What could Redeem Humans?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Elephants or starfish might be slower, but the ability to destroy habitat is not uniquely ours.

And more to the point, the fact that having had this ability for 60+  years and still having drawn back from the precipice, what does that say about us?

We've been lucky?

That's one way to look at it, sure.

Or another way is to say that our inventions stretch us; what the human mind invents is what pushes the mind further? I mean, we had the same cranial equipment a hundred thousand years ago, but we didn't have the same tool boxes or moral views. Would you deny that progress has happened? Or, alternatively, if you acknowledge that progress, why should it come to a stop now?

Humans, like every other animal, have both good and bad qualities. Knowing our power to wreak destruction and yet resisting it speaks well of us: we are making an conscious decision to be more careful.

I agree that we as animals with drives which are destructive when not held in check does not make us unique.  What does make us unique is that, barring some catastrophic event, only we seem capable to keep ourselves in check.  This relates to something Chad said.

This, at the bottom line, is the human responsibility.