Of course it will and it's already evident.
Most people think of AI and WMDs but the truth is that our biggest enemies (when it comes to our longevity as a species) are medical science and our own sense of "humanity."
Medical science gives us the ability to cheat Darwin by allowing the "weakest" of our species the ability to thrive and procreate and thus pass on "defects" into the gene pool. I'm not saying that if you break your leg, you should be left to die, but there are plenty of members of our society who do little but sap our resources - resources that we will need in order to survive any other man-made catastrophes such as wars and the "climate change apocalypse."
Those of you who are reading and raging already are the evidence of the problem with our "humanity": that "everyone deserves a chance to live the best life possible regardless of their circumstances." I wonder how many of you are pro-choice and have no problem with snuffing out an existence before we can even fathom a life's potential.
See?
This is where the "But, but, but" starts.
Unfortunately, the writing is on the wall. The birth rate of the richest is just 3/4s of the birth rate of the poorest in most "economically advanced" nations in the world. Women who have attained a higher degree of education are less likely to have children until they are in their 30's which increases the chances of having children with chromosomal defects.
Economic and educational success are the milestones we use to measure "fitness" and those people simply aren't breeding to their potential.
Some of you are probably thinking that I'm all about going old school and discarding children "that were puny or misshapen" as our ancestors did or that I'm in favor of some sort of eugenic breeding program or some other such nonsense. I'm not. But I am in favor of using medical science to determine birth defects in utero so that a pregnancy can be aborted if that is what is desired. My "humanity" does go out the window when it comes to providing state assistance to the parents who knowingly birth a drain on resources though.
Too many people talk about "survival of the fittest" and assume that fitness has to do with just physical strength or intelligence. It really has to do with adaptability. Physical strength and intelligence are main contributors to adaptability though and we do little as a society to promote these attributes to the best of our ability in many cases. Just look around at all the fat kids who can't tell you where their own country is on a map but can instantaneously draw the map of their favorite video game "world."
Here's the next thing to look at: The rich (and intelligent) are breeding themselves into a smaller and smaller percentage of the population while the poor and un(der)educated grow in numbers. If you think medical science can help us, our opportunities for finding cures for diseases and birth defects are slipping away, based on the numbers of people with the resources. The rich will get richer and the poor will grow in numbers until the rich breed themselves out of existence.
Then it will start all over again.
Hopefully, some of you have stuck with me during this rambling rather than just penning "scathing rejoinders" to see if I have a solution. I do, but like all "solutions" it would be subject to the vicissitudes of reality.
We need to improve our educational system. It really is the foundation for everything else which needs to happen. We need to grow the numbers of the "upper-classes" (educated and rich) by infusing it with new blood before they breed themselves out of existence. And we need to do it in numbers large enough that the upper-classes can't mitigate... but that's a whole other post.
In the end, we have to be prepared to give up our distorted view of "humanity" and start using medical science start growing our options rather than using it to drain our resources.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. "E. You rambled so much that I can't figure out where you're at!"
I know, but the topic is so vast and a message board so small... and I really don't have time to be more coherent. XD
Post your thoughts and questions and as long as you're respectful, I'll be respectful too.
I need more coffee.
Ta!