Ninth

Existence.

René Descartes -- "I think, therefore I am." And to some, this leads to life as justifying itself.

But why do Humans have such a smug superiority complex when it comes to dominating the rest of our terrestial universe rather than coexisting with it?

The more I learn about how detrimental humanity is to the rest of the planet, the more I feel guilty consuming. Air. Water. Food.

I breathe in Oxygen (O2) and respire Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Plants convert my exhaled CO2, a green house gas, back into O2 through photosynthesis. A zero sum result. But humanity has upset the apple cart -- our very lifestyles crank out far more green house gases (CO2, CO, CH6, O3, etc.) than Earth can sequester, either through photosynthesis or some other natural process.

We continue to devastate our ecosystems --relentless in our cutting down forests, fouling the water with noxious, toxic matter and rearranging the natural order through non-renewable mineral and fossil fuel extraction.

And I consume food stuffs and products that are harvested and created using inefficient and damaging methods -- everything from factory trawling fish processing that destroys the bottom of the ocean to eating non-local products like bananas and coffee, which foster rain forest clearcutting, and indiscrimate use of pesticides and herbicides.

If it weren't for those around me who would be affected by my being gone, I'm not sure I'd still choose to be here.