And within that goes the answer to "can we see alien life?" as, "only if it happened a long long time ago". Why would any life try and visit us if they might not even see the dinosaurs etc.?

Nothing in this picture is at this moment like they seem to be since light travels really slow in the cosmic scale.

I'd say it's the cultivation of wine and beer that started it all.

Literacy hasn't been with us as long as you'd wish it has. The vast majority of people who have existed didn't know how to read. It's a really new thing really. Wisdom was still a thing.

And, I'm also atheist.

Humanity is way older than 2000 years. If you don't realize that you are in no position to moralize.

No amount of tax is going to change the environment. It's more about making people keep their surroundings clean. Places like India should be the starting point in making people care more about their environment.

I don't know. Maybe read them too?