Galactic-sized responsibility

It's possible that we're the only civilization in the Milky Way galaxy at the moment. If we're talking about the meaning of it all, meaning is a property of intelligence. Clearly the universe means something to us. Meaning exists here. But if there's no other intelligence out there in our galaxy, and we destroy ourselves, then we might eliminate meaning in a galaxy of 400 billion stars — forever. So consider that, world leaders. You have potentially a galactic-sized responsibility to maintain meaning in a galaxy.

Astrophysicist Brian Cox. Brian Cox - Are We Alone in The Universe 🤔? As a Civilization? November 23, 2023.