this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If capitalism is allowed to continue it will render humanity extinct. If we collapse now, and are reduced to a fraction of our population this century, humanity may live.

I don't enjoy that being the best option we have at this point. It brings me no joy. But what brings me less joy is knowing that we won't even make a choice. We will continue blindly waddling along and as capitalism consumes the world, we will wonder who will save us. And no one will.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Is anyone actually claiming that we're on a path to extinction? That's hyperbole.

This type of thinking is not constructive in any way.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event the earth has experienced. As ecosystems collapse, organisms at the top of the food web are in peril. Yes, humans are in danger of extinction.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What a silly thing to say.

You realise extinction requires no living specimens to exist right?

Some number of humans will prevail even if the only thing left to eat is slime mold.

Climate change is a big deal. The future is very bleak. People with the power to mitigate the damage are doing the opposite.

Claiming that human extinction is possible or likely about as helpful as suggesting that ancient aliens have the solution.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Claiming that human extinction is possible

What a silly thing to say, indeed. Of course it's possible.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-47540-7

Don't miss this bit:

The bounds are subject to important limitations. Most importantly, they only apply to extinction risks that have either remained constant or declined over human history. Our 200 kyr track record of survival cannot rule out much higher extinction probabilities from modern sources such as nuclear weapons or anthropogenic climate change.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Oh sweetheart.

Did you google "human extinction science" and link the first result without reading it?

The part you quoted just says modern extinction risks are out of scope for this study.

It does not say that extinction is probable or likely.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Our 200 kyr track record of survival **cannot rule out much higher extinction probabilities **

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Look, I know it's not something anyone wants to confront, but I'm not sending it out of malice, or to attack you. There's no need to be condescending.

I simply want to be realistic about the world we live in. From my point of view it is better to be concerned about the possibility of human extinction and act as though it is a potential outcome, rather than to pretend that our species has wholly conquered the laws of nature and is indestructible.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's impossible not to sound condescending when talking to someone who's just making stuff up and claiming that it's a plausible assertion.

You're not being realistic, you're being dramatic.

Human extinction is not a realistic nor likely outcome to the problems humanity presently faces.

Even in the worst projections for climate change, some areas of the globe will still be able to support life.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Alright. I'm sorry to have annoyed you. I was just hoping for a discussion.

We have a difference of opinion and that's alright. My concerns surrounding the Holocene extinction event triggering total ecosystem collapse need not be yours.

I'm a human behind a screen, just like you. It's free to be kind to people, even when you disagree with them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You haven't annoyed me. I'm sorry if my manner offends you.

No one in this thread has been able to demonstrate that human extinction is likely.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

That's totally fair, and to clarify my own stance: I don't think it's likely, or even possible that the human population will drop to 0 in my lifetime, let alone in the next few hundred years.

I'm primarily concerned about a compounding of factors that lead toward an increasingly higher probability of that outcome. I'm thus unwilling to take a "we don't have to worry about human extinction because it's statistically unlikely" stance. I'm also not attempting to assert that that's your stance, either. I don't know enough about what you believe to make any assertions about that at this point.

I really appreciate your reply, and I'm not trying to be snarky, here. I came to Lemmy, initially, looking for higher levels of discourse than are available on Reddit, and I get a little high-and-mighty about that. So I also apologize if I'm coming off as an ass.