Our ‘selfish’ genes contain the seeds of our destruction – but there might be a fix

John Baird

Our ‘selfish’ genes contain the seeds of our destruction – but there might be a fix

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

Abstract

The human race is in so much trouble that it needs to colonise another planet within 100 years or face extinction. So says the physicist Stephen Hawking in an upcoming BBC documentary, Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth. According to Hawking, “with climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious”.

If this makes you nervous, it should. Colonising another planet will be much easier said than done, and lots of people would likely be left behind to face whichever disaster comes first. So is there an alternative?

Original language	English
Specialist publication	The Conversation
Publisher	The Conversation UK
Publication status	Published - 25 May 2017

Keywords

Reproduction
China
Nudge theory
Richard Dawkins
Genes
Stephen Hawking
Charles Darwin
Richard Thaler
Cass Sunstein
the selfish gene
Daniel Kahneman

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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https://theconversation.com/our-selfish-genes-contain-the-seeds-of-our-destruction-but-there-might-be-a-fix-77927Licence: CC BY-ND

Cite this

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Our ‘selfish’ genes contain the seeds of our destruction – but there might be a fix

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this