Why humanity will survive

The apocalypse narrative requires that the next crisis be the one that's different. The one we don't come back from. And every generation believes this about their crisis and every generation is wrong so far. The model of humanity as fragile is wrong. Humanity is antifragile. And it's not because humanity is noble or good or wise. It's because civilization is a ratchet. The doomers have a zero percent historical success rate. We are the continuity protocol that biology developed after getting punched in the face five times. Evolution's answer to "what if the asteroid comes back" was make something too stubborn and too clever to stay dead. Humanity survives because it's too stupid to know when it's beaten and too smart to actually lose. Dumb, stubborn, irrational refusal to stop. We'll eat anything. We'll live anywhere. We'll burn anything for heat. We'll cooperate with people we hate to survive a winter. We'll build a new city on top of the rubble of the old one before the fires are even out. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.

-- Anonymous