# Do you have an obligation to the human species? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160 "2013-09-18T17:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/21 "2013-09-18T21:02:44Z")
Hopeless. I wouldn’t condemn the future to another 10,000 years of tribal primitivism, hunting/gathering, and having to re-learn how not to crap in the same stream you drink from. I wouldn’t condemn them to having another Roman Empire and Feudal Era and another fucking World War One. This is our chance. We fuck it up, we can just die. If I’m the last man on earth, I am the last man on earth. Maybe the raccoons can evolve a better society. Also: I’d be a really shitty parent, and a worse elder patriarch. So: I say to the nice lady, “Sayonara,” and talk a long walk. I’ll see if I can get to Yosemite before the snows fall, and will probably die there. Alone. (I’m willing to cooperate this far: if she absolutely god damn demands it, okay, I’ll boff her until she’s preggers. Then, I go. I am out of town, and she can raise humanity by herself. Eve without Adam. Maybe she’ll do a better job. Bless her for trying.) ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/22 "2013-09-18T21:37:32Z")
My answer now from the comfort of my home and family is: no I do not feel an obligation to humanity. Also, I’ve done babies and child-rearing and feel pretty satiated with that part of life. However it is entirely possible that I (and maybe some of you others) might find myself feeling very differently in the actual situation. None of us, even the most misanthropic and curmudgeonly among us, has any idea of how lonely we might find a world with only one other human being. I have had strange and powerful desires to get pregnant after major losses and illnesses. Every month at ovulation my emotions try to trick me into thinking getting pregnant is a good idea (ha ha ovulation I trick you with my tubal ligation!). Life finds a way? Maybe we are just some DNAs way to make more DNA. That DNA has been successfully reproducing for millions of years. We may be surprised to find out how little the philosophies of our neocortex count up against that kind of success. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/23 "2013-09-18T22:03:21Z")
For the first time in my life, I’d feel obligated to continue humanity, no matter what. We have the capacity to be an awesome species, in spite of our faults. Perhaps with me as “Adam,” things could be different. We deserve another chance. But . . . since I’m gay, it would take a lot for me to have sex with a woman. Some gay porn might work. Or, gay porn and a turkey baster would get the job done. Funny if she turned out to be gay too. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/24 "2013-09-18T22:04:14Z")
I’d probably want sex, and under normal circumstances would like children. I wouldn’t want them interbreeding with each other, though, so it looks like the species is SOL. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/25 "2013-09-18T22:04:42Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > By a fortunate coincidence, their is a fully automated condom factory in your area with robotically harvested, er, rubber trees. > > By a further seeming miracle, moments before the global collapse, birth control pills are developed the have a shelf life of 100 years, and the entire world’s supply is just up the street from you because there hadn’t been time to distribute them. > > You will have relaiable birth control for the rest of your life. Wow… this is one interesting apocalypse. 🙂 Given this scenario, I’m going to leave the having of kids decision up to circumstances. If the missus and I are starving, diseased and barely eking out a living, I’m not going to bring a child into that. (It probably wouldn’t survive if we tried.) But if I can do a nice Robinson Crusoe kind of scenario, then I would want to see kids enter the picture at some point. If forced to come down with an opinion on the continuity of the human race, then I’ll say that continuity is better than discontinuity. But, again, I’m not so bothered by the idea of human extinction, nor am I so sure that any kind of breeding program would be successful in the long run. It’s just not an issue I’d feel compelled to address; my choices would be focused on much more personal and immediate issues. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/26 "2013-09-18T22:09:57Z")
We do our very best to encourage endangered species to breed and perpetuate their line, and it’s highly doubtful the giant panda has the kind of potential to be a positive impact on the planet that humans could. So why would we, as a society, determine giant pandas deserve a chance and humans don’t? Assuming she’s willing, or at least willing to lie back and think of England, I think raising a new society from the ashes of whatever decimated the previous one would just be the right thing to do. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/27 "2013-09-18T22:36:38Z")
Can’t we just snuggle and scratch each other’s backs? ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/28 "2013-09-19T00:44:25Z")
I wouldn’t have kids under those circumstances. What if we could only have one? What if we didn’t live long enough to raise it to adulthood, or at least old enough to look after itself? There are more bad possible outcomes than good ones, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/29 "2013-09-19T01:06:03Z")
> [@Silvorange](#): > > What if we could only have one? Then one third of humanity gets to avoid incest to produce the next generation. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/30 "2013-09-19T02:49:15Z")
[QUOTE=Dr Drake] Then one third of humanity gets to avoid incest to produce the next generation. [/QUOTE] Yep. Having to move past the issue of your children being incestuous siblings wouldn’t be the problem then at all. It would hit much closer to home than that. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/31 "2013-09-19T03:39:36Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Did you notice in the OP that “society” consists solely of you and one other individual that you are capable of breeding with? Yeah, that was pretty much my attitude in the original thread. If I’m one of that pair, incestuous or not, _we are the entire human race_; our obligation is to each other (and to our children, IF we choose to have them). We have no obligation to the dead billions; we can’t bring them back. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/32 "2013-09-19T08:26:45Z")
The day will come when you get old, and your health starts to fail, and you need someone to take care of you. So it is in your interest to have multiple children, in the hopes that one of them will feel obligated. (Love is nice. Duty is more reliable.) The human species has as much right to survive as any other. With a breeding population of two, it will probably fail. But probable extinction is better than certain extinction. So boink away. ---
**Author:** ![chowching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chowching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowching)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/33 "2013-09-19T10:03:19Z")
Will definitely have sex. That’s natural. Would very much like to breed also. But my main concern would be the process of giving birth. Is that that simple? Women have died giving birth even in controlled environment with doctors right? Well of course women were also able to give birth without any professional assistance. Here are some of the factors I will consider before procreating: -Is she willing? -Are there enough resources to sustain life? (food, medicine, shelter) -Is there available materials to study about giving birth? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/34 "2013-09-19T10:52:36Z")
I don’t know - it might depend on what the other person is up to doing. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/35 "2013-09-19T11:09:31Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The human species has as much right to survive as any other. No group has any inherent right to survive. _Individuals_ have a right to survive. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/36 "2013-09-19T13:31:09Z")
In a perfect world, I would most definitely try to have children. However I’ve had the Essure treatment, and can’t have children anyway. If I somehow knew we were the only ones, I’d try to just enjoy my life, and go exploring. Why not? If we are the only ones, we’re swimming in resources - enough to survive the rest of our lives anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/37 "2013-09-19T13:46:05Z")
I’d continue as I would in any other “not-many-humans-left” survival scenario. Breeding isn’t my main concern, but if I needed to use it as an excuse to get jiggy with a hottie, I’m not above doing that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/38 "2013-09-19T16:20:35Z")
I’m _fixed_, so while we could attempt to have children (preferrably several times a week, assuming the quality of sex wasn’t horrendous) we’d never succeed. On the whole, I’d say it’s a great ending to the fantastic tale that is humanity: I get to have lots of sex, and watch the last remnants of my species perish. Where do I sign up? And can I pick my partner? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/39 "2013-09-19T17:11:59Z")
I think I saw this in a movie one time. Some guy trying to get laid by convincing a girl they were the last two people on Earth. I don’t think it worked. Penis did not ensue. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160/40 "2013-09-19T17:25:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I think I saw this in a movie one time. Some guy trying to get laid by convincing a girl they were the last two people on Earth. I don’t think it worked. Penis did not ensue. Reminds me of _ **A Boy and His Dog** _. Oh, my Lord, what a diabolical solution they had for repopulating the Earth…! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-obligation-to-the-human-species/669160.md?page=3)