Humans have had an undeniably significant impact on our environment and the other species that inhabit the planet with us.
What might happen if humans weren't here to exert that influence, though?
What if we never had?
Reddit user Mompkey asked:
"Which species do you think would be dominant if humans didn't exist?"
Caninae
"Wolves. They can, and have, successfully adapted to most of the various biomes on the planet."
"There's a reason we domesticated them and took them everywhere with us."
Giphy
Blattodea
"Cockroaches"
"I would agree, but now I'm wondering if our presence is the reason cockroaches have thrived as well as they have."
GiphySelachimorpha
"Sharks, they are the dominant species on 3/4 of the Earth's surface already, they have survived mass extinctions and would thrive even more without humans mucking up their habitat."
Giphy
Nobody
"Humans are the only species that seek to dominate others. Other animals just want to live in the balance of nature. They're just trying to survive, they don't have time to take over the world."
"Pinky and The Brain theme song played in my head."
GiphyPrimates
"Other primates."
"We've killed off so many throughout history but of the ones that remains intelligence and versatility would be the key factors. Their food supply and habitat would greatly increase in our absence so with this being said.........primates."
"We are simply the superior primate therefore we are the dominant species. That opposable thumb is a mf when you have a large brain."
"Gorillas"
Giphy
Hominidae
"Wouldn't it be just another off shoot of humans like the Neanderthal or heidelbergensis?"
GiphyWhile we'll probably never know definitively which species would truly thrive without us around, it's still fun to speculate.
Do you have thoughts?
Comment below!
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"Coworkers that couldn’t handle the sexual tension anymore and went for it. How’d it turn out?"
A Very Costly Mistake
"Really poorly tbh."
"Extremely drunk sex and ended up losing our friendship."
"We were 24 and worked at a bank together, we used to be best friends."
"But now we haven’t talked in years."- sarruhgirl·
Nope
"I have been rejected respectfully each time."- kingspooky93·
There Can Be Too Much Of A Good Thing
"Not great."
"Dated for just over a year (on and off), but now that we’re not together, it sucks having to see her almost every day."-StellarSandDweller·
It Happened...
"After years of sexual tension we did it."
"It wasn't anything close of what we expected, never talked about it again and we went back to just being friends."-dimensionsanalyst
Lucky For Him, Less So For Her...
"She's been suffering my snoring for 20 years now."- get_off_my_lawn_n0w
Didn't Go Unnoticed
"HR all of a sudden wanted a 'friendly chat'."- DiggingUpTheCorpses
Ups And Downs...
"Made out in the walk-in fridge."
"Went out for a while, got engaged, moved in together, got married, started drifting apart, realized we were growing into different people with very different long term goals, got divorced, haven’t really spoken since."
"Together for close to 11 years total."
"Main issue was kids."
"We both wanted them at first, then she no longer did."
"We cared enough for each other to not want to see the other unhappy long term, and we had an amicable split."
"We did not get married in the walk-in, nor spend a tremendous amount of time in it."
"We DID have an ice sculpture at the wedding however."
"It was not a Netflix & Chill deal, it was years and years ago, so more like Blockbuster & Chill."
"I’m good now, thanks."- gn0xious
No Issue Here...
"I run a sole proprietorship, so I 'go for it' about twice a day."
"Don't think it will last, though; I'm not really my type."- MyNSFWside
Got Out When The Getting Was Good
"It was great."
"Good sex, and then I left the job before it got weird."- TIMBURWOLF·
No Regrets Whatsoever
"It was the hottest sex I ever had."
"We are still in touch, but we are continents apart."
"I haven't met him since 2013."
"Pretty sure if we meet again, we will not waste time talking."- SingingBull
"Had sex with him two months into my employment there."
"Nineteen years later we have a mortgage in the suburbs and two children."- Extra-Simple9711·
I Love You Episode 20 GIF by The OfficeGiphyNothing But Regrets
"Terrible."
"'Don’t f**k your boss."- oyofmidmidworld
A Bit Of Good Luck?
"Been together for 5 years now and still working in the same company (different departments)."
"Both of us had multiple promotions since we got together."
"Great sex and great on saving gas and food expense as we live together now lol."- crapuccino4
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
"Not great."
"He would flirt with me and come over to hang out."
"Told how he was trying to evict his ex girlfriend from the apartment because she wouldn't leave before the lease was up (which was true btw she confirmed that)."
"He told me he liked me alot and wanted to get to know me."
"Then he decided that He wanted to convert to Mormonism."
"He became panicked about going to hell and after we would hang out (nothing sexual) he would sob."
"Full on sob."
"Begging God to forgive him."
"He and the rest of the people I worked with were tight and he would go through these depressive episodes and crash at their houses."
"I started getting bullied and harassed HARD at work."
"One day he invites me to his house to watch a movie."
"We watch the movie."
"He tries to kiss me but not really."
"I am confused as f*ck at this point and ask him to take me home."
"On the way he asks me if I like him, I said yes I really liked him."
"He asked me if I would consider dating him and maybe have a sexual relationship with him."
"I said yes because I really liked him."
