Humankind Destined to Become Extinct? Well, one day of course... (989 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalRating: 1.5 on 40 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by lemonfish (View user info) at 2008-11-26 09:31:16 EST
I was wondering, pondering if you will.
Nature has created hundreds of thousands of species over the huge long expanse of time, and subsequently rendered pretty much all of those species extinct.
99% (www.nature.com amongst many other sources, some as high as 99.9%) of all species that have ever been alive, that have ever lived, experienced life on this wonderful green planet, nature has wiped out. The ONLY thing that seems to survive the natural world is life itself... in what form that life takes, nature has not one care.
Perhaps extinctions are a fundamental need for nature, renew and regenerate, improve and strengthen?
Maybe changes to the environment (again across the 3.8 billion years that life is thought to have been on this planet) have dictated change and therefore extinctions and this is part of the overall plan or picture.
Maybe if levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere increased to the level that became toxic for humans a bunch of new monoxide breathing species would just replace us and nature would know no different?
Does nature care?
So, the question is, will nature eventually wipe out humankind? Will nature destroy us the way it has destroyed virtually everything else it has even made? And if so, when might this happen?
Personally I think that 'yes' nature will one day render us extinct. What does nature care for humankind (if anything it has to FEAR humankind and its possible threats to the environment)?
Environmental change, whether driven by changes over prolonged periods of time (purely 'natural) or via means of alarming catastrophe (Meteor strike, plate or pole shift, or maybe a period of extreme volcanic activity) will make the environment un-inhabitable for humans, and like the masses before, we will cease to be.
When? Maybe a few hundred thousand years from now. I'd be surprised if the human race were still here in a million years from now.
User Reviews
Submitted by lburna_7 (user info) at 2008-11-30 21:27:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
whoops, forgot to rate
Submitted by lburna_7 (user info) at 2008-11-30 21:27:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Something worth mentioning is that we are the first highly intelligent beings. This means that we will be able to combat/cope with threatening situations unlike any life form before us. When the time comes, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2008-11-30 11:10:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2008-11-29 16:17:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2008-11-28 10:33:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I concur..
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-28 07:11:32 EST (#)
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Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2008-11-27 04:18:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
So, the question is, will nature eventually wipe out humankind?""
~~~
I hope so. It was here first.
First decent post I've seen in months.
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It was here first... but it also created us... or at least led to the situation where our creation was possible.
I think nature needed us 'at that time'... but once the changes arrive...we'll be gone.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2008-11-27 04:18:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
So, the question is, will nature eventually wipe out humankind?""
~~~
I hope so. It was here first.
First decent post I've seen in months.
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2008-11-27 03:55:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I have hope in humanity's ability for flexibility, which we are by far the most that have ever lived on Earth.
Aside from a cataclysmic event of our own doing (greenhouse gases, nuclear war, biological war, etc), I see us being able to survive most that the Earth can throw at us.
Submitted by TheBrad (user info) at 2008-11-27 03:35:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 13:39:19 PST (#)
Ranking: 2
M. Night movies are one of my guilty pleasures.
Yes. Yes I like his movies.
_____________________________________________________
You are now less of a human being.
Submitted by YourNameHere (user info) at 2008-11-26 18:20:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 18:08:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The argument that "we," as a species, are somehow "weaker," because our way of life (with respect especially to modern medicines) permits those individuals to live who might not make it in an earlier time is usually countered with the idea that we are actually "stronger" because we have a more diverse gene pool by giving those folks the chance to live and breed. Remember that what is perceived as undesirable under certain environmental conditions might be beneficial under different conditions. Nothing is lost. As a species we are simply now more diverse, thus giving us a better chance (as a species) to adapt to changing conditions.
Also, it's important to remember that "fittest" is best understood not in terms of who is strongest, fastest, smartest, and so on, but rather on which groups exhibit the greatest reproductive success. In my neighborhood, the Mexicans are really fucking fit.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2008-11-26 17:36:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Would nature care? Define "nature", really.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 16:39:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
M. Night movies are one of my guilty pleasures.
Yes. Yes I like his movies.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2008-11-26 16:36:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
These kind of questions are dangerous, as they lead to shitty M. Night Shambalalalalalla(whatever it is) movies with Marky Mark in them.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 16:32:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Spuzzum (user info) at 2008-11-26 14:23:02 CST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Welcome. Nice non-suck first post.
Will humans be here in a million years? No. At least, not in our present form. "We" will evolve by adapting via natural selection.
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Have to disagree a bit with this. Natural selection for humans is basically over, in fact we are getting "worse". Because of technology, many people who would have and perhaps should have died if there was proper natural selection are still alive and passing their bad genes down today. For example, I am blind without contact lenses. In caveman days I would have been eaten by a tiger or fallen off a cliff.
