hi aa,
apologies. not avoiding it. just answering the best i can.
i think bacteria will remain dominant.
but can mankind survive its malthusian dilemmas?
i don't have the answer. but clearly we are able to push the limits the earth imposes upon us upwards. at the same time, we find it hard to change direction away from the path of self-destruction.
can we control these contending influences? in the end, probably not in this corporeal form. but i think we may create a digital safety pod to which we download our intelligence and our environment and our memories. and we won't know the difference between our reality and the program we inhabit.
doma thinks we are already in it.
on this note, you should read the book flatland about a 3d discovery in a 2d world.