The human species (Homo Sapiens sapiens) started its existence
between 110 000 and 50 000 years ago. Its development diverged from
the apes about 5 million years ago.
The earth has been capable of supporting life for about 3 billion
years, and is expected to continue being able to support life for
about 5 billion years in the future. Thus if we view the period of
being able to support life as 24 hours, then we are now about 9
o'clock in the morning, humans diverged from the apes about a
minute ago and the human species started to exist 1-2 seconds
ago.
The average life time of a species on earth is a few million years.
Every year, thousands of species cease to exist and thousands of
new species are created. Will thus the human species cease to exist
in a few million years, like most other animals? If so, why, and
what will replace it? Or are humans so unique and different from
other species, that experience from other species cannot be
applied, and humans may continue to exist for a much longer
time?