# Humanity Is a Brief and Reckless Episode in Bacterial Time by Lynn Margulis > “Probably some bacterial ancestors look back at the period 1000-600 million years ago when both water and air were full of hydrogen sulfide (poisonous to people). Before oxygen bubbled up and its combustion fueled the frenetic rate of environmental degradation that began in the Proterozoic eon and continues until today was "The Age of Bacteria", a calmer, quieter time. Aided and abetted by our very recent (Holocene) loud, careless, ignorant, frantic, clever but unwise, ephemeral human species, the rest of our planetmates have been there before us and will be there when we're gone.” > **— Lynn Margulis**, *2010, Edge Annual Question, “How Is The Internet Changing The Way You Think?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [BY AFFORDING ME NEW WORLDWIDE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION ACCESS](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10957) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2010 Annual Question collection, *HOW IS THE INTERNET CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2010 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2010 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/MARS|MARS]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Nolan's Odyssey]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Major Evolutionary Transitions|Major Evolutionary Transitions]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Major Evolutionary Transitions|Major Evolutionary Transitions]] - [[wiki/Species|Species]] - [[wiki/Human Evolution|Human Evolution]] - [[wiki/Species-Level Maturation|Species-Level Maturation]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Probably some bacterial ancestors look back at the period 1000-600 million years ago when both water and air were full of hydrogen sulfide (poisonous to people). Before oxygen bubbled up and its combustion fueled the frenetic rate of environmental degradation that began in the Proterozoic eon and continues until today was "The Age of Bacteria", a calmer, quieter time. Aided and abetted by our very recent (Holocene) loud, careless, ignorant, frantic, clever but unwise, ephemeral human species, the rest of our planetmates have been there before us and will be there when we're gone.” — Lynn Margulis, 2010, Edge Annual Question, “How Is The Internet Changing The Way You Think?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-lynn-margulis-humanity-brief-reckless-episode-bacterial ```