The only way humans will evolve at all anymore is by genetic engineering or by civilization being destroyed so much that natural selection starts to work again.
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The way I understand natural selection, is that organisms that are the most able to adapt are the ones who survive to pass on their genes to the next generation, which is done primarily by beneficial mutation.
Some mutation is beneficial, some is harmful, and some is benign.
For instance, people from the africas developed a mutation that allowed them to be more resistant to malaria. The ones who developed the mutation survived and passed that trait along to their offspring.
Some European caucasians have a mutation that makes them more resistant to the HIV virus. Some scientists have speculated that perhaps this mutation developed as a result of the Black Plague, but has proven useful against HIV.
Some high altitude dwelling peoples (in South America I think) have developed a mutation that allows them to survive at those high altitudes without suffering much ill effects.
The average human walks around with 50 to 100 mutations, the great majority of which are completely benign. The could be as inconsequential as have the "family nose." Out of those (say 100) 3 mutations actually have an effect, i.e. they change a protein.
Lactose tolerance is a good example of a benefical genetic mutation.
I respectfully disagree with you on humans becoming worse rather than better. I'm actually thinking it's a non-issue because evolution happens so slowly, that what we're basing our judgements on, is just a second in the evolutionary scheme. Maybe we are getting worse, or maybe we're getting better.
If you're interested, http://www.talkorigins.org/ is a fantastic site.
Happy browsing!
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2008-11-26 16:00:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-11-26 14:54:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I am not a free man. I am a muppet!
Phenomena, . . ...
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2008-11-26 15:54:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Spuzzum (user info) at 2008-11-26 15:23:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Welcome. Nice non-suck first post.
Will humans be here in a million years? No. At least, not in our present form. "We" will evolve by adapting via natural selection.
.....
Have to disagree a bit with this. Natural selection for humans is basically over, in fact we are getting "worse". Because of technology, many people who would have and perhaps should have died if there was proper natural selection are still alive and passing their bad genes down today. For example, I am blind without contact lenses. In caveman days I would have been eaten by a tiger or fallen off a cliff.
The only way humans will evolve at all anymore is by genetic engineering or by civilization being destroyed so much that natural selection starts to work again.
Submitted by FilledwithHate (user info) at 2008-11-26 15:19:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-11-26 12:40:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find
=================
Loved that song, played it forever when I was a kid.
Complete human extinction is likely probably only if there is a massive natural disaster that led to climate change much greater than could ever be realized by man-made global warming. For instance, ~400 million years ago there was an incredible ice age where the earth's surface temp dropped to -30 F and the oceans froze to a depth of 1 mile. Almost all life on earth got wiped out, but after the thaw, you got the Cambrian Explosion where a huge number of new species evolved. But even a massive nuclear exchange could not cause this and would leave some human survivors.
However, there could be cultural extinction, a new dark age of sorts, like the Road Warrior scenario. This could happen.
And then there would be no internet or Ubersite!
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2008-11-26 15:18:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm just waiting for the zombies to come.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-11-26 14:54:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I am not a muppet. I am a free man!
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-11-26 14:22:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
no, no ear lobes means you are a muppet.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-11-26 14:09:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Mankind is the only species capable of understanding the concept of extinction. That alone means that, barring a planet-busting natural catastrophe or the actions of a few who do not value the species, we will likely be around in one form or another for a very, very long time.
It's happening right now: Ear lobes are not necessary for survival. I have no ear lobes. This is called "evolution".
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2008-11-26 13:54:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Seventy Five Million years ago the evil overlord Xenu killed 15 trillion aliens by loading them in spaceships that look exactly like DC8 passenger jets. He then dumped them in volcanoes and ignited hydrogen bombs over them.
Nature had nothing to do with it.
Submitted by Replen (user info) at 2008-11-26 12:56:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-11-26 12:40:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find
In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do, or say
Is in the pill you took today
In the year 4545
Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes
You won't find a thing to do
Nobody's gonna look at you
In the year 5555
Your arms are hanging limp at your sides
Your legs not nothing to do
Some machine is doing that for you
In the year 6565
Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife
You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long black tube
In the year 7510
If God's a-comin' he ought to make it by then
Maybe he'll look around himself and say
Guess it's time for the Judgement day
In the year 8510
God's gonna shake his mighty head
He'll either say I'm pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again
In the year 9595
I'm kinda wondering if man's gonna be alive
He's taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothing
Now it's been 10,000 years
Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew
Now man's reign is through
But through the eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it's only yesterday
In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find
Submitted by SilvrWolf (user info) at 2008-11-26 11:46:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Of course nature doesn't care. Nature is not a sentient being. Humans tend to personify things that are so much greater than us. Nature is what it is. It was here long before us, it's the reason we even exist and of course it'll lead ultimately to either our demise or our exodus from this planet.
