• fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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    1 month ago

    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.

    • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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      1 month ago

      Claiming that human extinction is possible

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

    • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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        1 month ago

        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.

        • healthetank@lemmy.ca
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          1 month ago

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

        • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          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.

          • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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            1 month ago

            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.

            • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              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.

              • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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                1 month ago

                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.

                • LengAwaits@lemmy.world
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                  1 month 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.