Skip to content
Guest Thinkers

Human Extinction Not So Bad

If we continue on our current path of unbridled consumerism and environmental destruction, the most likely future scenario is one in which the quality of human lives is relatively low.

I think we can safely make two predictions: our species will have a markedly different array of traits in a few hundred years and we will be living in a vastly different environment. This has important implications for our evolution. With a different array of traits and a different fitness landscape, we can’t predict which traits will be most advantageous. Of all of the species that have existed on the planet, only one has ever evolved the sort of intelligence and morality that distinguishes humans. It’s exceedingly rare that high intelligence arises through natural selection. It’s not safe to assume that either intelligence or morality will continue to be selected if our conditions change dramatically.


Related

Up Next