There have been 108 billion
Homo sapiens born on Earth.
But you are the very last one.
With no other babies being born after you,
you would be the end of the
human race and its legacy.
The world has stopped having babies.
It could be a conscious choice
driven by anti-natalism,
the philosophy that humans should stop
having children and gradually go extinct.
It might be an unforeseen consequence
of prolonging human life.
Or a nasty consequence
of environmental pollution.
Whatever the cause,
the human population has
slowly stopped having children.
You are the last to be born,
and the whole world knows it.
Your life would be completely
different than it is today.
From day one,
you’d be a celebrity.
The whole world would be fascinated
with your life as you grow up.
And you wouldn't always
welcome the attention.
You’d be like an uber reality star,
with cameras documenting your every move.
People who wish they could have had kids
would be concerned about
your health and well-being.
And they would feel a lot of joy
by watching you grow.
You know the saying,
"It takes a village to raise a child?"
Yeah.
Well, you’d be raised by the whole world.
Everything would be provided to you,
food,
toys,
clothing.
But your lack of want
would come at a high price.
Your life would be completely controlled,
including your schedule,
what you eat,
and where you go.
We’re talking helicopter parenting
times a billion.
Yikes.
Because of your high profile,
you’d have a security detail
protecting you from any suspicious packages,
poisoned food,
and shady strangers.
You would never be alone.
This constant control would harm
your emotional well-being as you grow up.
Children need opportunities to
grow and learn on their own.
Without chances to make your own mistakes,
you could lack some basic skills,
like managing your emotions
or dealing with challenges.
And you’d be facing a lot of challenges.
And while it would seem like you’re never alone,
you would have a very lonely existence.
You wouldn't get the chance to play
with other kids your age as you grew up.
This would damage your mental
and emotional health even more.
Playing is an important part of growing up
that helps children develop their mental,
physical,
and emotional well-being.
Since you wouldn't be
allowed to play with other kids,
you’d develop depression and feel lonely.
Hopefully, you’d have some animal companions
to provide some of that love and connection,
because your childhood would be difficult.
And to add to this,
you’d have to be gearing up for the future.
You wouldn’t go to a normal school.
Instead, you’d be taught a rigorous curriculum
that covers every skill.
You’d be learning all kinds of things,
from sewing and agriculture to
engineering and metalwork.
Why?
As Earth's human population
begins to dwindle,
the systems that
support our society would start to collapse.
There wouldn’t be enough people
to maintain our complicated food,
energy, and communication systems.
Eventually, you’d have to fend for yourself.
At least you’d have a long time
to master all of these things.
Prolonging human life
is not science-fiction anymore.
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Researchers have already developed
ways to extend the lives of mice by up to 40%.
And one of the world’s top aging scientists,
Dr. Aubrey de Grey,
thinks that the first person
to reach 1,000 years old
has already been born.
So you’d have centuries to master all the skills you need.
And centuries to adjust to the slowly dwindling population.
But if life-prolonging technology exists,
you wouldn’t be the only one with a super long life span.
There could be other people alive for quite a while,
and they’d travel to live near you,
creating the last human community.
Eventually,
this community would get smaller and smaller.
Until,
at the end of your life,
you would be alone.
You started your life under the gaze of billions,
and you'd end it as the last human on Earth.
What would you do with no one else around?
Well, that’s a story for another What If.