Well, I don't mean that it 'notices' in the sense of consciousness, only that the gross disruption to the systems that comprise it will be long-lived.
I can see two motivations to biosphere preservation, one utilitarian and one aesthetic. You describe the utilitarian argument pretty well; this environment is the best substrate we've yet discovered for supporting the infrastructure for human-level consciousness, and it looks like those conditions may be rather fragile.
The aesthetic argument is admittedly much more personal and "fuzzy". The variety of life and its forms of interaction are a marvel to behold, and I detest the idea of replacing it wholesale with an industrial infrastructure for supporting human culture.
Existentially, yeah, we're morning mist under a burning sun, but I think the extropians are onto something when they dream of us becoming more than that.
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I can see two motivations to biosphere preservation, one utilitarian and one aesthetic. You describe the utilitarian argument pretty well; this environment is the best substrate we've yet discovered for supporting the infrastructure for human-level consciousness, and it looks like those conditions may be rather fragile.
The aesthetic argument is admittedly much more personal and "fuzzy". The variety of life and its forms of interaction are a marvel to behold, and I detest the idea of replacing it wholesale with an industrial infrastructure for supporting human culture.
Existentially, yeah, we're morning mist under a burning sun, but I think the extropians are onto something when they dream of us becoming more than that.