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I wish to ask an alternative question: what's so bad, or so regrettable, about humans going extinct?
Nothing
However if you want to be clear.. there is a type of energy a "sadness" a lack about it.. because some of us love our species so much.. that we hate to see it go!
I wish to ask an alternative question: what's so bad, or so regrettable, about humans going extinct?
If you remove the ego of our existence from the question, and the regret for future generations, then, in all honesty, not so much. Some call humans "Planet Eaters" for the havoc we've wrought on the earth during our brief time here.
I do believe we have as a species, the potential for extinction. For example, globally, many, many species of frogs--the same species that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs-- are now suddenly gone from places where they heavily populated. 40% of current fauna are close to extinction today.
We're just another species--though our egos think we're not. Once habitat, air and oceans are destroyed enough, droughts/fires more wide-spread, weather "events" more devastating, arable land for crop-growing and drinkable water in short supply--and if that's coupled by compromised immune systems and antibiotic resistant viruses, then we've a recipe for disaster. And if not extinction, then greatly reduced populations competing for diminishing supplies.
With global travel, viruses can now leap borders and spread rapidly through world populations.
Guess I'm sounding like a Gloomy Gus, but as I read the leading scientists' words, warning and predictions, it's not a very bright future we're facing.
Google "Sixth Extinction" and see what I mean--not just the new book by Kolbert, but all that's being and been written on the topic by others.
Do you think the human species is headed for extinction?
I hope so. If a god existed he would have scrapped this design and went back to drawing board a long time ago. Or maybe this planet will be cleared out for that inter-galactic expressway, consigning the insanity that is this human race to a well deserved oblivion...
No. Humanity was, is and will be. It is as eternal as nature itself. As every human body is focal point to all forces of the Nature.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Humanity is eternal? Haven't you ever watched "Life After People"? No, eventually a time will come when all evidence we were even ever here will be gone. And thank whatever might possibly be holy in this absurd universe for that....
There are some pure biological threats to the human race.
Between 1989 and 2005, average sperm counts fell by a third in the study of 26,000 men, increasing their risk of infertility. The amount of healthy sperm was also reduced, by a similar proportion.
Scientists warn of sperm count crisis - Science - News - The Independent
A new study has found a “substantial” drop in U.S. men’s testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age. The average levels of the male hormone dropped by 1 percent a year!
Men are weak sex. Stress, anxieties and environmental factors push males towards irrelevance or even extinction.
In the battle of the sexes, men are bound to lose, a scientist has predicted. That is, males will sooner or later go extinct.
What's more, the leading Australian scientist says the process of man's untimely end has already begun.
Evolutionary geneticist Prof. Jenny Graves said that the extinction of the male species is likely to happen within the next five million years and may have already begun in some isolated groups. Graves said her prediction is based on the inherent fragility of the male sex chromosome, or Y sex chromosome. She explains that the number of genes on the male chromosome is rapidly dwindling.
Women fare better but increasing % of women finds children repugnant, cannot conceive and/or they cannot carry a child to term because of various health factors (affected by environment, status, stress and anxieties). Ongoing social acceptance of gayness inevitably followed by acceptance of other deviations from the male-female "normal" (for how long?) will only make things worse (from survival standpoint). Both biologically and socially mankind evolves toward a beehive (run by the anointed). Worker bees are all females. Female attributes suit corporate world so much better.
Do you think the human species is headed for extinction?
An increasing number of scientists believe our species will be close to extinction as soon as 100 years from now. They base this extinction prediction on the acidification of our oceans, increasing droughts, floods, hurricanes/typhoons, death of our forests, extinction of as many as 40% or more of other species...and the likelihood of pandemics mowing us down.
One recent book on this topic is The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. She's not the only scientist to hold this viewpoint and prediction.
Their viewpoint is that we've impacted our Earth's systems (land, air, oceans) to the point that even drastically cleaning up our act is now too late.
What do you think?
Is the clock ticking on our extinction?
Barring an event which makes the earth wholly inhabitable, I think it's safe to say that we're not going to become extinct any time soon.
The population might drastically downsize, but you can bet "those who call the shots" will always be finding ways to keep people more productive...for as many years as possible, in order to keep them paying taxes.
One of my favorite books about humankind extinction was Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. There is a moment in the story where there is a mass die-off of ants in an area in which the narrator has taken shelter. He makes a comment about the fact any species that overwhelms it's environment physically will eventually self-impose extinction on themselves. The ants which had numbered in the millions, apparently had exhausted their resources in the area, and simply died. It was an evident comparison to the human die-off in which he was a survivor.
There have been many predictions of how the Earth, or humankind as a whole might end, but barring total cosmic annihilation of our planet, I believe we, as a species have enough of a survival instinct that with even a slim margin of opportunity, some would make it through a cataclysm. We are a tenacious species.
I believe there is a very good chance that our species will one day become extinct. That being said, I don't feel that this is something that will happen anytime soon. Think of all of the species that have ever existed on this planet. I'm talking about insects, plants, reptiles, birds, mammals, bacteria, fungi, etc. All of the extinct life forms that had previously existed on this planet got pushed aside for one reason or another (i.e. failure to adapt, extinction level event, hunted to extinction, etc.).
Per current methods of dating, it is estimated that the Earth is roughly 4.55 Billion years old [source]. The age of the earliest known anatomically modern humanoid fossils to be discovered thus far have been estimated to be around 195,000 yrs old. Modern humans as we appear today have been on the planet for around 40,000 yrs [source]. This means that humans of any form have only been on the planet for a tiny fraction of the planet's overall existence.
I think the fact that there were other hominids walking the planet before the subspecies of homo sapiens that we belong to took over should show that there is at least a history of a dominant species being eclipsed by another species that was more evolved and better suited for survival. Is it that much of a stretch to think that many eons from now a species more suited for life on this planet could take over and eventually lead to the extinction of homo sapiens? I doubt that this scenario is something that could happen in a short period of time. But seeing that modern man has only been here for 0.0000089% of this planet's overall existence, I don't think that it's out of the realm of possibility that a new species or subspecies could eventually take our place and subsequently (directly or indirectly) lead to our extinction much like what had happened to all of the other early hominids that existed before we came on the scene.
Extinction? Unlikely any time soon. Eradication? That is far more plausible.
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