"If we did destroy the planet, it would have irrevocable consequences for the rest of the solar system, and the future for humanity would be dreadful indeed. We would have no planet to live on, and would have perpetrated a terrible crime against ourselves and the other planets. We would end up incarnating on some distant, dark planet, not at all evolved. We would have to start at the beginning, as we were millions of years ago, and take again the long slow climb upwards. It would be unbelievably painful and restrict our evolution for thousands, perhaps millions of years. Why choose that? Why, indeed, choose such an end?"