---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future of humanity is going to…"
description: "\"The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary, or it's going to remain confined to one pla..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg"
---

#  The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two…

![“The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary, or it's going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there's going to be an extinction event.” quote by Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg)

> “The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary, or it's going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there's going to be an extinction event.”

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Humanity will split into two paths: expanding to other planets or staying on Earth, risking extinction.

**In simple terms:** Two possible futures for humanity.

Key Takeaway

Consider planetary expansion or Earth stewardship.

Themes

future technology existential risk

Mood

concerned optimistic

Type

visionary warning

When to use this quote

- policy planning
- education
- public discourse

Key Concepts

space colonization climate change resource scarcity

Questions to Reflect On

- What steps can we take now to mitigate extinction risk?
- How can space colonization be made equitable?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [It is quite possible even that the planet would no longer be able to sustain human life. Probably, the planet eventually would regenerate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-quite-possible-even-that-the-planet-would-no-longer-be-able-to/)

[Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/)

> [For me it was never about money, but solving problems for the future of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/for-me-it-was-never-about-money-but-solving-problems-for-the-future/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [Going from PayPal, I thought: 'Well, what are some of the other problems that are likely to most affect the future of humanity?' Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/going-from-paypal-i-thought-well-what-are-some-of-the-other-problems/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [No amount of outer technology, no amount of computers and biotechnology and nanotechnology is going to stop the continuation of warfare and racism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/no-amount-of-outer-technology-no-amount-of-computers-and/)

[Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/)

> [“When Page describes Google reshaping the future of humanity, this isn’t simply a description of the convenience it provides; what it aims to redirect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/when-page-describes-google-reshaping-the-future-of-humanity-this-isn/)

[Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/)

> [I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-will-never-apologize-for-saying-that-the-future-of-humanity-and-the/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [There's a fundamental difference, if you look into the future, between a humanity that is a space-faring civilisation, that's out there exploring the stars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-a-fundamental-difference-if-you-look-into-the-future-between/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It's unrealistic to think that the future of humanity can be achieved only on the basis of prayer; what we need is to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/it-s-unrealistic-to-think-that-the-future-of-humanity-can-be-achieved/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [The health of our seas determines the future of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/the-health-of-our-seas-determines-the-future-of-humanity/)

[Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/)

> [What are we doing down here? We prepare the blossoms of tomorrow. We all manure future humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-errera/what-are-we-doing-down-here-we-prepare-the-blossoms-of-tomorrow-we/)

[Leo Errera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-errera/)

> [“ If the future of humanity truly depends on our children...then let's do our best to protect and better our future each and everyday.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/if-the-future-of-humanity-truly-depends-on-our-children-then-let-s-do/)

[Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/)

> [Today the human race is a single twig on the tree of life, a single species on a single planet. Our condition can thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zubrin/today-the-human-race-is-a-single-twig-on-the-tree-of-life-a-single/)

[Robert Zubrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zubrin/)

> [When you think about what Homo sapiens are about, you almost feel that we are replacing ourselves. We won't be able to breathe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/when-you-think-about-what-homo-sapiens-are-about-you-almost-feel-that/)

[Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/)

> [Today we understand that the future of humanity very much depends on our planet, and that the future of the planet very much depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/today-we-understand-that-the-future-of-humanity-very-much-depends-on/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [When I was born in 1942, World War II was still going. And I began to realize when I became a young adult that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-nash/when-i-was-born-in-1942-world-war-ii-was-still-going-and-i-began-to/)

[Graham Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-nash/)