But who knows? I'm arrogant enough to think that we could someday develop the technology to completely control the weather and therefore influence the climate on our planet. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to survive until then.
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2008-11-26 11:46:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I consider the humans as nature made 'm extinct.
We have transformed ourselves into something quite unnatural, and the process continues as we speak.
It's just the flesh that keeps us trapped here.
Bye bye human kind. Hello homo manipulatis.
Nice first post.Bienvenue en Uber.
Submitted by MudWhistle (user info) at 2008-11-26 11:38:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
as long as its on the outside of the next 400 years, that gives me the chance that no one I know or will know by the time I'm dead will be alive.
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-11-26 11:27:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Watch less trashy BBC dramas.
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 10:49:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
It wasn't meant to worry anybody.
Merely provoke potential though or further discussion :o)
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2008-11-26 10:47:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Who knows? It's really not worth worrying about.
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-11-26 10:08:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:59:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Not, not TV... SOME of us are capable of constructive thought without the help of TV :o)
Carbon dioxide emmited into the atmopshere yearly via nature 200 BILLION tons
Carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere yearly via humans 7 billion tons a year.
Nature had us beat hands down in most departments.
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Exactly. Look (as far as the global warming thing) the earth warmed itself before without our help (see forensics' reference to ice ages) and it will again. Do I believe the science of global warming yes, but at the same time I dont think that we as humans have the amount of impact that we give ourselves credit for.
Nature is a cruel cruel biotch and believe you me.
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2008-11-26 10:08:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well this might be a problem.
See we have this man called 'lungfish'
Nice enough fellow, a bit of a drinker.
Your handle is far too close to 'lungfish'.
I won't be able to discern the difference between you two.
You see what you've done?
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:59:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:46:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
looks like someone watched "the day after tommorrow" and "armageddon" last night...
the answer is that nature doesnt care, only human beings attatch the word "care" to our own lives like somehow the brutal destructive force known as nature will give is the benefit of the doubt and let us live.
Either by our own doing or via natures wrath, we will be gone someday.
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Not, not TV... SOME of us are capable of constructive thought without the help of TV :o)
Carbon dioxide emmited into the atmopshere yearly via nature 200 BILLION tons
Carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere yearly via humans 7 billion tons a year.
Nature had us beat hands down in most departments.
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:57:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:54:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
True. We've figured out how to adapt parts of our environment to benefit us, but still nature can and will win.
The earth has gone through a few ice ages (some big, some minor). Or the air streams change. Hell, look at the dustbowl during the 30's in America (I think it was the 30's). Nature can, and does, kick our asses.
No matter how much we can force our will on nature, nature ultimately does as it wills and we can't do anything about it.
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amen
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:54:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
True. We've figured out how to adapt parts of our environment to benefit us, but still nature can and will win.
The earth has gone through a few ice ages (some big, some minor). Or the air streams change. Hell, look at the dustbowl during the 30's in America (I think it was the 30's). Nature can, and does, kick our asses.
No matter how much we can force our will on nature, nature ultimately does as it wills and we can't do anything about it.
Submitted by lemonfish (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:49:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Welcome. Nice non-suck first post.
Besides, our sun will eventually die. All stars do. Then all life, in all forms, on Earth will be fucked.
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Thank you.
Of course, yes the sun will die, but the earth will experience many many more drama's over the period of time before that happens. I am trying to think about shorter term than the sun exploding, but on a larger scale than we humans tend to... hence my mention of a million years.
And of course to put us alongside any other creature on earth. We are just a species... nature cares little for us.
Though your point about us evolving and adapting is an interesting one, because we are the only species capable of manipulating the environment around us suffiently to prolong our survival.
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:46:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
looks like someone watched "the day after tommorrow" and "armageddon" last night...
the answer is that nature doesnt care, only human beings attatch the word "care" to our own lives like somehow the brutal destructive force known as nature will give is the benefit of the doubt and let us live.
Either by our own doing or via natures wrath, we will be gone someday.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2008-11-26 09:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Welcome. Nice non-suck first post.
Will humans be here in a million years? No. At least, not in our present form. "We" will evolve by adapting via natural selection.
Or we may go extinct and another subset of humans will ascend. After all, Neandertals were a subset that went extinct and the homo sapien sapiens survived by being better adapted.
So who knows?
Besides, our sun will eventually die. All stars do. Then all life, in all forms, on Earth will be fucked.
Don't fear the reaper.