviving such conditions and they are only temporary, so more complex organisms may evolve again and struggle to improve their life just as we do now. A more permanent solution is to change the Earths orbit, making it significantly closer to the Sun, if not hitting it directly. This is not currently achievable for us and getting there may take a few centuries.
But how can a single individual contribute to such a large undertaking, especially if they don’t know the first thing about rocket science? Definitely not by going out there with a loaded gun. Such effort would not make a significant impact and would only lead to persecution of everyone, who dares to question the sanctity of life. Instead, the best course of action is rather mundane.
- Spread the message
The more people you can get to start thinking about life, the more people there will be, who agree that stopping life is the best option. It also means there will be more people arguing against this conclusion, which is a good thing, because we have to be open to the possibility that it is wrong and actually does not make sense.
- Help the technological progress
The one thing that consistently made our lives better is technology. In general, many diseases, that were deadly in the past, are now a much lesser threat. We have machines, which do hard labor for us, and easy access to food and water.
For a planet wide effect, we have to approach the problem from space and we will need new technologies for that. However, other fields of science are also important, because discoveries in one are often enough applicable to other fields as well. Whatever can make our lives better, be it automation of daily chores or manipulation of our genome for better health, is good, because even if we fail to eliminate life, at least we made it a little better.
You don’t have to be a scientist to contribute. Someone has to make the tools, build the labs, get the food and clean up the mess. As long as your work helps to support them, you are in the right place. Keep up the good work.
- Keep civilization from destroying itself
We can’t do anything about life on Earth without our technology. If we fell back to medieval level of technology, we might not be able to get back where we are now, because the resources that fueled our industrial revolution are significantly harder to obtain today. We need stability, so that we can afford to continue the support for research. Take whatever political actions, which you are willing to take, to ensure that.
In general, the things to look out for are wars, especially those capable of going nuclear. Trading brings countries closer and economically strangling them instead creates more tension. Protecting the environment is not the highest priority, but losing key parts of our ecosystem would be disastrous. Countries are most stable with a single culture, having more than one strong culture can lead to civil wars. Don’t forget about rare threats from space, like solar flares and asteroids, which could make our system collapse. Stifle corruption, because eventually it will make the country fall apart.
- Support private space business
It is unlikely that any government will openly support an effort to eliminate life. The only other option is private business. Right now it does not matter who owns these companies. Once factories in space become a reality, we can create our own companies that can accumulate resources and, if needed, move away from Earth’s reach.
- Produce space mining equipment
Space mining is all about handling big rocks in space. We need the tools to move them and once we have them, we can direct asteroids in the Earth’s path to slow it down and so change its orbit. The necessary actions at this point depend on the situation.
In the worst case scenario, there will be a space war. Such war must be approached carefully to avoid the worst possible outcome, which would be that life on Earth survives, but our civilization is destroyed. The best option will probably be to avoid harming Earth as much as possible and only fight over the control of space in the solar system. Whoever wins, decides the fate of Earth.
- Stretch goal – autonomous planet killing probes
It is quite likely that Earth is not the only planet in our galaxy that is able to support life. If we would be able to create a self replicating space ship capable of throwing rocks at planets, we could send them out to prevent as much life as possible.
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