>>33195
>Well a natural part of any ecosystem is disease/viruses. When any genus reaches a point of overpopulation they are easily killed off by viruses that spread through them due to their lack of isolation. This process prevents any genus pushing out others and damaging the diversity in an ecosystem, no genus is allowed to be too successful

Yes, diseases are serious factor, but not only them. Predator-prey cycle isn't less serious factor too. In this cycle every peak is some kind of mini-extinction for prey, and then same problem for predator. So, maybe at large time periods there are balance and diversity, but on small time scales it is same catastrophic event that breaks everything and removes diversity, although it is rarely irreversible process (but can be).

Humanity fight with viruses can be seen as same process of adaptation, it is just faster and much effective, but on grand scale it isn't really different than slow adaptation of some dog to some virus. But nature has other ways to reducing human count, like famine cycle (past), wars (still work), fall of birthrates by urbanization (works and would work in future too), ecological problems (humans damage nature and then suffer).

We just don't know how large complex ecosystems work on large time periods, because we didn't had experience with it. We can see "predator-prey-disease" cycle, but we couldn't see some kind of large "sapient_species-rise_of_technology-downfall" cycle (although we predict it). Maybe every technological civilization dies?

Or maybe cycle is different. For example, we may look onto single apple with mold as some kind of ecosystem, and when apple is completely decomposed, ecosystem "ends". But we also may look at apple garden hit by mold, where single apple and it's "death" doesn't "matter", because mold is spreading, and ecosystem still exists even when some apples are destroyed. I.e. humans are mold and Earth is an apple, and spreading to other planets is a part of purely natural "garden disease" cycle. And destruction of Earth ecosystem is just same thing like decomposition of apple in garden, nothing unnatural.

Of course everything is related to person's worldview. For example, religious person or humanist may look onto this process from completely different position.