Parrots, the universe,and everything

A few days before his death in 2001, Douglas Adams, was invited to speak at the University of California Santa Barbara. In this talk, he uses the same humor that is found in his books, and speaks about several animals that have not known predators, are being eradicated since the introduction of predators. He speaks about the kakapo, a flightless bird from New Zealand. Before the introduction of predators, the species was thriving, but is now endangered. The kakapo is unable to adapt to the changing environment. Another example of this that he uses is the yangtze river dolphin. Which can adapt to the changes that have been brought about by humans.

He uses these examples as a warning of how we are treating the environment and the effect that we have without even knowing it. In his book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the main character, Arthur Dent, finds out that the earth was in fact a working computer, built to solve the question of life, the universe, and everything. As his adventures continue, he latter learns that there were warning signs of the destruction of Earth, but humans were too focused on themselves to see it. We all need to be aware of how our actions are affecting the environment.