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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think human extinction is not a bad thing

50 replies

topsagain · 07/09/2019 17:32

Apart for your nearest and dearest, is it such a bad thing. What have humans done for this panet? If we all died the planet would survive, if insects died the panet would't. Bugs are more valuable than us!

OP posts:
RedHelenB · 07/09/2019 17:33

Good luck to the bugs!

KennDodd · 07/09/2019 17:37

It's a bad thing for humans.

titchy · 07/09/2019 17:37

Of course the planet would survive if all the insects died. It's only a ball of rock and has existed with no life far longer than with life. FFS. Hmm

Osirus · 07/09/2019 17:45

We’ll die out eventually - either before or at the time the planet is engulfed by the sun.

Silvercatowner · 07/09/2019 17:47

YANBU, OP. We are vile as a species.

leckford · 07/09/2019 17:49

Agree, the best thing for the planet and other species (if there are any left) is if and when humans become extinct

HeresMe · 07/09/2019 17:50

If we died and even insects did so etching else would come along, with how long the planet has existed we are a tiny part of what's happened.

CantspellWontspell · 07/09/2019 17:52

Extinction has happened to lots of species, the only difference for humans is that we are aware of the process and therefore worry about it. It's fine though, humans haven't always existed and we won't continue to exist indefinitely be that by our own hand or not. Life is a greater force than us and what happens post human infestation on planet earth is, mercifully, not our business.

sheshootssheimplores · 07/09/2019 17:52

There is a finite time for us as a species. There is an end point for all life on our planet as the sun will eventually die and the key components that are necessary for life will no longer be here.

My son is obsessed with planets and the solar system and the upshot of that is I now know a fair amount about it. The recent series by Brian Cox was fascinating. It has the ability to lift you away from the minutiae of daily life and make you realise just how insignificant we are. We are one person on one planet in a solar system in a universe full of billions of solar systems. Honestly it doesn’t matter if we die out or the planet no longer supports life. It’s insignificant.

Pinkblueberry · 07/09/2019 17:54

Overall we’ve not been great - but we are very unique, there’s no animal like us on earth or in the known universe so I think if we died out it would be a bit sad...

tequilasunrises · 07/09/2019 17:58

YANBU Grin

topsagain · 07/09/2019 18:01

CantspellWontspell true, but as a human, and that we are the ones to be aware unlike other species, don't you wonder why

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OriginofSpecies · 07/09/2019 18:01

Of course the planet would survive if all the insects died. It's only a ball of rock and has existed with no life far longer than with life.

I think the OP meant life on Earth, not just the existence of the planet as a ball of rock. Insects are crucial to the rest of the life on our planet; humans are not.

topsagain · 07/09/2019 18:03

Pinkblueberry
I think we are unique because our biology does not compliment our thinking.
We understand our biological drives, processes, but out minds are not intune with them.

OP posts:
topsagain · 07/09/2019 18:05

OriginofSpecies
This, exactly

OP posts:
nunnun · 07/09/2019 18:05

Every time I see how badly humans treat their fellow creatures I wish that we would become extinct overnight.

womanaf · 07/09/2019 18:08

I think if we died out it would be a bit sad...
But there’s literally nothing but humans who care. The pandas don’t care that they’re almost extinct. The rhinos don’t care. The dodo doesn’t care that it’s gone. The rhinos don’t care that the dodos are gone.

The only thing lamenting the state we’re making of the planet is us. Once we’re gone, whichever of the planet’s inhabitants we leave behind can carry on existing and not caring that they exist.

CassianAndor · 07/09/2019 18:09

Totally agree, save the bees and sod the humans. We are a disgusting species, destructive and selfish.

LeysaV · 07/09/2019 18:30

Well isn't this a jolly thread

I do agree with you though OP . Everyday a new atrocity involving human beings doing something to each other, or an animal or a child etc.

CountFosco · 07/09/2019 18:35

It's only a ball of rock and has existed with no life far longer than with life.

That's not true, fossil bacteria have been found as far back as the planet has been cool enough to support life. Which suggest bacteria may exist other places with appropriate conditions. Big question is how common multicellular life is, is this planet the only place in the universe with life as we know it or is it everywhere? And particularly how many planets have intelligent life? We are pretty amazing really, we are intelligent, have complex social structures, are good at teaching and use tools. It would be a shame if we were to die out altogether, although I know we need a smaller population.

topsagain · 08/09/2019 10:33

We are pretty amazing really, we are intelligent, have complex social structures, are good at teaching and use tools. It would be a shame if we were to die out altogether, although I know we need a smaller population.
And a population that wasn't trying to kill each other over religion preferably.

OP posts:
lazylinguist · 08/09/2019 10:37

We are a disgusting species, destructive and selfish.

All species are. Like us, they are all programmed to do whatever it takes to pass on their genes. We are more capable of overriding that than any other species, and of doing things that are altruistic. Admittedly we are still very bad at doing so, but that's because we are still animals too.

madcatladyforever · 08/09/2019 10:40

We're about due for a major extinction and not before time.

vavavoomdeboom · 08/09/2019 11:11

Been saying this for years!

GhostsToMonsoon · 08/09/2019 11:13

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement would agree...