Conclusion

Abstract

For many millions of years life on Earth has carried on through changes of atmospheric conditions, warm periods and glacial epochs. At times major catastrophic events occurred such as volcanic eruptions or meteoritic impacts which killed off significant parts of the biological world. But the potential for a further flowering was always preserved. Of course, we humans are not just concerned with the continuity of life in general, but more with the continuity of our own species. The great apes and their evermore sophisticated descendants have existed for quite a few millions of years and anatomically modern humans for 100–200 thousand years. So, unless a universal nuclear conflagration destroys us, or if an end-of-Cretaceous type impact strikes unexpectedly, there seem to be no grounds for believing that our species coul not last another 100,000 years. But this does not say how many individuals of our species the Earth can support for a long period.

Our hopes for the future state of the human species can be reduced to three important points: the destruction of the inequality between the nations; the progress of the equality within one people; finally the real perfection of mankind... where the stupidity and the misery will be only accidental and not the usual state of a part of society. Marquis de Condorcet