"We must change both ourselves and the world around us": Stanislav Drobyshevsky

Natural evolutionary changes take thousands of years, yet humanity is already exerting a largely negative impact on the planet. Without conscious transformation, we risk repeating the fate of many extinct species. Anthropologist, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor at Lomonosov Moscow State University and leader of the science popularisation movement "Drobyshevsky’s Projects", Stanislav Drobyshevsky, reflected on the need for deliberate change to ensure humanity’s survival in the podcast "Russia Speaks".

"For now, we are mostly changing the world around us for the worse, so we will have to change ourselves. For noticeable changes to occur naturally and for us to reach a new stage in our species’ development, it would take somewhere between 50,000 and 300,000 years. But there is no guarantee that we will not go extinct. Neanderthals became extinct, the 'hobbits' of Flores became extinct, as did Paranthropus, Gigantopithecus and Oreopithecus. We could disappear as well. If we consciously change ourselves, however, there is at least a chance to avoid that outcome," said Stanislav Drobyshevsky.

"Russia Speaks" is the National Centre RUSSIA’s original podcast about science, technology and the future. In each episode, hosts and guests discuss how modern discoveries reshape our understanding of the world and humanity’s place in the Universe.

The episode "What We Search for in the Earth and Why It Shapes Our Future" is available to watch on the website russia.ru in the "Livestreams and Videos" section, as well as on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, RUTUBE and Dzen.