Animals are beautiful. I find even the crocodiles beautiful, let alone lizards and snakes. So, why are humans so ugly? Why are they so stunted, crooked, fat? They are animals, after all. The reason is domestication. Agriculture makes ugly. And so does industry. Even administration, the toil of the modern age, makes ugly, albeit in an unprecedented way. One look at the Americans tells it all. Office work, driving, and watching television make humans uglier than ever before. Am I complaining, though? Not at all. As far as I am concerned, human ugliness is interesting in its own way, just as is the ugliness of domesticated dogs and cats. But I am also thinking about the future. Not so distant future, either. Chances are that the collapse of civilization brought about by dramatic climate change will make humans wild again. As well as beautiful. It is quite likely that the few humans who survive the impending disaster will become beautiful quite fast. Even ten to twenty generations past domestication will do wonders. And humans will be as beautiful as wolves and deer once again. Hooray!

To James Lovelock