@ghost-of-a-duke saidOr parochialism perhaps.
'Some' people may believe that, no doubt due to human arrogance.
@fmf said“This world,” [the curious caveman] says, “well, who … so, so who made it?” Now, of course he thinks that, because he makes things himself, so he’s looking for someone who will have made this world.
This thought exercise came to mind having watched part of a lecture by Douglas Adams.
He says, “So, who would have made this world? Well, it must be something a little bit like me. Obviously much much bigger, and necessarily invisible, but he would have made it. Now, why did he make it?”
Now, we always ask ourselves “why” because we look for intention around us, because we always do something with intention.
You know, we boil an egg in order to eat it. So, we look at the rocks and we look at the trees, and we wonder what intention is here, even though it doesn’t have intention.
So we think, what did this person who made this world intend it for. And this is the point where you think, “Well, it fits me very well. You know, the caves and the forests, and the stream, and the mammoths. He must have made it for me! I mean, there’s no other conclusion you can come to.”
From 'The Day the Earth Stood Still:
Regina Jackson : I speak for the President of the United States. Now, please; tell me why have you come to our planet.
Klaatu : *Your* planet.
Regina Jackson : Yes; this is our planet.
Klaatu : No, it is not.
Helen Benson : I need to know what's happening.
Klaatu : This planet is dying. The human race is killing it.
Helen Benson : So you've come here to help us.
Klaatu : No, *I* didn't.
Helen Benson : You said you came to save us.
Klaatu : I said I came to save the Earth.
Helen Benson : You came to save the Earth... from us. You came to save the Earth *from* us.
Klaatu : We can't risk the survival of this planet for the sake of one species.
@moonbus saidThat idea was fabricated by Christian extremists. Going by what the bible says - the Earth was given to men, the heavens [which I presume includes all of the universe] belong to God.
Why do some people think the whole universe was created for ONE man, named Adam? That is so far beyond megalomania, it makes Donald Trump look like an eagle scout.
@fmf saidpersonally i do not think the earth is here "for" humans
Why do people think the world is here FOR us?
a quote that sums up more closely the way i think is this,
"We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children"
Amish Saying?
Ralph Waldo Emerson?
Native American Proverb?
Wendell Berry?
Oscar Wilde?
Chief Seattle?
Moses Henry Cass?
Dennis J. Hall?
Helen Caldicott?
Lester Brown?
David R. Brower?
Taghi Farvar?
Anonymous?
attribution is murky
but an interesting essay can be found here that goes in depth but resolves little
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/22/borrow-earth/