> 4,500 species are critically endangered right now
How many new species has evolution produced in that time? Zero?
How many new species has evolution produced in that time? Zero?
I think that the world as we know it is valuable to us because we enjoy it, and nothing more. If we can't appreciate the beauty of life (most of us can't persist on the pure beauty of mathematics or conceptual analysis), what's the point?
In terms of shaping a planet the way we want, we can do that on earth, and more so if we figured out how to live without being dependent on other earth organisms.