Each day at least 500 to 1000 life-species become extinct on  our
Planet.  Of course others are constantly being created via the route of 
genetic mutations.  The human species, as acknowledged by anthropologists, 
has been on Earth for about 4 million years.  That period of time is rather 
brief compared to many other life-species which exist, and which have 
existed, on Earth.     

     The extinction of any life species is always attributable to one of two
causes.  Genetic mutations sometimes produce a change in one species which 
may render the old species obsolete.  Or environmental conditions may arise 
which cause the demise of a particular life-species. 

     The most intriguing thing about life is that ability of some species to
adjust to changing environmental conditions that threaten their survival.  
A prime example being humans learning to band together to defend themselves 
against attacks of animals.  

     In fact, it is this particular capacity of the individual members of 
life-species to cooperate in defence of environmental threats that has 
proved to be the most vital factor in their prolonged survival on Earth. 
Insects, other animals, perhaps even some bacterial forms, as well as 
humans, are known to utilize this cooperative element in defence of 
environmental attacks.

     Cooperation among the individual members of 
     a species is the key! And this is especially 
     so for the human species in this day and age 
     because humans have developed and acquired 
     elements (chemical, physical, and biological)
     which if left out of control could easily 
     render most if not all life-species extinct 
     in the near future.

     Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist, Edward O. Wilson, offers us 
some chilling commentary on this matter.  "I believe we are currently in the 
midst of one of the great extintion spasms of geological history.  There have
been five up until now and we are, I think in the sixth.  The most recent, 
about 65 million years ago, was caused when a meteorite struck Earth.  This 
led, among other things, to the extinction of the dinosaurs.  Each of these 
extinctions has been catastrophic for earth because it's taken an average of 
10 million years to recover from each of them.  The difference between the 
previous great extinctions and this one is that the latter is caused by the 
actions of man -- who may ultimately be among its victims."

     Wilson goes on to warn, "We are presently losing species, losing the 
diversity of our ecosystems, at an alarming rate.  There have always been 
extinctions of what you might call a "natural" kind.  Species that cannot 
compete or find a niche disappear.  But as these species become extinct 
others come along, so the trend is, increasingly toward diversity.  Since 
the appearance of human beings, however, the rate of extinctions has 
increased somewhere from 1,000 to 10,000 times.  I often say that, as a 
biologist, I sometimes feel like an art curator watching the Louvre burn 
down."

     If you have not yet guessed it, this writing will be an examination of 
how we of the human species might best rise to the challenge and utilize 
this element of cooperation to combat the increasing threat to our survival 
posed by today's ever-changing environmental conditions. 

     Whereas individualism is a natural, inbred aspect of any life-species, 
cooperation is generally an acquired or learned aspect.  And, until recent 
times man has learned cooperation to the degree necessary to survive 
environmental threats.  For the human species to survive today it is 
required that we first understand the greatly increased need for learning 
cooperation, and then to find ways to channel that innate individualism to 
vastly increased dedication to cooperation.