Homo sapiens, the human species, may be at risk of extinction due to rapid advances in science and technology. Advances in genetic engineering and cyborg engineering have opened up the possibility of creating superhuman beings, which could result in natural selection pushing us out of existence.
Few people are unaware that the dinosaurs, the rulers of the earth, are extinct, that the Neanderthals, the hardy hominids, are extinct, and that countless species of plants and animals are currently going extinct. So, can we say that Homo sapiens, the living species, is safe from extinction? Probably not. Many people believe that if Homo sapiens, or us, were to go extinct, it would be due to an unavoidable natural disaster (such as an ice age, meteorite impact, etc.) or a nuclear war between nations, as has happened before. However, in this article, I’m going to argue that the end of the world will be caused by the natural selection of more advanced beings, perhaps more cyborgs than humans, due to the development of science and technology.
Homo sapiens is enjoying a prosperity unprecedented in human history. We have benefited from the development of intellectual capabilities and consciousness that are not found in other living things, including our predecessors. Equipped with biotechnological intelligent design capabilities, humans began to become increasingly scientific and, for the first time, to “create” other beings by intelligent design rather than natural selection. For example, Brazilian bioartist Eduardo Katz genetically engineered the green fluorescent rabbit Alba, which is believed to be just a prelude to the impact genetic engineering will have on the future of humanity. Similarly, there has been a recent surge in research into 3D printing artificial organs and biological tissue. This shows the promise of further expanding humanity’s ability to design and manipulate life beyond its natural limits.
Currently, genetic engineering has made tremendous progress, but it hasn’t been widely used in society because society’s perception of it hasn’t kept pace. For example, genetic modification or restoration has only been applied to animals and plants, and the question of applying it to humans has not been commercialized due to ethical, political, and ideological objections. However, if the body can be manipulated to gain massive amounts of labor or a longer lifespan, the opposing theories are unlikely to gain much traction in a capitalist society. In fact, attempts to genetically engineer humans are currently underway, most notably the attempt to restore the extinct Neanderthals. Neanderthals are said to have had nearly twice the physical capabilities of Homo sapiens, and if successful, many companies would welcome them as workers, ethical and social issues aside. If the scope of manipulation is expanded in this way, and the target becomes Homo sapiens, and the intellectual and cognitive abilities of Homo sapiens are manipulated, it is very difficult to deny the possibility that the existing species of Homo sapiens will become extinct and a more advanced, intelligently designed species will be born.
These technological advances are not just about physical enhancements. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and brain-machine interface (BMI) technology have the potential to dramatically improve our intellectual capabilities. For example, researchers are working on technologies that could directly connect the human brain to a computer, allowing us to control machines with just our thoughts, or download knowledge instantly over the internet. Once these technologies are commercialized, human intellectual capabilities could far exceed current limits, heralding the emergence of a new kind of human, the posthuman.
In addition to the genetic apocalypse described above, a cyborg apocalypse is also possible. A cyborgian apocalypse means that homo sapiens will be cyborgized and lose their identity as homo sapiens. For example, the Terminator in the movie “The Terminator” asserts that he is different from the rest of humanity by saying, “I am not a machine, I am not human, I am more than that. There are a number of cyborg research efforts underway, the most revolutionary of which could spell the end of Homo sapiens: the direct connection between a computer and a brain, or multiple brains, to create a collective mind. If a computer were to have an independent self, an amalgamation of multiple selves, or to be able to think independently, it would no longer be the collective mind of the living human race, but an intellectual entity of a higher order, and just as Homo sapiens pushed out the Neanderthals due to their greater intellectual design capabilities, so too would Homo sapiens become extinct.
In addition, if the non-organic entities represented by computer viruses evade vaccines and continue to evolve and mutate independently, we should consider them capable of evolution, whether their capabilities are designed by humans or acquired independently, and cyberspace will be filled with them, forming new populations beyond the control of sapiens. These non-organic entities will evolve and adapt in ways that are different from traditional biological life, which will facilitate the formation of new ecosystems and social structures.
In all three cases, the genetic, cyborg, and non-organic apocalypses have in common that they will be brought about by the emergence of superhuman beings that transcend the current human race. In a way, this apocalypse is part of the history of the last four billion years of waxing and waning, and will be beyond our power to stop. In conclusion, we can see that Homo sapiens will not be able to inhibit the emergence of other beings from their own development and will eventually become extinct. This extinction will be more than just biological; it will mean that human identity itself will change and new forms of existence will dominate.
In the end, we will not be able to prevent the emergence of superhuman beings, which will mean the end of humanity’s dominant position on the planet. Homo sapiens will use its intelligent design capabilities to create new forms of existence, which will lead to its own extinction. This process will mean a new form of evolution and development that we have never experienced before, which will open a new chapter in human history.
