How long until extinction of Homo sapiens?

[Doctor Anaximander]

It’s inevitable. Not a question of if, but when. How long do you give the human race? Or will we be lucky, defy the odds, adapt and evolve?

[Mole]

It’s inevitable. Not a question of if, but when. How long do you give the human race? Or will we be lucky, defy the odds, adapt and evolve?

In the vast sweep of life on Earth, large celled animals have a short evolutionary life span. We are large celled animals, and a planet ruled by natural selection, we can expect a short evolutionary life. But don't worry, we are probably here for hundreds of millions of years.

[Red Memories]

That's a good question I do not have a good answer to. It is a matter of whether or not we choose to change the trajectory. The future is in our hands. Something tells me we'll fuck it up and be gone in 30-40 more years.

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

It’s inevitable. Not a question of if, but when. How long do you give the human race? Or will we be lucky, defy the odds, adapt and evolve?

Well, if that one Star Trek Voyager episode is any guide, we'll turn into salamanders.



I hope that's true. Those things are pretty badass.

[Dareyth]

"Extinct" is too shallow of a term in terms of the possibilities of what can happen in the future. This is under the assumption that something outside of our control will wipe us out.

1) Humans will exhaust all resources and destroy the environment, this is inevitable regardless of efforts to convert to "Green" energy. This is because it is population that is the problem, meaning things will inevitably become unsustainable no matter how efficient we are due to lack of physical space, even after we wipe out all other species on earth. So by the will of nature, humans will die en mass via starvation and war. But this won't kill off humans, some will survive in the shadow of the fall for many years to come. Possibly, evolving into something else along the way.

2) Humans somehow overcome our animalistic nature, and able to live in harmony with nature. Most likely by then though, humans will have evolved into something else (technically not human, therefor extinct). The same applies in a dystopian society as well. If we can choose our genetics, then eventually "humans" as we know them, will become extinct. Also very possible humans can take multiple evolution paths and co-exist as well, much like ants do. As to live in super-societies like we do, we eventually might lose our social instincts or emotions and become a hive mind and new species all together.

[Doctor Anaximander]

If we colonize multiple worlds, then we could definitely evolve into several different species over a long period due to adaptation to varying conditions. A very long period, we’re talking hundreds of thousands to millions of years, probably. However, I don’t see that happening on a single planet like Earth. Too much competition. Homo sapiens sapiens are already the single remaining HS subspecies. Overlapping niches and too much competition over limited resources drove species like Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis to extinction.

Ants and smaller animals with comparatively short lives and fast gestation periods adapt to environmental change much faster than large mammals, so this is why we see many species of ants but only one species of bipedal humanoids on our planet. Unless you had isolated groups of humans that stopped coming into contact on this planet, but we are too intelligent and curious to remain isolated for as long as it would take to result in genetic incompatibility

[Mole]

Humans somehow overcome our animalistic nature, and able to live in harmony with nature.

Homo sapiens have the same DNA as every living thing on our Earth, the same DNA as the plants, animals, and fungi. And now with gene sequencing we can trace the exact relationship of every plant, animal, and fungus.

We are animals related to every other animal and living thing on Earth. Trying to overcome our animalistic nature flies in the face of biology, and is an expression of religious hatred for our bodies and minds.

[Virtual ghost]

It’s inevitable. Not a question of if, but when. How long do you give the human race? Or will we be lucky, defy the odds, adapt and evolve?

If we evolve and evolve and keep involving ... we will go extinct. Since the concept of species is actually a product of a human mind and it isn't set in stone.
Either way current form of humans will disappear with time.


Although technology will have a say in all of this. The natural processes are just too slow to match what is going on currently.

[Virtual ghost]

[The Cat]

Oh, sinnerman, where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Where you gonna run to?
All on that day...