The Human Family in Crisis

There is a growing feeling that the human enterprise is in danger.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the temperature is 113 degrees. Microplastics have been found in a number of places. The rain and snow are filled with poison. The global economy has been plunged into chaos by an aging tyrant who is trying to expand his borders. As if Earth was a stepping stone for their adventures, a group of people dream of leaving this planet for the stars.

Women's right to health care is denied here at home. The election was free and fair. We can't agree on the best way to keep people off the floor. Since the Civil War, our democracy has been shaky.

The widening gap between billionaires and the rest of us points to the left's point of view. There is an overreach of government on health, worship, speech and education. The decline of cherished institutions such as the traditional family is lamented.

There is a feeling that we have no future. An alien anthropologist might conclude that we are a moribund species if they scroll through Gen Z's social media or watch the movies.

Is it foolish to think that a future can be redeemed? Is it a lot of work? The powers of cure may not be enough to cure human incompetence.

The universe is almost 13 billion years old. It feels like a long time, but the future is much longer. Red and small stars won't burn out for trillions of years. There is more than enough time for us to flourish if we can resist our destructive impulses.

Humans have been around for a long time. We are a young family in a young universe. Every one of us is descended from survivors.

The ancestors who survived the Toba volcanic catastrophe are in our thoughts. One of the worst volcanic eruptions in human history happened in Indonesia. The planet was cooled and dark.

The only source of light and warmth our ancestors must have had was a flickering campfire. It was hard to imagine that any good would come from that night. Fears must have made them sad. The plants and animals that sustained them wither and die as a result of what they had done.

Ten thousand souls are thought to be the number of humans who lived at the time. They persevered. Our species has overcome many disasters, including ice ages, plagues, famines, floods and much more. Our ancestors were strong enough to carry on in the face of despair. Unlike the generations who came before us, we have the power to understand phenomena and mitigate their consequences.

We are on a knife edge between being able to understand nature and time and being able to live in peace with one another and our environment. As we look back into the birth of our universe, we also look at ourselves and the tools of our undoing. If we are to avoid cataclysm, the world's scientists tell us every year. They said, "Now or never." We are spellbound by celebrity gossip and our toys.

It is one thing to endanger your own life. It is reprehensible but not uncommon. The significance of all our ancestors' labors is at stake, from the earliest wriggling microbe to those who pressed on through the gloom of Toba. Everything that happened before is on the line.

We have no choice. To stop entertaining ourselves to death, we need to grow up. To value science over fantasy, fact over fiction is what we need to do. Sometimes we can't afford to stay in our silos and we use angry invective at our opponents. We need to communicate with each other.

We have a great strength for all our failures. This planet's best toolmakers are us. We are a race of tinkerers. There is a view of the Earth from out by Neptune. We are a small family living on a tiny world in the dark. We want to return to our ancestral wandering. We can't lie our way to those far off places, we can't take our sickness to the stars.

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things to protect their home when it is threatened. We all share the same home, what will it take for us to come together to defend it? All we have to do is keep working for our future.

Ann is an award-winning writer and director. She worked for NASA as a creative director.

Sam is a producer. His work includes "COSMOS" and "The End Is Nye".

The author of "Three Body Problem" is no longer certain that humans would unite against aliens.