Human extinction

[Lorento]

Frankly, even if the viruses happen, even if sea levels rise, even if events on a near cataclysmic scale occur, I think that humanity will live on. We are the greatest and most advanced life form Earth has ever produced, creating things this part of our galaxy has never before seen.

Our numbers will be reduced if the sea levels start to rise, but we will survive, just as we have before.

Unless a giant meteorite hits us. Then we're fucked.

 

[autisticdragonkin]

We lived for 100,000 years without a justification why do we need one now

 

[Ebola]

The cause of human extinction will not be a virus, but viruses do provide the best entertainment and panic; also, they are good at removing the least desirable from the planet. Viruses, in general, evolve to become less deadly as time passes, so that they can become one with the host. In 500 years from now, it's possible every human will have HIV, but instead of hurting people, it might make us live longer and enhance our immune systems. Viruses that cause harm to people are the minority of the minority; nearly all viruses do nothing to people, or benefit people by enhancing them. In fact, viruses are the true source of evolution and biological diversity, and life would not exist without them because the cell nucleus in every cell of complex life, including humans, is an authentic virus.

END VIROPHOBIA NOW.

 

[CWCchange]

I think humanity should be more concerned with other species threatened with extinction, not from a hippie standpoint but rather because their absence in the ecosystem can negatively affect out livelihoods. A textbook example is bees, which have given us civilized agriculture. Conversely, what were once the most bio-diverse places in the world liked Sub-Saharan Africa, have completely fucked themselves. When European powers left, everything to better utilize the environment was abused by the savage populace who poach animals left and right. People are starving, and the only reason they're not extinct is because how many children they have to negate it.

 

[Vex Overmind]

Humans are more of a threat to themselves than any calamity known to the universe. We can survive a meteor impact, but I highly doubt we can survive a nuclear war.

 

[Marvin]

Humans are more of a threat to themselves than any calamity known to the universe. We can survive a meteor impact, but I highly doubt we can survive a nuclear war.

The nuclear war extinction theories are based on questionable data and theories.

I don't think a nuclear war would come close to extinguishing humanity. Hell, I don't think it'd extinguish the dumber mammals on the planet, let alone an intelligent species like humans.

 

[AnOminous]

The nuclear war extinction theories are based on questionable data and theories.

I don't think a nuclear war would come close to extinguishing humanity. Hell, I don't think it'd extinguish the dumber mammals on the planet, let alone an intelligent species like humans.

Who cares? Being one of the 10% or so would still suck shit and probably be worse than getting killed.

 

[Marvin]

Who cares? Being one of the 10% or so would still suck shit and probably be worse than getting killed.

Oh certainly. But I think people approach the topic from an apocalyptic perspective, and I think the distinction is important.

 

[AnOminous]

Oh certainly. But I think people approach the topic from an apocalyptic perspective, and I think the distinction is important.

I think it's an apocalypse from any reasonable standpoint. So some ragged apelike creatures might still be around, and some tiny fraction of the scum who started the whole thing get their nice cozy bunkers to cool their heels in. There will still be nothing resembling civilization in any human lifetime.

 

[Marvin]

I think it's an apocalypse from any reasonable standpoint. So some ragged apelike creatures might still be around, and some tiny fraction of the scum who started the whole thing get their nice cozy bunkers to cool their heels in. There will still be nothing resembling civilization in any human lifetime.

Civilization is like 90% technology. I think if a solid 5% of humans, with access to technology, survive, humanity will rebuild. Easily.

 

[AnOminous]

Civilization is like 90% technology. I think if a solid 5% of humans, with access to technology, survive, humanity will rebuild. Easily.

Most of the technology we currently have requires a lot of social infrastructure just to operate. You don't just recreate that out of thin air. And a lot of our more modern knowledge is in proprietary formats that deteriorate rapidly and, again, to build something to read it you'd need a lot of infrastructure. You can't just magic up PCB fabrication facilities out of thin air whatever you know.

 

[Marvin]

Most of the technology we currently have requires a lot of social infrastructure just to operate. You don't just recreate that out of thin air. And a lot of our more modern knowledge is in proprietary formats that deteriorate rapidly and, again, to build something to read it you'd need a lot of infrastructure. You can't just magic up PCB fabrication facilities out of thin air whatever you know.

Most of the cost of developing those technologies is research. Information doesn't vanish out of thin air.

 

[AnOminous]

Most of the cost of developing those technologies is research. Information doesn't vanish out of thin air.

Information != expertise. When everyone expert in interpreting that information is gone, it's as good as useless. And quite possibly outright inaccessible as a result of being in an inappropriate medium. It's not like just flipping a switch back on.

