Oct 30, 2025 06:25 PM
https://bigthink.com/mini-philosophy/if-...-re-evolve
EXCERPTS: In this week’s Mini Philosophy interview, I spoke with philosopher Toby Ord about human extinction. We discussed whether humans (or a human-like species) could reemerge if we were to go extinct. To answer that question, we have to look at Madagascan rails and “iterative evolution.”
[...] When you spend time reflecting on human extinction, it does allow us to appreciate just how unique and lucky we are to be here now. My writing this article and you reading it are the lucky result of winning a million lotteries. As the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould famously argued, if you “replayed the tape of life,” the outcome would be entirely different. No humans. No Mozart. Maybe just more mollusks... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: In this week’s Mini Philosophy interview, I spoke with philosopher Toby Ord about human extinction. We discussed whether humans (or a human-like species) could reemerge if we were to go extinct. To answer that question, we have to look at Madagascan rails and “iterative evolution.”
[...] When you spend time reflecting on human extinction, it does allow us to appreciate just how unique and lucky we are to be here now. My writing this article and you reading it are the lucky result of winning a million lotteries. As the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould famously argued, if you “replayed the tape of life,” the outcome would be entirely different. No humans. No Mozart. Maybe just more mollusks... (MORE - details)