Humankind

Humans are the latecomers to the grand scheme that is the pattern arrayed throughout the spaces of time. They are the finishing of universal evolution. Humankind, however, shouldn’t be relegated to the backbenches simply because they are last. Not ever. Understand this: humans are born hurriedly and pass away as swiftly- they flit through measured time in the blink of an eye. Long-lived races cannot fathom them and sometimes do not credit them with intelligence, for how is haste meaningful? And yet, because time passes out of reach so swiftly, humans evolved at speeds that put the long-lived to shame. Intelligence is inherent, the need to question and reach out to beyond known theory is ingrained from birth, as is the desire to excel, grow and be counted.
Humans reach for the stars; they fail and succeed, and go beyond theory. They become great players in the pattern and soon fill spaces previously believed sacrosanct, and come to the notice of others. To name them unintelligent is a grave error.

And yet haste leads to terrible calamity. First among these is the growth factor. Numerous worlds have borne the brunt of population explosions- life is cheap, life is polluted, life is meaningless. In this, their actions parallel what others think of humans. In the final analysis, humans are capable of greatness and have attained it, and also able to sink into the depths…they have done that as well.