 

[Marvin]

Information != expertise. When everyone expert in interpreting that information is gone, it's as good as useless. And quite possibly outright inaccessible as a result of being in an inappropriate medium. It's not like just flipping a switch back on.

Disagree.

What might've taken 500 years to develop would take 100 years to recreate, tops, if the development was documented.

 

[AnOminous]

Disagree.

What might've taken 500 years to develop would take 100 years to recreate, tops, if the development was documented.

Who cares about 100 years? Nobody alive would be alive to see it.

 

[Marvin]

Who cares about 100 years? Nobody alive would be alive to see it.

That's an important distinction between human extinction and merely a large human catastrophe.

 

[Male Idiot]

Humans are very resourceful and adaptive like cockroaches.

Short of something wiping all life from Earth, such as a Hot Quazar beam-ray, Aliens! or some future superweapon, I don't see humans becoming extinct.

Now, there are lots of causes that could put human civilisation back, or wipe out huge swathes of it. But I think enough will always survive to keep the species going, until either due to time or genetical engineering humanity will cease to exist because it evolves into a higher life form, just as the cavemen who came before us became us.

 

[fcgh vgcf]

888
i'm under the belief that we humans are like cockroaches and mice: we'll probably not die out by 'banal' causes like viruses and diseases, natural disasters and apocalyptic meteor strikes. we're too smart to really die from natural causes anymore. a mass war a la atomic fallout would probably fuck the lot of us over real good but it's not like we can't just hide beneath the earth for several hundreds or thousands of years and survive that way. we're at the brink of a new intersolar space-race and this time it's to claim either mars or the moon i'd wager so space exploration isn't out of the question just yet.
''but what will happen to earth in the future?'' same as what happened after the latest ice age ended ya dingus. we'd have mass ecological turbulence with new ecosystems being set in place and older ones dying out. at most i'd wager that a warmer climate is going to occur and we'd enter a new pleistocene era with massive mammals once more (think mammoths and giant sloths n shit) or some other 'big' family of animals which are adapted to a warmer climate would take over.

 

[Strelok]

The only "realistic" extinction level even you could really come up with, would be if you believe the conspiracy theories that aliens are set to glass the earth if we ever leave the solar system, out of fear of our species warlike tendancies, ala Dan Akryod. Even a mass event like a meteor strike or nuclear holocaust (And a lot of the data people cite on nuclear holocausts is from thr 60s and infact overblown compared to modern estimates on the level of destruction and especially contamination that would result) we would still have enough survivors that a new, albeit more primitive, civilization would emerge. So short of some other species coming here and fucking us up, or the sun skipping several stages and going kaboom, we'd likely, as a species at least, survive. The main difference between us and other species is our ability to teach each other, and that goes miles twords suitability as a whole.

 

[Male Idiot]

The only "realistic" extinction level even you could really come up with, would be if you believe the conspiracy theories that aliens are set to glass the earth if we ever leave the solar system, out of fear of our species warlike tendancies, ala Dan Akryod. Even a mass event like a meteor strike or nuclear holocaust (And a lot of the data on nuclear holocausts is infact overblown) we would still have enough survivors that a new, albeit more primitive, civilization would emerge. So short of some other species coming here and fucking us up, or the sun skipping several stages and going kaboom, we'd likely, as a species at least, survive. The main difference between us and other species is our ability to teach each other, and that goes miles twords suitability as a whole.

There are certain things like Quasar beams or migrating black holes and such that could theoretically wipe all life from Earth, but the chances of that happening in the next 4 billion years are very low.

As for Aliens... I think there are 2 possible scenarios.

A- Superpowered aliens
B- Aliens just a little more advanced than us.

In case A, I really doubt they would need to resort to killing us all to contain us. Think about South park, and how they simply put a forcefield around Earth.
I imagine these aliens are so advanced, even if we got into space we would not be a threat to them and they would ignore us if we did not move actively against them.
The only thing I can see these aliens doing is a low key observation of Earth for scientific and or entertainment reasons.

In case B, I imagine we would face an alien race 2-3 centuries ahead of us. However I doubt most of these aliens would be fanatical cannibal killers. I can rather imagine them exploiting and/or enslaving humans.

We also do not know if there is any sort of galactic community out there. It is possible that an advanced alien power would try to discourage lesser ones from wiping each other out.

Though all in all, I am not sure FTL is even possible, and that alien life is rife. The most likely scenario is that aliens are too far and wide in space and time to come to us.
And if they can't do FTL, they would need massive colony ships which would have trouble faring against an entire planet's resources. You also can't easily make intersteller empires without FTL.