4 ms·

Why do you think that it's so certain? There are moments in history were the number of humans in existence numbered in the thousands. What kind of event are you

Why do you think that it's so certain? There are moments in history were the number of humans in existence numbered in the thousands. What kind of event are you imagining of that is certain to occur that will kill every single last human?

zabzonk 4y ago
i was thinking that we are obviously a fast-evolving species - look at all our mostly extinct relatives. so in a million years we will probably go the same way.
- Tagbert 4y ago
  As long as we have dependents who have evolved and survived that is to be expected.
  - Robotbeat 4y ago
    Right. Archaic humans that existed 1 million years ago are still recognizable very much as humans and had many of our current capabilities in nascent form.
    - zabzonk 4y ago
      in nascent form - so, not developed. if there is one thing that defines modern humans, it is their use of technology, which has only really happened in the last 5K years, and mostly in the last few hundred. compare this with a million years. i don't think the primate tree is going to be terminated that soon, but i think it might be pruned.
      - Robotbeat 4y ago
        I would consider fire, seafaring, language, and clothes to absolutely be “technology” and they existed well before 5000 years ago. And I think our version of seafaring, spacefaring, will be fruitful over a timescale of thousands of years, and maybe much shorter than that. Our ancestors walked from Africa to the corners of the globe. Today, the cheapest and safest way to travel thousands of miles (as well as the most common) is to hurtle across the sky at nearly the speed of sound at altitudes that would kill you if not in a pressurized volume. The energy used for this, a round trip from one side of the globe to the other, is about the same as needed to place you in orbit (with hyper-optimized chemical rockets). I don’t see why we think the last ~50 years is the end of such progress of our technology.
        zabzonk 4y ago
        we may be ok for the next ~50 years (but i have my doubts, and i really don't think we will ever get much out of earth orbit), but a million years? i don't think many people realise how long that is, and how we could be human at the end of it.

zabzonk 4y ago

i was thinking that we are obviously a fast-evolving species - look at all our mostly extinct relatives. so in a million years we will probably go the same way.

Tagbert 4y ago
As long as we have dependents who have evolved and survived that is to be expected.
- Robotbeat 4y ago
  Right. Archaic humans that existed 1 million years ago are still recognizable very much as humans and had many of our current capabilities in nascent form.
  - zabzonk 4y ago
    in nascent form - so, not developed. if there is one thing that defines modern humans, it is their use of technology, which has only really happened in the last 5K years, and mostly in the last few hundred. compare this with a million years. i don't think the primate tree is going to be terminated that soon, but i think it might be pruned.
    - Robotbeat 4y ago
      I would consider fire, seafaring, language, and clothes to absolutely be “technology” and they existed well before 5000 years ago. And I think our version of seafaring, spacefaring, will be fruitful over a timescale of thousands of years, and maybe much shorter than that. Our ancestors walked from Africa to the corners of the globe. Today, the cheapest and safest way to travel thousands of miles (as well as the most common) is to hurtle across the sky at nearly the speed of sound at altitudes that would kill you if not in a pressurized volume. The energy used for this, a round trip from one side of the globe to the other, is about the same as needed to place you in orbit (with hyper-optimized chemical rockets). I don’t see why we think the last ~50 years is the end of such progress of our technology.
      - zabzonk 4y ago
        we may be ok for the next ~50 years (but i have my doubts, and i really don't think we will ever get much out of earth orbit), but a million years? i don't think many people realise how long that is, and how we could be human at the end of it.