i remember this

Matisse Tolin
COMS 151

Eulogy for the Last Human Being

I stand before you today to speak about and honor the memory of a life. He was found during our mission to the Milky Way galaxy, on a planet called ‘Earth’, the last member of the human race ever to live. I speak today as a member of our people, on behalf of our beloved planet, before a world in shock upon hearing the news of another intelligent life form being discovered in our universe.
For millions of years our race has struggled in vain to find and identify any further signs of life in this endless universe. As time progressed we were able to send our vessels farther and farther into the deeps of space, in hopes of making contact with anything or anyone out there. Finally, upon the 10th day of the week, in the 14th month of our year 7024, planet Earth was discovered.
It is now known that there was life at one time on this planet, perhaps for millions of years. Our probes found cities in ruin, where at one time we believe the human beings flourished. Under the rubble and on other parts of the planet, green was discovered, which we believe was the plant life on this particular planet. Although our research is inconclusive thus far on how all life was ended on Earth, evidence suggests a great war erupted some three thousand years ago, wiping out most life on the planet.
Out of the bodies we were able to bring back for research one particular man was discovered to be the last human being ever to die. He was discovered in the lower western hemisphere of the planet. His skin is a light brown. He had two slits in his face for visional use and breathed through what the race called ‘lungs.’ But for our researches, his physical appearance is not what was the most captivating. For after doing a memory scan through the human’s head we were able to see scattered memories of his life, and received clues to how this human race functioned.
It seems the humans were always too slow to see their destructive behavior. They had conquered the elements, tamed wild beasts, set foot on the nearby planet mars, and yet were incapable of connecting the dots when it came to their own conduct. Because, while the humans were capable of loving, they let selfishness and hate lead their actions. Human arrogance led some to believe in a higher power and seek meaning through the promise of salvation from the very planet they inhabited. Perhaps it was the clutter of the millions of belief sets and doctrines that had formed throughout their existence that led to their demise.
Every single one of them was different from the rest. But something as beautiful as individuality was the very thing that caused their fighting. Our research shows different parts of the planet being inhabited by different colored skins and different looking humans. To us, it seems ironic how this is what caused so much fighting. As we see it, they were all part of the human race, they were all part of one collective being.
It is a pity that their civilization was cut so short. These humans…. had potential. Indeed they created things that were beautiful and that we will continue to be perplexed by as we search their planet. We’ll never know the things that they could have accomplished had they not destroyed themselves. So many lives had inhabited this small planet, each one with their own smile, their own laugh, and their own wishes. I wonder the thoughts of this human, here in front of us today, when the lasts bombs went off, and his friends and fellow humans all perished before him. Did he know this was the end of the humans for eternity? Or did he simply pass away into oblivion? We hope that there was at least the slightest amount of hope left in him. Hope that one day, others would find his poor planet and the humans there, and that the memory of the human race would live on, and never be extinguished. It is hope, my fellow people, that kept them going, and it is hope that keeps us going. We work towards a better future so that one day we will be remembered. The last human being never died. He will live on forever.