I feel quite embarrassed about being in the same species as some people. No embarrassment at being human.

I agree with the part about being a cancer to a certain extent .We serve no purpose ecologically and are on a path to destroying all plant and animal life.The planet can survive just has it has from the previous big 5 mass extinctions on earth.Humans are just a minor inconvenience to the earths billions of years of existence before and after human existence.But don’t feel so bad, scientific research indicates the over abundance of land plant life on earth during the Devonian period caused one of the mass extinction 375 million years ago.

Nah, I exist, and I had no say in that. I have decided to not procreate, though, so I don't contribute to the world's woes, and I try to otherwise live simply. Feeling ashamed or guilty for existing seems like a waste. I'd say use that energy to do something helpful for others or for the planet (volunteer at a hospital or plant trees or do something for wildlife preservation or whatever).

Totally ashamed to be honest. People here complain about invasive pests, we are the worst of them.

I'm more upset at the wasted potential. We have the ability to save the ecosystem if we'd be wiser and more compassionate, but the neither the ecosystem nor any animal in it could purposefully return the favor. We are assholes because we CAN but we DON'T, not simply because we are a human animal that has to pilfer resources to survive on some level.

So were Algae. Destroyed the whole ecosystem. That we may be embarrassed or ashamed or merely cognizant may mitigate this in our case. We make many arguable mistakes as a species, they may or may not prove decisive in our ultimate extinction and that of life on Earth.
The Earth is our Petri dish, We are bound to consume and transform the contents. Ultimately, We will form "spores" and eject ourselves into space and further transformation and survival or not. I love the Earth, I would never do it harm were it my choice. But like any loved one, It will leave us or we will leave it. Life does not care what it destroys or transforms, Only that it goes on. There is a lesson here for us in our squeamishness.

Well, we do a lot of good too.

We are what we are and seems nothing can be done about it unfortunately, but yes, I somewhat agree with you.

we are a terrible plague with no actual useful place on earth, unlike say bees for instance. the mite only be one letter difference between human and humane but there's a huge cavern of difference. our reason for success will be the reason for our demise. even a single-celled virus doesn't kill its host entirely. jellyfish have thrived for a couple of billion years and they haven't even got a brain.

Yes.

That is one of the "What If" games I played with my son some years back. The what if was..what if our universe was the energy source in a human cell and "humans" were the cancer? We finally came up with humans terraforming outer planets polluting them and polluting space until all areas of the universe were contaminated. We predicted this would take several hundred thousand years after the first planet was chosen. Fun hun?

Yes I agree with you I actually hate a lot of humans

what was it that Smith said in "The Matrix"? "You are more like a virus".

I had a discussion at work about this today. The majority felt that we are "unworthy" of being anything better. It warped into that an extraterrestrial civilization would take no notice of us...because we are barbaric, backwards, and insignificant.

I countered: "our savagery is our defense, but our empathy is our salvation".

We could not have evolved if we weren't barbaric assholes.

As a human I strive to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Self-loathing isn't helpful toward that end.

I believe that human society is gradually evolving, in hideous fits and starts, but the general arc has been upward. We live longer, with better overall quality of life, with less war, and less of the worst, grinding sorts of poverty, less racism, etc than in the past. I want to contribute to all that. I can't do it if my starting point is to throw in the towel.

Tonight I was watching the Van Jones show and he did an interesting interview with a Trump supporter who is in favor of the Trump border wall and yet was moved to tears by his pet project of providing an education for poor, disadvantaged students, many of them "dreamers". Van's point being that "the truth is messy". People are complex and often self-contradictory. There are good, noble impulses even in people who hold general points of view that I abhor and that I find exasperating. It's good to be reminded of that.

I really don't understand this "humans are a cancer" business that comes out of hardcore environmental activism and probably other places. It's a form of tribalism, except that you're rejecting the entire tribe. It's similar to antinatalism, the notion that it's immoral to have children. On my worst days, I have some feelings along those lines, but ethically it would be imposing my negative experiences on others and pragmatically it just isn't going to happen. So why do it -- just for scoring provocative points in the marketplace of ideas? I don't think you're going to win people over to better ways of being that way.

It is what we are... we have never been something else. We live off the host (earth). There is no Cure for us so...

Added thought: The 'Christian' approach to Earth seems to involve believing that God put us here so Earth could provide for us, so we can use it up and not worry about it. God will fix it if we break it.

Yes, humanity is blight on the existence of Earth. We do nothing to protect it, just rake advantage of it with great disregard for what it provides us. There is great logic in the statement, "You don't shit where you eat." yet we continually rape Earth rather than respect if. Beyond our relationship with Mother Earth, I often wonder if we should learn more to be like 'animals' in our approach to living. Does any other form of life horde the way humans do? Do they express selfishness, greed and gluttony as we do?

I don't think humans are inherently 'bad' or 'good'. We are beings in a flawed state.
Since the movement from a pastoral existence to one based on agriculture, we have steadily cut ourselves off from nature. I find myself in a position where the consequences of my actions are rarely directly seen and this is a recipe for irresponsible negligence.
It seems to me that our society is largely to blame for perpetuating this situation. The powers that be directly benefit from people just getting on with their lives and not asking too many questions as our race continues to corrupt the earth and further alienate ourselves from our origins.
I think human beings are capable of great things, but we have been led astray.
A more interesting question imo is whether or not we could be trusted to not do it all over again, if given the chance. Perhaps with a good education and a connection with nature and the world at large, we could come to terms with our weaknesses and move towards a harmonious existence on this planet that we share with other life.

Added thought: The 'Christian' approach to Earth seems to involve believing that God put us here so Earth could provide for us, so we can use it up and not worry about it. God will fix it if we break it.

I agree. For example, continuing to burn fossil fuels unecessarily is the mentality of the cancer cell. Our species is in overshoot, we are consuming resources at an unsustainable rate so we will eventually be forced to die back to the level which supports our existence. In the meantime other species are being eradicated by our greed and arrogance. We do not have dominion over the rest of life on this planet, despite the Christian view that we do.