Racing to Extinction

Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish

By: Lyle Lewis, Sue Coulstock

Narrated by: Lyle Lewis, Heather Henderson

Global warming, loss of biodiversity, and toxic chemicals are undermining the ability of the planet to support complex life. Routinely overlooked in causing our current predicament is that several million years of evolution has predisposed Homo sapiens, both anatomically and behaviorally, to vanishing.

A former endangered species biologist looks at the ongoing sixth mass extinction through the prism of human behavior, personal experience, ecology, evolutionary biology, and contemporary conservation efforts. He provides new insights into factors triggering the current mass extinction event and examines conventional wisdom regarding human intelligence. The author suggests—as humanity edges ever closer to disappearing forever—a clear-eyed, real-world rationale for resignation but also acceptance.

Foreword by Sue Coulstock; Foreword narrated by Heather Henderson

©2023 Lyle Lewis (P)2024 Lyle Lewis

the stark facts

clearly laid out, well read. grim, but realistic. everyone should read this book and understand what we are facing.

sad

This is sad reality. the only question is are we stop stupid to not be able to save ourselves?

The End

Goodbye fellow homo sapiens.
One question still bothers me: how do I tell my kids ?

A large-form account from the trenches

The author is a novice writer with a large analysis of the sort that was more common before intellect moved to specialization and the academic culture to intellectual narrowness. The writing is clear, cogent, accessible.

Lewis connects the dots in ways that used to be familiar to readers and thinkers: as in Weber or Mills (sociology). And yet, his long essay lies in the "science" dominion, where he connects the issues to culture, economy, sociology, psychology, and anthropology. Whatever readers might think of the conclusion, this is good work. It's a professional memoir with high public purpose.

Will humanity go extinct? It's a species, right, so the demise is very likely. Is humanity doing anything to hasten that demise? You bet, it's working hard and harder to that end. Not from an evil conspiracy, but because that's the sort of animal it is. Will the end arrive in 50 years? Lewis says (appropriately), "Maybe." So: maybe not 50, but 150 years doesn't seem too far-fetched, nor 500. Although such extensions are all very short and arrive too soon upon our descendants, most of us struggle and fail at five-year-plans. We can barely imagine 500 years, let alone the horrifying 50.

As Lewis suggests, this sort of dot-connecting is rare, but only in part because the news is so bad. More telling is the opposition it elicits from "the economy." We live off the conversion of habitat by greed: desertification, deforestation, extinction, massive pollution of all stripes. The timeline for this greedy effort reported by the author--ever since the removal from Africa. The professional reviews seem not to appreciate Lewis's effort. Certainly, the topic needs a skeptical mind. It seems the author is such a mind. His effort will be appreciated by readers similarly equipped.