I agree with everything you said up until your last point. The fact that we can fuck up the planet this bad is a testament to our ability to build, solve problems and work together. That isn’t just a byproduct of large brain size (dolphins and whales have larger brains) but also our status as social animals, invention of language and writing.

Wouldn’t the earth and all its creatures be better served if we put heavy industry into space? Better yet, most of humanity? I’d love nothing more than for us to scour the asteroid belt and build a ringworld. But before we do that, we need an outpost on Mars.