4 Ways The World Could End In Your Lifetime (And 3 Ways We Can Stop It)

4. The Simulation Is Halted

Moving away from the more visceral worlds of Spanish Flu and climate change for a second, the death of humanity could be brought about by the flick of a switch - and not the one that launches the nukes - but the one that switches off the computer simulating our universe.

Although the idea that the universe is actually a simulation seems like it belongs in the realms of science fiction, there are those who believe that it could actually be our (virtual) reality - and these are real scientists too, not just crazy internet people. Even for those not totally sold on the idea, it's very difficult to conclusively prove otherwise.

Now, the best case scenario for this is that the simulation is halted and you find that you're actually a member of a super intelligent race of galactic beings with a loving superintelligent galactic family waiting around the dinner table.

The worst case scenario (short of your bioenergy being harvested to fuel a robot empire, that might be a bridge too far), is that your entire conciousness could be part of a procedurally generated AI in a vast, universal simulation. You might not even be a major part of the simulation, but rather just a bit of set dressing.

Not that you'd be aware of that, or indeed anything else, after the plug is pulled.