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Why Homo Sapiens will go Extinct (Original Post) magicguido May 2020 OP
Biologically speaking, humans are exceedingly stupid. Eyeball_Kid May 2020 #1
Not really, biologically speaking we're a monoculture Warpy May 2020 #14
I Belive It Will Ultimately Me. May 2020 #2
So you're on Thanos' side? tclambert May 2020 #11
Good grief. Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #3
Those people are eligible to vote bucolic_frolic May 2020 #4
Big brains aren't a successful, long term survival strategy... paleotn May 2020 #5
On the Bright Side erpowers May 2020 #6
That's surely the case. Let's hope so anyway. nt Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #7
Jay walking Normanart May 2020 #10
When I worked at a newspaper in Tupelo, one candidate ran an ad saying his opponent was a LastLiberal in PalmSprings May 2020 #8
What about saving the thespians? Doc_Technical May 2020 #9
Ok, then. kairos12 May 2020 #12
The dumbing down of America... SergeStorms May 2020 #13

Eyeball_Kid

(7,410 posts)
1. Biologically speaking, humans are exceedingly stupid.
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:56 AM
May 2020

Intelligence has long been defined as the ability to ADAPT to changing environmental conditions. With the knowledge that 99% of all species that ever lived on the planet are EXTINCT, because of their inability to adapt, humans are clearly on schedule to go extinct because we are not adapting to changing environmental conditions. In a microcosmic sense, we can see this in how humans are dealing with the environmental changes brought on by a pandemic. In a larger sense, we have an inability or unwillingness (it doesn't matter which) to address climate change/global warming. We are endangering the viability of OUR SPECIES because of this inability or unwillingness to adapt.

Warpy

(110,900 posts)
14. Not really, biologically speaking we're a monoculture
Sun May 24, 2020, 02:56 PM
May 2020

as bottlenecks of various types have reduced our genetic diversity far below that of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos. This does not bode well for our long term survival as a species.

Add to that we're pretty stupid on an individual level, the "dolt in the street" interviews cobbled together for a few minutes of sheer idiocy out of maybe six hours of recording. Those dolts might be writing advanced code for shits and giggles in their spare time, they just forgot high school biology ten minutes after they passed the exam that year. A complex social structure encourages specialization, something else that's counter to survival if the system blows apart or collapses under its own weight.

Most species have gone extinct due to massive climate changes and we're not the fist species to throw the planet out of kilter, that honor belongs to blue green algae that evolved photosynthesis, depleted the atmosphere of CO2 and ushered in a planetary ice age during which glaciers met at the equator. This is how the planet evolves. We're incidental to that, not the end product of it.

The fact that we're a social species is in our favor over the long run, even though it looks counterintuitive now, especially to introverts who tolerate long periods of isolation just fine, thanks. This particular virus is a nasty one, but it's not an efficient killer, not this time. Social butterflies who flock from crowd to crowd as crowds are their element will survive in sufficient numbers to keep us going a while longer.

Me.

(35,454 posts)
2. I Belive It Will Ultimately
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:58 AM
May 2020

be the only way to save this beautiful planet and the animals. The human population has doubled since 1950 and is still growing.

tclambert

(11,080 posts)
11. So you're on Thanos' side?
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:52 PM
May 2020

Personally, I think Thanos thought too small. Like you say, we doubled the population in the last several decades, so in another several decades, we can replace all the people he snapped out of existence.

(Did a data check on https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-population-by-year/ and it says we were at half our current population in 1972 or 73. We doubled the planet's human population in less than 50 years.)

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,846 posts)
3. Good grief.
Sat May 23, 2020, 12:08 PM
May 2020

It reminds me of a prank phone call by a radio DJ back in the 80's. He called a woman and claimed to be a counselor at her son's school, saying that her child was definitely a homo sapien. Her son even privately admitted that he was a homo sapien.

Back in those days, especially, the mother was very troubled by it. The DJ later revealed it was a joke and explained it. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

paleotn

(17,778 posts)
5. Big brains aren't a successful, long term survival strategy...
Sat May 23, 2020, 02:31 PM
May 2020

Too many spandrels that turn out to be harmful. And some formally useful traits, like religion, now threaten to extinguish the entire species.

erpowers

(9,350 posts)
6. On the Bright Side
Sat May 23, 2020, 03:20 PM
May 2020

On the bright side we can ask the question, how many people did they have to go through to get those few people to give those answers? We can hope/guess that they had to go through a large number of people who knew the definition of homo sapien before getting enough footage to put this piece together.

Normanart

(279 posts)
10. Jay walking
Sat May 23, 2020, 11:16 PM
May 2020

Years ago, Jay Leno had a segment like this. Simple questions about common things. The people that made it into the segment were extremely ignorant and uninformed. I have a friend who worked on the show, and I asked this very question, hoping there were many participants. The answer was...not many! We are doomed!

8. When I worked at a newspaper in Tupelo, one candidate ran an ad saying his opponent was a
Sat May 23, 2020, 05:14 PM
May 2020

"known heterosexual." I tried to get them to pull it for being disingenuous, but to no avail. I wonder how many votes that cost?

p.s., I don't live in Mississippi anymore.

SergeStorms

(18,882 posts)
13. The dumbing down of America...
Sun May 24, 2020, 12:44 AM
May 2020

is quickening it's pace. Of course there are some homo sapiens who I wish were extinct this very minute. They always have an (R) after their names. Republicans sure do like them dumb and gullible.

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