Nov 21, 2023, 10:51 PM IST

Researchers Outline 14 Ways Humans Could Drive Themselves to Extinction 

Nishtha Badgamia

A study led by researchers from the University of Stockholm outlines 14 different “evolutionary traps” that could lead to humanity’s end. 

It says there are three main evolutionary traps labelled as ‘global’ (5), ‘technology’ (5) and ‘structural’ (4). These traps are further divided into specific 14 issues, out of which 12 are said to be in an advanced state. 

Global

Simplification (lack of systems to respond to complex issues), growth-for-growth (pursuit of growth at the cost of well-being), ecological overshoot (using more resources than Earth can provide), division (global conflict), and contagion (spread of diseases due to connectivity: COVID-19). 

Technology 

Infrastructure lock-in (as with fossil fuels), chemical pollution, existential technology (tech with capacity to exterminate species, for example, nuclear weapons), technological autonomy (tech not aligning with human goals, like AI), disinformation and misinformation.

Structural 

Short-termism (focus on short-term economic growth, risking long-term sustainability), overconsumption, biosphere disconnect (reduced exposure to nature leading to unawareness of environmental deterioration), local social capital loss (less face-to-face interactions, risk loss of ‘capacity for collective action’)

The study says that out of the 14 issues, we are moving in the wrong direction to mitigate 10 ‘evolutionary traps’ and since they tend to reinforce each other, one dead end makes it more likely to get stuck in others as well. 

“We are able to innovate and adapt to many circumstances and can cooperate on surprisingly large scales. But these capabilities turn out to have unintentional consequences. You could say that the human species has been too successful and, in some ways, too smart for its own future good,” said anthropologist and lead author, Peter Søgaard Jørgensen. 

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