To be fine with the human race becoming extinct

[Designless]

I mean ideally not while I'm around to see it but I assume it will happen eventually and I don't care at all.

I ask this became some people do seem to care and say things Iike "if we don't have more children our species will come to an end!"

...ok and?

Yeah I’m going to say that’s unreasonable.

From an evolutionary perspective our one and only goal is to ensure the survival of our species. That's what all our biological drives aim towards.

Re children I'd be more worried about who is going to pay for our pensions and care if we don't have them than survival of the human race.

Yes I agree. As the dominant species on the planet we have caused significant damage and harm.

Objectively, the sooner we become extinct, the sooner the planet will start to recover, and less harmful species will flourish.

I feel the same way.

I think the rest of the planet would be better off without us, or certainly without so many of us. I’m not actively hoping for the end of the human race, but I can see the plus sides from a wider perspective.

Actually I think the best outcome would be a vastly reduced human population, say about 2-3 billion. Again, it’s not like I’m hoping for a catastrophe to bring this about, of course not. I just think objectively that would be a good balance for the world if we could get there fairly painlessly.

909% of all species that have lived on earth are now extent
we will go the same way
just hope its after my grandkids have passed on

Yeah I agree. We have more ability to strategise out of it but also more ability to bring it on ourselves.

Are there any other species that can write a list of endangered species or are capable of caring?

I love my cat but she would tear tiny animals to shreds if given the chance.

Humans can cause great harm but we’re also the only species that realises or cares. Sentience and capabilities like this are rare in the universe. It’s not like if we died out we would be replaced by benevolent super intelligent dolphins.

Well... I'm not a biologically driven creature to that extent. I don't mind if there are no more humans. (I do not want future humans I will never meet to suffer but collectively I don't think we are that important)

YANBU We will go extinct at some point. What does it matter whether it’s in a 100 years or 10,000 years?

Long term it's inevitable, so I think in that sense yanbu.

However do you mean once you're dead you're quite happy for some sort of apocalypse to kill off everyone else cos meh? Who cares about the long drawn out process that extinction would bring and the human misery it would cause? Then yabu.

Extinction in and of itself as a concept is one thing but it's the actual route to it that people don't wish on other people.

I assume you don't have kids. If everyone starting today made the same choice, what do you think society will look like in 30 years? The youngest people in the workforce will be 30. So unemployment for anyone who works in any sort of paediatric / child job.

I 50 years when those kids are.... 50! they will be the ones in jobs trying to support our generation in our dotage. We won't need houses, schools, colleges etc. altho the depleted job market may well balance out the depleted population.
20 years later, you've got a population in their elder years dying alone in their homes, likely lingering deaths as everyone else is at least as old as them.

Or the apocalypse route. Natural disaster / something worse than Covid wipes out millions. People deal with incredible losses and society crumbles as the infrastructure collapses. Those left can either try to build a rudimentary society or it all goes a bit 28 days Later.

Are those the scenarios you're cool with cos they won't directly affect you?

Hypothetically yes, I’d agree. And obviously it is inevitable at some point sooner or later anyway.

I wouldn’t want to be one of the last humans though, so seems slightly hypocritical to say I’m “ok” with it as long as it’s not me or my children who are the last ones.

The only way to kill off humans without suffering would be a 100% population decimation. So that something huge like a nuke or a big ass meteor which will also wipe out most species in general, or aliens with a magic button

Yes, humans will become extinct. Technically we could blow ourselves to bits right now, but selfishly I'd like to go on for a bit longer yet.

But the whole planet will be destroyed in millions of years when the sun expands and then burns out. Between then and now, it's likely that humans will die out and several other life forms will come and go, just as has happened with dinosaur species in the past.

To my mind, humans have done more damage to the planet (and, given space junk litter) to the immediate space around our planet than any other species yet. I'm perfectly happy with humankind becoming extinct, what a bloody mess we've made of everything.

Even those are not without suffering, because we’d know they’re coming. If tomorrow NASA said “sorry guys, big meteor will hit in a couple of years and even Ben Affleck and a big bomb can’t stop it so we’re all going to die” that would not be the start of a great time.

It's inevitable so it's fine to be ok with it.

But not if that means that you're taking a reckless with other people/selfish approach to your life.

It's inevitable, but not for some considerable time hopefully and all the people yet to come should inherit the best earth we can leave them.

How do any of you manage to get up in the morning, if you feel you have so little stake in … any of this?

Yeah this viewpoint is an internet-spread social contagion that most people grow out of. If you're 30+ and still think like this there's something wrong with you

By the time it happens we will probably have colonised other planets - Mars most likely, so as a species we may continue as Martians

Presuming it happened after me and my children/potential grandchildren were gone, the issue for me wouldn't so much 'oh no, there aren't anymore humans around' (though this is a bit sad to consider). It's the other things that would accompany human extinction that really bother me.

I can't imagine a scenario where we just slowly and peacefully die out, so there's likely to be a lot of human suffering involved which I do care about. And it's unlikely that we'd carefully close down all our infrastructure and I imagine that would cause issues for animals? (I'm pretty sure abandoned nuclear power sites would be dangerous, I'm sure other human odds and ends left to collapse would be problematic too...though I'm not knowledgeable on all the ins and outs).

Then there's the dogs and other domesticated species. Surely a lot would starve and die, but would the ones that survived be able to build happy lives after so many years of domestication?

Agree! A good scenario would be a gradual fall in population to... zero. Preferable to a zombie virus or Asteroid, too. I know this will cause issues but we just have to adapt.

Yes I'm ok with it. In fact I think the world would be a better place without humans.

You tube has a few interest ing documentaries on this.

I agree. Bears don't care if there are only 1000 bears left on the planet. They don't know. The planet will survive us in one form or another, even if it's covered in plastic. Dinosaurs were around for far longer than we have been so far, in lots of different forms. The time from T Rex to us is shorter than from the diplodocus to T Rex. To think we are so important that we can cause harm to a planet that has been around for billions of years is a bit arrogant. The only reason to care about the future of the planet is to ensure humans, our food and the things we love ( like the animals) can survive as long and as safely as possible, because no other species cares. If we are gone, the earth may well be a dead planet, a fireball or covered in ice for a millennia or so. That's more likely than some bunnies evolving into a real life zootropolis. We are unique in the known universe. The chances of any other species evolving in the same way on the same planet is remote. There are too many variables and it takes too long.

You wouldn't have to adapt though. You are wishing a future on people that will be terrible for them that you won't ever have to experience ( barring a nuclear WWIII.)

People are having plenty of children worldwide. We don’t need any more children at present.
What we need is a healthy population, proper sanitation, a more holistic approach to food supply (from growing food to final delivery point).
Evolution doesn’t care who’s paying for the UK pensions. That’s a very narrow minded outlook. You need to look at the entire world, not just the UK.

I must confess I wouldn’t be upset if the human race dissapears all together. I’m guessing a huge unexpected natural catastrophe would possibly cause it.