By Daniel Rigney
To: International Commission on Zoological Nomenclatures
and Encyclopedia of Life
From: Daniel Rigney et al.
RE: Petition to Rename Homo sapiens --> Homo semi-sapiens
We respectfully petition ICZN and EOL to consider amending the Latin designation of the human species in accordance with established principles and procedures of biological nomenclature. Our species is currently identified as Homo sapiens (literally, “the wise human”), a name immodestly conferred on us by human specimen Carl Linnaeus in 1758 (Sytema Naturae, 10th ed.).
We believe this designation is clearly a misnomer, unsupported by convincing evidence that our species can effectively restrain its ever-growing capacities for military and environmental destruction. No species as self-destructive as we are deserves to be called wise.
We therefore respectfully propose that Homo sapiens be renamed Homo semi-sapiens (half-wise or half-witted) in acknowledgement of the painfully obvious limits of our wisdom, though even that name may prove in the end to have been too generous.
Lastly, we propose to reserve the name Homo sapiens for whatever sustainable future species we may yet wisely aspire to become.
originally posted in Danagram, 10/24/2014
For explanatory background, see “Homo Semi-Sapiens”
P.S.: After posting this, I intend to copy and paste it into email messages to ICZN, EOL, and Stewart Brand’s The Long Now Foundation, whose All Species Project was a precursor to the ambitious and praiseworthy Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). You might choose to do likewise.
To: International Commission on Zoological Nomenclatures
and Encyclopedia of Life
From: Daniel Rigney et al.
RE: Petition to Rename Homo sapiens --> Homo semi-sapiens
We respectfully petition ICZN and EOL to consider amending the Latin designation of the human species in accordance with established principles and procedures of biological nomenclature. Our species is currently identified as Homo sapiens (literally, “the wise human”), a name immodestly conferred on us by human specimen Carl Linnaeus in 1758 (Sytema Naturae, 10th ed.).
We believe this designation is clearly a misnomer, unsupported by convincing evidence that our species can effectively restrain its ever-growing capacities for military and environmental destruction. No species as self-destructive as we are deserves to be called wise.
We therefore respectfully propose that Homo sapiens be renamed Homo semi-sapiens (half-wise or half-witted) in acknowledgement of the painfully obvious limits of our wisdom, though even that name may prove in the end to have been too generous.
Lastly, we propose to reserve the name Homo sapiens for whatever sustainable future species we may yet wisely aspire to become.
originally posted in Danagram, 10/24/2014
For explanatory background, see “Homo Semi-Sapiens”
P.S.: After posting this, I intend to copy and paste it into email messages to ICZN, EOL, and Stewart Brand’s The Long Now Foundation, whose All Species Project was a precursor to the ambitious and praiseworthy Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). You might choose to do likewise.
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