# Humanity Can Decide Not to Be a Cancer by Warren M. Hern > “We have become a malignant ecopathologic process. If this diagnosis is true, what is the prognosis? The difference between us and most forms of cancer is that we can think, and we can decide not to be a cancer.” > **— Warren M. Hern**, *“Has the human species become a cancer on the planet?”, Current World Leaders, 1993* ## Sources and Context - **Author’s abstract with exact passage:** [Warren M. Hern, “Has the human species become a cancer on the planet? A theoretical view of population growth as a sign of pathology,” *Current World Leaders* 36(6), December 1993, PubMed PMID 12291996](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12291996/). The abstract first specifies the four traits in his analogy and explicitly makes the prognosis conditional: “If this diagnosis is true.” The analogy is Hern’s theoretical assessment; his contrast is that humans can recognize the pattern and change behavior. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We have become a malignant ecopathologic process. If this diagnosis is true, what is the prognosis? The difference between us and most forms of cancer is that we can think, and we can decide not to be a cancer.” — Warren M. Hern, “Has the human species become a cancer on the planet?”, Current World Leaders, 1993 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-warren-hern-decide-not-be-cancer ```