Can the human race become extinct?

[Tower of Bebel]

Oké, simple question: Can the human race extinct when the classless society has already been achieved?

My biology teacher said it was possible, he even claimed the human race will extinct (like all other living creatures do). But this is capitalism, and capitalism makes it too easy to extinct a species:

The reason why I limit this to the communist society is because in the capitalist society we have global climate change, ABC-weapons, epidemics, etc. to eradicate ourselves and others.

If the human race would extinct under communism it would be due to genetic problems f.e. (like the inability to adapt ourselves to a slow climate change).

Oh, before I forget, I also exclude the possibility of a meteor that could destroy the earth or damage the environment system, since this has always been a possibility.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Oh, before I forget, I also exclude the possibility of a meteor that could destroy the earth or damage the environment system, since this has always been a possibility.

You ask for things which make the human race extinct under a communist society, and exclude the most obvious one?


The reason why I limit this to the communist society is because in the capitalist society we have global climate change, ABC-weapons, epidemics, etc. to eradicate ourselves and others.

I take issue with this claim. Climate change, whether it occurs due to man-made effects or natural, is perfectly capable of making humans extinct.

I take issue with your exclusion of ABC weapons. Humanity will never be in total agreement in all matters, and war is just a continuation of policy by other means. I'm not such a Polyanna to believe that violence and war will be eradicated, and neither should you be.

As for epidemics - they have occurred before capitalism, and they will occur after capitalism.

Attributing everything bad about human society is childish and simplistic, as well was plain wrong.


If the human race would extinct under communism it would be due to genetic problems f.e. (like the inability to adapt ourselves to a slow climate change).

More likely that a highly infectious disease, that has a high rate of fatality and a long incubation period, will wipe us out - AIDS has all but one of these factors.

If AIDS ever mutated to become transmissible by skin/skin contact, or worse, airborne, then I would say the odds would not look good for humanity.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

Communism solves social evils, it isn't a super-duper magic wand that will send us all to our happy place. The sun's going to burn out one day, if disease, meteors, natural disasters or nuclear explosion doesn't get us first. lol.

I see what you mean, though. I expect that communism, in freeing science of the profit motive and letting it loose on it's real goal of progress, we ought to expect some gains in fighting climate change, disease and all the rest of it. It doesn't mean we'll last forever though. It's inevitable that we won't.

-Alex

[Jazzratt]

I'm sorry, global revolution makes us invincible now?

[Dr Mindbender]

it is arguable however, that communism will exacerbate scientific progress therefore the colonisation of space. So things like the sun burning out will be less likely to make humans extinct under communism.

[Kami]

Classless society or no, the human species will eventually become extinct. That's the way the universe works. Even if you avoid all the dangers that inhabit the universe, eventually some bugger'll be the "egg before the chicken", so to speak, and poof! We're just a step towards something larger.


On the shorter term, easing social problems and shifting away from a capital-driven society would ease tensions in the areas you mention; oil'll look a lot less attractive and it's hard to have large-scale wars without nations or borders, so perhaps you'd be justified in saying it's less likely, but impossible? far from.

[Dr Mindbender]

Not necessarilly. There are 2 scenarios to the end of the universe, and not both entail 'universal destruction'. The 'big crunch' or the point where the universe's gravity causes it to start contracting is not certain, and some astro-physicists believe that the universe's expansion could be infinite. Meaning in theory, the human race could survive permanently assuming he has the technology to keep moving.

[Tower of Bebel]

I'm sorry, global revolution makes us invincible now?

Now, but doesn't it inable us to defend the whole population of many diseases, unlike today where people die from the smallest diseases just because they're weakened.
Doesn't communism garantee peace? Or will we still have these monsterous amounts of ABC weapons aimed against each other ready for launch?
Doesn't communism garantee more research on behalve of the human bein instead of profit?

We can clone already, we can use cells to reproduce organs (with a bit of "luck").

It is obvious that extinction can be questioned.

