Humanity Has a 19% Chance of Extinction Prior to Year 2100

Hal's watching you!
Image Source: flickr.com

According to the Global Catastrophic Risks Survey, Technical Report, 2008, Future of Humanity Institute, the human race only has a 19% chance of surviving this century.


I thought the percentage was a little over-optimistic.

Well I mean, it's 2012 now, and we have 88 years to go. Assuming we all don't blow up or something by the end of this year, there's going to be quite a lot of time for the human race to screw each other up.

Really, think about how close history was to experiencing a nuclear war in the last century. Pretty close, no? Well who's to say that the chances are just going to skyrocket now considering the number of nations who have access to nuclear weapons?

Image Source: flickr.com

The report states that within the next century, nuclear weapons only has a 1% chance of wiping out the human race. Oh, and nanotech weapons has a 5% chance.

Wait, what?

After reading the report several times, I couldn't really keep my face straight from seeing all the possibilities of possible doomsday scenarios.

Global warming and nuclear advancements are on the edge of killing us all, where as the report talks about self-conscious robots and little smaller ones destroying us all. It made me think if science fiction has affected this report in any way.

But the possibilities are still out there, and it may be possible. I just think that more simpler things is gonna mess us all up like the polar ice caps melting or when one of the world's major superpowers gets a little cocky.

Of course, this was all an informal report, and there is simply too many variables to even make out a clear figure on our sustainability.

If you'd like to read the report for yourself, click here.