Future alien archaeologists who discover Earth and try to figure out the civilization that once roamed it will have a thankless job.
How can you explain the species based only on the just-completed 24 hours, let alone centuries of existence?
Consider:
It marshaled the intelligence and talent to build a spacecraft, sending it on a five-year mission to a distant planet, and then got it to orbit in the name of science and knowledge.
![AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, Pool](./../../../files/2016/07/AP_16187159885493.jpg)
It blew up a city in the name of religion. Then bombed two other cities for good measure, killing hundreds of innocent people.
![Haidar Hamdani/AFP/Getty Images)](./../../../files/2016/07/GettyImages-544378188.jpg)
It celebrated someone eating 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes.
![AP Photo/Mary Altaffer](./../../../files/2016/07/AP_16186639539284.jpg)