Journal Entry 4078:

What causes the most unrest between the biologist, the sociologist, the physicist, the chemist, the psychologist, the philosopher, and me, the anthropologist, is seeing this perfect state of the earth from above, and realizing that it was not determined to be that way for ever.

Because once the first millimeter crack appeared in the ground as these large continental landmasses shifted away from one another, life on earth was changed forever.

Once the continents shifted away from one another, life on planet Earth became fractured. The ecosystem of sub-Saharan Africa has very little to do with the ecosystem of Northern California. Whereas before, the dense forests of one land fed into the less dense forest of its neighboring land, which thusly fed into rugged terrain of that neighboring land, which led to the barren terrain of a scorching desert, now these systems have to exist on smaller and more compact land masses.

But no matter how fractured picture gets, these puzzle pieces are almost perfectly capable of sustaining life on this planet until something from above the earth or inside it ends it all.

The earth is like a slot machine. No matter how many times it comes up dry and bare, it always springs forth new life. It's statistically certain, as long as the machine is played for a long enough timeframe. As long as the conditions are right, and as long as the machine and the animals inside the machine realize they have to co-exist and rely on one another for survival, the earth will be fine. I'll explain what a slot machine is later.

I will write more after dinner.