The Last Human – A Glimpse Into The Far Future

Published 2022-06-28
Because of the potential size of the future, the most important thing about our actions today might be their impact on future generations. This simple-sounding idea has some surprising moral implications: 80000hours.org/kurzgesagt-last-human

Sources & further reading: sites.google.com/view/sources-last-human/

This video was created in partnership with the Open Philanthropy Project

Kurzgesagt in 8 languages: linktr.ee/kgs_international

The future of humanity seems insecure. Rapid climate change, political division, our greed and failings make it hard to look at our species with a lot of optimism and so many people think our end is in sight. But humans always thought they lived in the end times. Every generation assumes they’re important enough to witness the apocalypse and then life just goes on.
This is a problem because it leads to short term thinking and prevents us from creating the best world for ourselves and our descendants. What makes this worse is that we actually may live at an extremely critical moment in human history. To understand why, let us look at the temporal window of humanity and ask:
When will the last human be born and how many people will there ever be?

OUR CHANNELS
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
German: kgs.link/youtubeDE
Spanish: kgs.link/youtubeES
French: kgs.link/youtubeFR
Portuguese: kgs.link/youtubePT
Arabic: kgs.link/youtubeAR
Hindi: kgs.link/youtubeHI
Japanese: kgs.link/youtubeJA
Korean: kgs.link/youtubeKO


HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US?
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
This is how we make our living and it would be a pleasure if you support us!

Get Merch designed with ❤ kgs.link/shop-163
Join the Patreon Bird Army 🐧 kgs.link/patreon


DISCUSSIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Reddit: kgs.link/reddit
Instagram: kgs.link/instagram
Twitter: kgs.link/twitter
Facebook: kgs.link/facebook
Discord: kgs.link/discord
Newsletter: kgs.link/newsletter


OUR VOICE
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
The Kurzgesagt voice is from
Steve Taylor: kgs.link/youtube-voice


OUR MUSIC ♬♪
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
700+ minutes of Kurzgesagt Soundtracks by Epic Mountain:

Spotify: kgs.link/music-spotify
Soundcloud: kgs.link/music-soundcloud
Bandcamp: kgs.link/music-bandcamp
Youtube: kgs.link/music-youtube
Facebook: kgs.link/music-facebook

The Soundtrack of this video:
Soundcloud: bit.ly/3A5LwaB
Bandcamp: bit.ly/3OzdsIs

If you want to help us caption this video, please send subtitles to [email protected]
You can find info on what subtitle files work on YouTube here:
support.google.com/youtube/answer/2734698?hl=en-GB…
Thank you!

🐦🐧🐤 PATREON BIRD ARMY 🐤🐧🐦
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Many Thanks to our wonderful Patreons (from kgs.link/patreon) who support us every month and made this video possible: ziipzaaapM16A4, Filippo, Alloy robot, Harold Mabin Jr, Toby Lowe, BiohazardVictim, Riad Salihu, Gunnstein Lye, Jeff Wheeldon, Andy Kelly, Quenby Joanette, Daniel Schulte-Hillen, Val Kabalkin, Maximilian Thomas Goldstein, Tyler Lindberg, Felix, Davesanify, Russ Newman, Kira, Thomas Schenck, Skyler Stanley, dirk from wellington, LoveGiants (Polyamorous) Seeking 4 BrotherHusbands, BalrogWing, Coffee is the path to victory, Addie, Lucas, vb, Santiago Perez, Robert Walsh, Angus Jake Smith, JamesDBartlett3, Marlison Gosalvez de Alencar, Rahul Golwalkar, Keerthi Vasan, Brian Bradley, Lincoln Volk, Haubrechts, Avalanche, Craig B, Tina Hatch, Nathan Ornat, Amathara, khalifa almehairbi, jtfletchbot, Steven Zeck, Maurice Ibler, Bafy78, Andreas Høve Smidt-Nielsen, Victoria Camp, Andrew Dawson, pierluigi valente, GH, Jay C, Sergey Melnik, CultistLemming, Thane Stevens, Alex MacKay, SimpleAvocado, Dave Kircher, Karen Rosenow, James Pita

All Comments (21)
  • @kurzgesagt
    HUGE announcement: we are launching Kurzgesagt in six more languages! Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Hindi, Japanese and Korean, on top of our English, German and Spanish channels: linktr.ee/kgs_international This is where we need YOUR help. It takes us a lot of time, effort and yes, money to translate our videos properly and run so many channels – so to make this sustainable, please help us spread the word! If you are a native in one of these languages, share our videos on social media and tell your friends and family – make people in your native language aware that it exists. Thanks so much for your support!
  • @alsenior06
    “Every generation assumes they are important enough to witness the apocalypse.” Always keeping me humble, Kurzgesagt.
  • @l.k.4186
    “We went from humans worshipping the moon, to humans walking on it”. This is such a beautiful phrase.
  • @haydonali4169
    One year later and this is still easily one of my favourite videos on the internet.
  • @cjdoesnothing
    I feel as if many people need this because the potential of the human species in itself is astronomical and I found this video very motivating
  • One day it’ll be appreciated how many scientists were inspired by Kurzgesagt. I honestly believe it will make a material difference on space exploration and medical innovation over the next 50 years. I know this b/c I consider myself one of those motivated. Creating quality education on YouTube is a powerful way to have a positive impact.
  • @AfterSkool
    Many of us have been conditioned to think that more humans = more problems. I appreciate the optimistic perspective presented in this video. More humans also means more progress. The first step to a brighter future is envisioning it.
  • It makes the saying "he who saved a person is like saving the whole humanity" makes so much sense! A person holds the potential to further save other people and have descendants.
  • @waxpix
    Can we just be amazed that kurzgesagt uploads with beautiful art style which might take months, planning how the animation goes and the topic. Seriously, we should all thank kurzgesagt and the other members. Thank you kurzgesagt team!
  • @andrycraft69
    0:16 "Every generation assumes they are important enough to witness the apocalypse" this sentence alone completely changed my prospective on this subject. Such a beautiful quote. EDIT: Over 1k likes?! Thanks guys! EDIT²: I must say that another thought crossed my mind while seeing the replies of this comment: we're possibly the only civilization that has solid proof of the apocalypse.
  • @5ilent5hift
    This is probably one of the most optimistic and inspiring ones you've done yet. I needed this today, thank you.
  • @leedayunderwood
    This is genuinely my favourite video on the platform. Awe inspiring, heartwarming, terrifying and beautiful.
  • @ll7915
    this channel truly is a blessing. thanks for all the people who are part of this project.
  • Imagining being at the beginning of human history rather than the end.. It's funny how that one perspective seems to foreign to me and probably many other people. But I like it.
  • @puzzLEGO
    It’s exciting to think we’re at the brink of a new phase of civilisation. I won’t live to see it, but if some future human sees this comment in 1,000 years when other planets get colonised, hi from the past!
  • Hats off to you kurzgesagt , your videos bring an insane perspective in an even better visual experience. Your videos are just amazing to watch. Truly revolutionary
  • @kenzelbryant21
    This was one of the best videos I’ve watched. Expected an existential crisis but got the complete opposite. The only thing that upsets me is that we may be at the beginning and not see our full potential.
  • @Fluxuation
    “We went from worshipping the moon to walking on it” This is the most inspiring thing I’ve ever heard ever. It shows how much humans have conquered. God bless you, guys.
  • “We went from humans worshiping the moon to humans walking on it” This is the most beautiful line I’ve heard this month
  • "If we screw up the present, so many people may never come to exist." Oh. No pressure then