Homo Terminus: The Specter of Human Extinction

If the twentieth century was haunted by the specter of communism, ours is haunted by the specter of human extinction.

The 6th mass extinction is unfolding within the global climate crisis. An uncontrolled experiment in Artificial Intelligence is being thrust upon us and integrated into the infrastructures on which our contemporary lives depend. Microplastics churn through our organs as a global fertility crisis projects an imminent and dramatic population decline.

If the 20th century was haunted by the specter of communism, we are today haunted by a radically different specter: that of human extinction.

Shane Greene knows we've become numb to alarmism. Homo Terminus takes a refreshing approach to our collective demise, owning its inevitability with the courage required for both wisdom and dark humor. Extinction is part and parcel of the inevitable transformations of life on Earth. Taking the anthropological ideas of Octavia Butler as a central influence, Greene examines the hard reality that "the only lasting truth is Change" through a wide range of cultural lenses.

In punchy, accessible essays, Greene expertly blends cultural criticism, ethnography, and speculative anthropology to sketch a series of novel thought experiments that guide us from paralyzing anxiety toward a wider palette of meaningful action.

A collaboration between Greene and artists Raphael Cornford, Tevin Garcia, and Rossana Mercado-Rojas, Homo Terminus includes nine original works of art that visually distill each chapter.