Simon Pegg: ‘Maybe Humans Were A Mistake’

Simon Pegg has said that he thinks “maybe humans were a mistake.”

The British actor and comedian recently appeared on Great Company, a podcast hosted by TV personality and Candy Kittens co-founder Jamie Laing, where he briefly discussed humanity’s disproportionately negative impact on the planet.

During his conversation with Laing, Pegg described the idea that people’s personalities can be interpreted as simply accidental “pollution” stemming from the complex processes that human brains carry out constantly but unconsciously.

“We’re the only animal on the planet that does that, and really the only animal on the planet that doesn’t live in total harmony with its surroundings,” Pegg said. “And it makes me think that maybe humans were a mistake, like an aberration.”

He added, “Because I have no doubt that, in the billions of solar systems and galaxies that exist, there are loads and loads of… There’s so much life out there.”

In response, Laing asked, “You think there is?” Pegg replied, “Not necessarily intelligent life in the way that we think intelligent life. We’re so self-important as human beings. We think our ability to build things is important. It’s not. It’s just self-serving.

“Whereas, if you imagine a planet with just animals on it that don’t have subjective experience, that only have sort of emotional, reactive experience, those planets will last for billions and billions of years because it all works as one organism. “

He added, “We kind of don’t. We’re actively affecting our own planet, you know, by our actions, which doesn’t really make sense when you look at the, sort of, cosmic plan.”

Heatwaves, Overshoot Day, and the climate crisis

As noted by Pegg, humans are inarguably “affecting our own planet.”

This summer has seen multiple dangerous heatwaves, which have led to record numbers of heat-related deaths as well as droughts, power cuts, wildfires, and crop failures. This extreme weather is a direct result of human-caused climate change.

July 30 was notably “Overshoot Day.” This marked the point at which humanity exhausted the amount of natural resources (such as air, water, soil) that Earth can regenerate in 2026. Global consumption of natural resources has outstripped capacity since the 1970s, and Overshoot Day has been arriving earlier each year.

Pegg is an outspoken environmental advocate and has worked with Greenpeace since 2021. He participated in the “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” and Operation Ocean Witness campaigns, and has protested against overfishing.

In 2022, Pegg joined PETA’s campaign against the use of traditional bear skin caps by the Queen’s Guard. At the time, he described the practice as “a disgrace.”

Pegg is best known for his roles in blockbusters like Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the Mission: Impossible series, along with his work with Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, particularly the “Cornetto” trilogy and the sitcom Spaced. Pegg stars in The Undeclared War, a cyber-thriller currently airing on Channel 4.

PBN runs a sponsored content model. To explore how you can get featured, please email [email protected] or visit everkinddigital.com