[Jazzratt]

Now, but doesn't it inable us to defend the whole population of many diseases, unlike today where people die from the smallest diseases just because they're weakened.

Yeah, but disease isn't the only killer. We could die out thanks to, for example, unforeseen problems with our resource management model (this isn't very likely but it is still a compelling possibility and a good reason to scrutinise all plans for a post revolutionary economy).


Doesn't communism garantee peace?

Nations will be gone, but conflict and armed struggle may well go on.


Or will we still have these monsterous amounts of ABC weapons aimed against each other ready for launch?

We couldn't dismantle, decommission and otherwise remove every kind of weapon, maybe we won't have the ABCs (although I doubt that) but we'll have plenty of other weapons.


Doesn't communism garantee more research on behalve of the human bein instead of profit?

What if there is an outbreak of an unknown virus that decimates the population and we can't find a cure in time. Sometimes people fail, it's horrible to consider but it is true.


We can clone already, we can use cells to reproduce organs (with a bit of "luck").

Yes we can, and that is useful but it doesn't mean the end of all death.


It is obvious that extinction can be questioned.

Would you consider it extinction if we change so much from the current "look" that we would no longer be recognised as genetically human?
What about transcendence type ideas - "becoming the singularity", is that extinction?

[Tower of Bebel]

I don't think the social revolution will make us invincible. Yet, I was thinking of the consequences of free science and free health care on humanity. Also the end of imperialist wars and the end of wasting numerous lifes for profit made me think humans could live on this globe forever (except for disasters coming from space which could destroy our globe).

[RedStaredRevolution]

Actually I'm pretty sure this option had been ruled out by most physicist . People thought that as the universe kept expanding it would eventually start to slow down (because of gravitational pull of other bodies + the effects of dark matter) but quite the opposite is actually happening. As time goes on the things in space actually are moving apart faster and faster. So its more likely for out galaxy to become completely isolated from the rest of the universe before it reverses and all matter crushes in on itself. Sorry a little off topic there haha.

OP:
I personally think that humans will be around until there is another great extinction. It would be hard to wipe out ever last human and humans can adapt fairly easily, giving them a better chance of surviving and slowly being able to repopulate. But theres no doubt that humans will eventually become extinct, wether we've reached communism or not.

[MarxSchmarx]

Jazz, I think you are raising possibilities not probabilities in the post revolutionary society.

Public health and sustainable resource management will (should) be priority #1 when capitalism is destroyed.

Yes, it is possible that an unforseen disaster could strike, but I'm not convinced it will lead to extinction. Mass die-offs are reasonable, but extinction??

There are 6 billion + people on earth, that is a gigantic number. For all 6 billion to die out at once, there has to be one hell of a catastrophic event. As long as about 1000 of us are still around somehow, we should be able to start over again.

Even the meteor that hit us 65 million years ago didn't wipe out the archosaurs; birds and crocs are still with us.

Indeed, we already have the capacity to build subterranean villages. Give us a stockpile of food and water for 1 million years, which is doable with freezers, and we should be able to outlive anything like the dinosaurs experienced.


I don't think the social revolution will make us invincible. Yet, I was thinking of the consequences of free science and free health care on humanity.

I think post-revolution, it is extremely unlikely that our demise will come about through inadequate public health or science. It will come about through a cosmic disaster (e.g. sun swallowing earth), and hopefully by then we'd have figured out how to colonize other planets.

[Hit The North]

Nations will be gone, but conflict and armed struggle may well go on.

A global communist society, where equality reigns, where means of production are owned in common, where society becomes self-regulating and the political state has been abolished... Who would the conflict and armed struggle be between?


We couldn't dismantle, decommission and otherwise remove every kind of weapon, maybe we won't have the ABCs (although I doubt that) but we'll have plenty of other weapons.

To use against whom?

If communism doesn't establish human equality, peace and mutual growth, then it isn't worth fighting for.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm

Sub-atomic particles have a life-span. One day, everything will stop existing. You can't stop that with a planned economy.

-Alex