Agriculture
It has been said that the greatest mistake mankind ever made was agriculture. It resulted in a population explosion, overwork, an exaggerated role segregation of the sexes, and devastation of the environment. All of which may spell the end for the human race.
However, agriculture also generated an immense economic and intellectual machine. Now literacy and communications are as never before. Now we have genetic engineering, and may one day create new species of intelligent life. Now we can travel to other planets and may one day inhabit them. Now we are learning to manage our environment on an increasingly large scale. All is not lost.