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Can humans make it through the five billion years the sun has to shine? In spite of the evolutionary advantages that humans as a species have, new dangers keep emerging that mean we may not even live through the next 50,000 years. While some of these dangers are the result of our own behaviours and interests, others are more natural and almost impossible to evade.
Nuclear War, 7/10
Geopolitical tensions have punctuated our existence on this planet from as far as we go back. While we do our best to get along, conflicts are bound to arise from time to time. This would not have existential implications if modern-day weapons were not as deadly as they are today. The nuclear arsenal held by major world powers can wipe out close to 90% of the human population in a relatively short time. The collapse of the food production systems that would follow will effectively wipe out all survivors. Every time you hear superpowers talk of war, just know that can have actual implications on the future of our species on this planet.
Pandemics, 6/10
Pandemics rank second on the list of possible hazards that could end our species. About every 100 years or so, a pandemic breaks out that claims millions of lives. These infections mainly come from wild animals (zoonotic transmissions), but bioengineering is getting so advanced that humans may in the future create such deadly diseases that have the potential of wiping out everyone on the planet. Unfortunately, the timing and nature of possible pandemics cannot be accurately predicted. We just have to live with the knowledge that one could take place in the future that can end life on the planet.
Asteroid Impact, 5/10
An asteroid has already forced our planet to go through tremendous change once before. The mighty dinosaurs were felled by an asteroid the size of Mount Everest. There are many more asteroids of the same size out there, and once every 200 million years or so, one is bound to cross orbits with Earth and possibly impact the planet. Depending on the size of the asteroid, this could potentially mean the end of life on earth. Everything might die, or at least large mammals with complicated food chains will not be able to survive. While advanced weapons can be used to redirect small asteroids, larger ones may be impossible to redirect, meaning they will no doubt impact the planet.
Supervolcanoes, 5/10
A supervolcanic eruption can be just as bad, if not worse, than an asteroid impact. The atmosphere will be filled with huge amounts of ash and dust, blocking out the sun and collapsing food chains. Yellowstone, although dormant, is, for example, expected to become active and erupt at some point in the future. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do to hold off such an eruption. It happens when it happens and may effectively end life as we know it.
Biotechnology, 4/10
Biotechnology and genetic engineering are so advanced that humans can now create new species and make major improvements to existing ones. While this is not in itself a problem, it means that new pathogens can be genetically engineered that can wipe out all humans in existence. There is no guarantee that a villain will not in the future intentionally create some advanced virus and deploy it in society. The rapid advancement in technology may, as a result, end up being our kryptonite.
Aliens, 3/10
Of the 200 billion stars in our galaxy, the sun is most likely not the only star with a planet that can support life. There has to be life out there, and some of it may be just as complex and intelligent as ours, if not more. When some of these advanced life forms come into contact with us, there is no guarantee that we will all get along. We can’t even get along with each other, let alone aliens who are from a different planet. A conflict with extraterrestrials may therefore wipe us out entirely.
Sentient Robots, 2/10
While AI models that are designed to mimic human values are unlikely to be harmful, there is no guarantee that all models are going to be trained by well-intentioned people who cannot deliberately tweak them to be dangerous. Smart models that have tons of training data can end up wiping out everyone, either accidentally or intentionally. A villain may design them specifically to destroy entire communities, or they may be accidentally programmed to cause harm in an irreversible way.
Conclusion
Our civilization generally faces many dangers, some of which are caused by we ourselves. While we remain oblivious of these dangers and choose to focus on the present, they will remain lurking in the background, and we may realize when it's already too late that something should have been done. Hopefully we can do our best in the future to eliminate threats that stem from our interests and pray that God will shield us from dangers that are out of our hands.
