A scene in the DC series “Peacemaker” really stood out for me. A cop, Sophie Song (well, whose consciousness by now had been taken over by one of the bug like aliens termed “butterflies”) was attempting to woo Peacemaker into joining their cause to take over Humans and the earth, stating how humans had mismanaged the planet and are now headed for the same fate the aliens had suffered — destruction. Indeed, the planet Earth has suffered under human habitation. Not only have our species failed to care for our planet, we have acted in ways tantamount to deliberately destroying our very own Earth. Nature is ailing, mankind has for a long time thrived on the fruits of mother nature and now is turning on her and tearing at her. Deforestation, Pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, habitat destruction etc are some of the methods an “intelligent" species have employed to shorten their own existence. “ — — — — valuing profit over survival”, another expression of “butterflied" Sophie Song and I think this just speaks to how humans are either so ignorant or deliberately foolish and therefore prioritize money-chasing over all, survival of our species included. Survival, progress, prosperity should be the aim of an “intelligent” lifeform. Prosperity in establishing a sustaining civilization and establishing a position for itself among the stars.

I grew up watching more documentaries than cartoons, the types by Sir David Attenborough and I’ve always had an awareness of the beauty, uniqueness and the power of nature. Living in an unurbanised African community for several years also provided me with several close-up experiences with nature, repeated trips into the thick forest, wading into the Ogun river, adopting a couple of insects, trailing some exotic lizards, birdwatching and developing an obsession with snakes. I have grown to feel like more than just an organic supermachine but a force of nature itself - a force for good.

• As far as we know, we are the only ones around. We are incredibly unique and so is our beautiful blue planet. There are no other intelligent lifeforms or any lifeforms at all for that matter in sight, which is quite less than we can say about the inhabitants of the Peacemaker universe. We should re-prioritize. We don’t need “butterflies" to tell us about the stupid things we’ve done to ourselves and that we should “fix up". Don’t leave that tap running, don’t smoke, don’t throw that piece of nylon, that plastic bag into the drainage or water body, don’t kill that insect, that animal you do not intend to eat, don’t destroy those plants. Eat healthy, live contentedly, connect with your environment, connect with nature, understand your place in spacetime, in the universe and act accordingly.