MadSci Network: Evolution
Query:

Re: Will there be a different civilisation after humans are extinct?

Date: Thu Aug 14 17:30:25 2003
Posted By: Marie-Helene Boyer, History of Science, Mathematics and Technology, Anthropology
Area of science: Evolution
ID: 1060840903.Ev
Message:

Hi!

That's a mighty good question you are asking there, kid... and one I wish 
I had an absolute answer to!

Some people claim humans will never go extinct in the same way dynosaurs 
did (Try this article at  http://freedom.orlingrabbe.com/lfetimes/human_extinction.htm)  

Others claim we will, since the circle of life and extinction seems to be 
what we're all destined for.  

Would others take our place?  Possibly, over millions and millions of 
years... depending on what wiped us all out in the first place.  
Ecological disasters, or nuclear disasters, or... even... being struck by 
something awfully large and knocking us out of orbit could prevent 
anything else from ever living on this little green planet of ours.  

Truth is, we don't really know.  

Maybe humans will branch off into new "creatures" over many million years 
and the "old human race" will be replaced by a new one, one which started 
with humans but certainly isn't human anymore.  That's one way to look at 
it.  Maybe humans will be wiped out, and then over millions and millions 
of years, new life will evolve and become as self-aware as we are.  Truth 
is, as smart as we are, we don't really quite know what would happen or 
what *will* happen... Many scientists and philosophers (who seem to like 
to think about this a lot) wrote books on the possibility of human 
extinction and what would happen next.  They're a little bit hard to chew 
and certainly difficult to understand... 

If the subject interests you a lot, go to your local library.  Find out 
about other species that have become extinct - some animals, even 
Neaderthals (The Last Neanderthal: The Rise, Success, and Mysterious 
Extinction of Our Closest Human Relatives by Ian Tattersall may be a good 
place to start for that, but it's a tough read)...  Make up a table:  
what happened to them?  Why are they now extinct?  Did any of 
them "evolve" into different species altogether?  What came after them?  
Did they, in some way, survive (think of, say, the relationship between 
birds and dynosaurs)?  Then think about the silly humans that we are:  
could such a thing happen to us?  Will we cause our own extinction in the 
end?

Science (and philosophy!) is all about asking questions.  For every 
question we answer, we come up with more... but it's always a good idea 
to keep on asking, keep on finding out, searching, and trying to put 
pieces of the Great Big Puzzle together!

Good luck!

Marie-Helene


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