In economics it’s known as a “bubble”. It’s when an economy grows past its healthy point and things become artificially and unsustainably valued. When that occurs, the bubble bursts and the economy crashes. There are plenty of examples of this happening throughout history.

The human population is experiencing a bubble. There are more of us on this planet than the planet can realistically sustain. This occurred due to the technological advances we all take for granted. In fact our lives literally depend upon technology. This makes us a specialized species.

What would happen if all the eucalyptus died off? The koalas would cease to exist. If bamboo disappeared, so, too, would the panda. They, like us, are specialized species. Countless other species continue to become extinct for the same reason.

We don’t need to wait millennia for a large comet or meteor to cull the herd. One well aimed solar flare will eliminate the majority of mankind by frying the electrical grid; and it won’t take long (just a few weeks) without electricity to wipe out many hundreds of millions of us. Such major phenomena have probably happened many, many times before, but until relatively recently, large solar flares  went unnoticed. We didn’t rely upon electricity for our very lives then. Now we do. This catastrophe may not happen during my lifetime or yours, but it will happen and it won’t be the simple, localized blackout caused by a glancing blow.

What can we do?

Nothing.

Why?

Specialization of species has no reverse gear. They are beyond the ability to adapt.

But take heart. Humans won’t become extinct due to this event. There will still be plenty of us left and before long we will be back to gadding about with our faces buried in our iphones, blaming somebody like Hillary or Donald for the disaster.

Why?

Because human beings are a silly and enigmatically foolish life form.