Could Human Actions Lead to Our Own Extinction?

[coberst]

Extinguishing the Human Species

Evidently human females are born with all of their eggs already in their body. I have often speculated that some form of radiation might some day make every human female egg sterile.

“HOW MANY EGGS DOES A WOMAN ACTUALLY HAVE?
A human female typically has about 400,000 follicles/potential eggs, all formed before birth. Only several hundred (about 480) of these “eggs” will actually ever be released during her reproductive years. Normally, in humans, after the onset of puberty, due to the stimulation of follicular-stimulating-hormone (FSH) one “egg” per cycle matures and is released from its ovary. One month the left ovary will release a potential egg and the next month the right ovary will release a potential egg.”
http://www.drstandley.com/bodysystems_femalerepro.shtml

If I had the power to sterilize all human female eggs and thus in 100 years clear the planet of humans I would give it careful consideration.

I suspect that within the next 200 years we humans will most likely bring an end to our species and possibly the end to all life on this planet.

I think that the only way to prevent this is for our species to become much more intellectually sophisticated than it is now; I see little evidence that this will occur. The problems we face today are enormous and while we have the brain power to prevent this we may well not have the necessary character traits to do so. I suspect our species is a dead end species.

Do you think that the human species might extinguish it self within a few centuries?

 

[vanesch]

If I had the power to sterilize all human female eggs and thus in 100 years clear the planet of humans I would give it careful consideration.

I suspect that within the next 200 years we humans will most likely bring an end to our species and possibly the end to all life on this planet.

Well, given these two statements, clearly the second statement is a consequence of people giving the first statement some consideration, so that's where we should start eliminating

 

[Integral]

I think life is much hardier then you give it credit for. While our civilization may be very fragile life itself, even just human life will be much harder to stamp out then you think. To sterilize ALL human women with one event seems more magical then physical.

Beyond that if you think cockroaches are going to give up easily...

We are not near smart enough nor powerful enough to eliminate all life from this planet.

 

[coberst]

I think life is much hardier then you give it credit for. While our civilization may be very fragile life itself, even just human life will be much harder to stamp out then you think. To sterilize ALL human women with one event seems more magical then physical.

Beyond that if you think cockroaches are going to give up easily...

We are not near smart enough nor powerful enough to eliminate all life from this planet.

We are powerful enough and foolish enough to do so. Hopefully we will not take all life with us when we go.

 

[DaveC426913]

Rent Children of Men. Excellent film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/

 

[baywax]

human life will be much harder to stamp out then you think.

Look at how difficult it was in Iraq.