Behavioral Ecology Blog

I am constantly amazed by the literal bullsh*t that comes from the church, from politicians, and other special interest groups (big oil included here). Every once and a while- people who seems to be “real” scientists really mess one up. This time, its Dr Lee Silver, a Princeton molecular biologist.

Dr Silver, while addressing a conference on Bioethics, listed out for us 4 possible scenarios for human kind. Here is the list, in no particular order.

1. we might remain in more or less our present form for several billion years, awaiting impending doom at the hands of the dying sun. Wow, waiting for the sun.. isn’t this a Doors song?
2. becoming archaeological fodder for the ages without having changed and to little ado (i.e. extinction). OK, finally got one right…
3. We might be able to adapt as a single, interbreeding population. Future generations would be progressively modified, perhaps becoming taller, more fit and more intelligent, but remain Homo sapiens. What does taller have to do with anything.. what about, metabolism without water, or, learning to breath CO2?
   
4. Our gene pool might give rise to a more worthy creature in the Darwinian sense, which would systematically replace us as ruler of Earth. Are we the rulers of the earth currently? I thought that was bacteria or something…

Hmmm, well at least he didn’t say that 5th, god was going to come down and “poof” us another planet once this one is all wrecked. Seriously, this man should be stripped of his credentials as evolutionary biologist. Now I’m certainly aware of the value of consideration of alternative hypotheses, but numbers 1, 3, 4 probably could have been cut before the talk. I mean, these are non-biologists, mostly MD’s. They hear this coming form a “respected” biologist, and all the sudden conservation, global change, environmentalism all go out the window because after all, we can adapt, evolve via anagenesis, or just ride it out for “billions of years”…

BTW- anagenesis is not considered to be a important pattern at the macro scale anymore. Most real evolutionary biologists now understand that evolutions doesn’t really work that way..

So anyway, let me make a comment about what WILL happen to humans.. We will become extinct, just like EVERY other species is destined to do, given enough time. Think of it like a random walk type process, with one absorbing state at n=0.. Extinction of a species is just as sure as death. How long until human extinction- well that’s a difficult question… What we do know it that out treatment of the Earth is likely going to speed it up, quite rapidly if we keep going at the current pace….If climate change doesn’t directly kill us, then infectious disease will..

In all, if extinction scares you, then you better hold on- cause it’s gonna get real scary…