Survey reveals if Brits have any faith in survival of mankind

A new poll shows Conservatives are twice as optimistic about the future of mankind as Labour Party supporters

Britons’ faith in the survival of mankind has decreased compared to 2016, a new YouGov poll has revealed, with Conservatives turning out to be much more optimistic about humanity’s prospects.

According to the survey, conducted between January 21 and 23, “Britons are less sure than they were that humanity is here to stay.” Only 23% of the respondents believe our species will never die out, compared to 30% of optimists in 2016.

Out of the 1,747 adults who took part in the poll, 3% think that mankind will be extinct less than 100 years from now – one percentage point more than in 2016. Meanwhile, 24% still believe that extinction is more than 1,000 years away, compared to 28% in 2016.

Meanwhile, British Conservatives have remained optimistic about mankind’s survival prospects: A whopping 31% (36% in 2016) believe that people will never be extinct. However, the faith of Labour supporters has been significantly shaken: Only 17% expect that mankind is here to stay, compared to more than 30% of Labour respondents who thought the same in 2016.

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Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the two main potential causes of mankind’s extinction have remained the same according to Britons: nuclear bomb and climate change.

“However, there has been significant movement on both of these anticipated apocalypses since 2016: the percentage of people who picked climate change has risen 11 points, while expectations of nuclear Armageddon also increased by 5 points,” the researchers explained.

Expectations that a pandemic will wipe out humanity were still far lower – with such a scenario in third place – despite the world’s recent experience with Covid-19.