"HE LAUGHED AND SAID I WAS NOTHING BUT A NYMPHO WH*RE BROUGHT TO HIM BY SATAN TO MAKE HIM STUBLE IN HIS WALK WITH GOD!"
"He said there was no way he would ever consider me because I was not A Good Mormon Girl."
"He dropped me at my car after bursting into sobs AGAIN and yelled he has to pray for his soul I sh*t you not."
"Turns out he was telling EVERYONE that I was 'forcing myself onto him' and he was uncomfortable with me."
"The bullying got worse."
"I quit with no notice."
"I WAS ONLY THERE FOR 45 DAYS."- PwrtopUltimate
Samuel L Jackson Reaction GIF by Coming to AmericaGiphyYou never know when love might hit you, and sometimes it might be on an elevator to your office.
Even so, always proceed with caution.
After all, think about how awkward it is to run into an ex or a one-night stand on the street, then think about what that would be like 8 hours a day, five days a week...
Redditor HRJafael wanted to know who still has their doors open and has some staff, so they asked:
"What 'obsolete' companies are you surprised are still holding on in the modern world?"
The other day I saw a Radio Shack. I thought it was 1999.
What's next? A Circuit City?
Who is She?
Weight Loss Lol GIF by Sofa City SweetheartGiphy"Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I'm surprised it lasted this long."
BlackPopeye_03
Knock, Knock
"I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2 pm on a Wednesday trying to come in and give me a demo of a Kirby vacuum cleaner. Also, door-to-door salespeople are apparently still a thing in 2023."
jimx117
"I have a nice Kirby from one of those salespeople. Convinced her to try some homemade shine. Her driver/supervisor stopped and tried some as well. They both got so buzzed they left the demo model at my house. It’s been 4 years and no one has tried to get it back. Quite a few attachments as well."
HoosierPaul
The Catalog
"I read that Netflix just announced they are going to stop mailing DVD's for rental in the next few months. I thought they stopped doing that a long time ago."
King_Kong_The_eleven
"Apparently this is a big deal for hardcore movie fans, as there are many movies deep in the movie catalog that are not available to view through streaming."
roraima_is_very_tall
"There's a reasonably large community that prefers physical media, particularly UHD BDs to streaming. I mean it does make sense, those enthusiasts have spent considerable amounts of money on their equipment, so they will naturally get the best possible picture quality."
samstown23
Hey John
"There's a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat."
EMPRAH40k
"My grandma liked to go there for a piece of fish and some hush puppies. Then she’d take me to McDonald’s for coffee (for her -I was a small child) and a vanilla cone. When I miss her I go to one of the last Long John Silvers in my area and get fish and hush puppies."
yesiamyam233203
"Secret society meaning those who only eat fish during Lent."
"I mentioned it in a different thread but Lent is like a 40-day Black Friday for Long John Silvers."
"Source: former LJS employee who experienced lines out the door during Lent."
StasnoFrete
AO What?
aol GIFGiphy"Blows my mind that aol.com is still a thing."
Iliveacrossthegreen
"I honestly thought this was gone and I didn't notice until I worked in IT support and saw people with AOL emails. Total shock for me."
Arcades_Samnoth
I still can't believe I know people with AOL.
Do they know the century?
Bad Execution
raul julia GIFGiphy"Cutco. Seems like they could be much more successful if they dropped their current sales rep pyramid model."
i0datamonster
"Yeah, I never understood the MLM thing. Sometimes the product is actually good, but the execution is garbage."
CpuJunky
I need a number
"The yellow pages."
AlternativeSelfee
"I do remember before being able to look stuff up online, going out of town & browsing the yellow pages @ the hotel looking for places to eat & many other things. I couldn't tell you when I last saw a set of yellow pages."
Runes_my_ride
"I work at a hotel. About once every two years I get someone asking if we have a copy of the Yellow Pages."
steelgate601
A reason for every holiday...
"Party City. Their stores are huge and every time I go there’s less than 10 customers."
iamnotkelly
"Party City is one of those stores that makes its nut from a few days a year. The week before Halloween and there's a line out the door."
"4th of July, Easter, graduation time, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are when they do their business. It's a one-stop shop for everything you need for an event that allows you to see it beforehand and not make a bad Amazon purchase."
StalkMeNowCrazyLady
Bad Health
"Herbalife. Don’t the people know? Lol."
CThreePHo
"They've been opening storefronts that pose as small health food shake shops in place of (or in addition to?) the old MLM model. They just opened one down the street from my job and stopped by with free samples."
"They tried really hard to disguise that it's Herbalife."
"It's a really weird business model, you buy a 'one-day membership' in their health club that comes with a shake and an energy tea and I think that's supposed to let them skirt some legal issue with the shops?"
daabilge
Check Please
Applebees GIFGiphy"Applebees. I can microwave my own food."
User8675309021069
"The other week I was at Applebee's when the waitress came by and I told her that my Pepsi wasn't tasting right, and she offered to put water in it."
Applebee's? Who in the world wold still eat there? I've turned down free food from there. Geesh.
What would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