## More by Elon Musk

> [Nobody wants to buy a $60,000 electric Civic. But people will pay $90,000 for an electric sports car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/nobody-wants-to-buy-a-60-000-electric-civic-but-people-will-pay-90/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-we-should-be-very-careful-about-artificial-intelligence-if-i/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can. They sell themselves short without trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/most-people-can-learn-a-lot-more-than-they-think-they-can-they-sell/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/a-company-is-a-group-organized-to-create-a-product-or-service-and-it/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [I'm glad to see that BMW is bringing an electric car to market. That's cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-m-glad-to-see-that-bmw-is-bringing-an-electric-car-to-market-that-s/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [When we got Tesla going at the very beginning, if you asked me what I thought the odds of success were, I would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/when-we-got-tesla-going-at-the-very-beginning-if-you-asked-me-what-i/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [If we drive down the cost of transportation in space, we can do great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/if-we-drive-down-the-cost-of-transportation-in-space-we-can-do-great/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [In order for us to have a future that's exciting and inspiring, it has to be one where we're a space-bearing civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/in-order-for-us-to-have-a-future-that-s-exciting-and-inspiring-it-has/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [The lessons of history would suggest that civilisations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far - the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-lessons-of-history-would-suggest-that-civilisations-move-in/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I'm not trying to be anyone's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-value-of-beauty-and-inspiration-is-very-much-underrated-no/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [If something's important enough, you should try. Even if - the probable outcome is failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/if-something-s-important-enough-you-should-try-even-if-the-probable/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [You should be innovating so fast that you're invalidating your prior patents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/you-should-be-innovating-so-fast-that-you-re-invalidating-your-prior/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-could-either-watch-it-happen-or-be-a-part-of-it/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

> [I'm anti-tax, but I'm pro-carbon tax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-m-anti-tax-but-i-m-pro-carbon-tax/)

[Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

[Explore all 284 Elon Musk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/)

## More Confined quotes

> [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/)

[Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/)

> [Good-breeding is not confined to externals, much less to any particular dress or attitude of the body; it is the art of pleasing, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/good-breeding-is-not-confined-to-externals-much-less-to-any/)

[Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/)

> [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/)

[Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/)

> [To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-learn-is-a-natural-pleasure-not-confined-to-philosophers-but/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [Yes, thou art ever present, power divine; not circumscribed by time, nor fixed by space, confined to altars, nor to temples bound. In wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/yes-thou-art-ever-present-power-divine-not-circumscribed-by-time-nor/)

[Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/)

> [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/)

[Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/)

> [I think my sound differentiates me from everyone else. I'm able to dip and dabble in other genres, without feeling out of place. Im…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iceberg-slim/i-think-my-sound-differentiates-me-from-everyone-else-i-m-able-to-dip/)

[Iceberg Slim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iceberg-slim/)

> [In New York, we're always confined with spaces. Our restaurants are difficult to navigate as cooks and to operate. We fight against the buildings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chang/in-new-york-we-re-always-confined-with-spaces-our-restaurants-are/)

[David Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chang/)

> [Most of my films I call arena films. I deal with a confined area -- an arena -- and I try to cover every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/most-of-my-films-i-call-arena-films-i-deal-with-a-confined-area-an/)

[Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/)

> [If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-i-were-confined-to-a-corner-of-a-garret-all-my-days-like-a-spider/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Neighbor is no longer confined to the vocabulary of the individual. It is a national word. Modern inventions have annihilated distance. Commercial relations have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/neighbor-is-no-longer-confined-to-the-vocabulary-of-the-individual-it/)

[David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/)

> [Wilderness is rapidly becoming one of those aspects of the American dream which is more of the past than of the present. Wilderness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/wilderness-is-rapidly-becoming-one-of-those-aspects-of-the-american/)

[Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/)

> [What if today.. you were inspired and fed by your thoughts instead of being confined by them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjo-riikka-makela/what-if-today-you-were-inspired-and-fed-by-your-thoughts-instead-of/)

Marjo-Riikka Makela

> [There is nothing wrong with intellectual differences flowing from freedom of thought as long as such differences remain confined to intellectual debates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pervez-musharraf/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-intellectual-differences-flowing-from/)

[Pervez Musharraf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pervez-musharraf/)

> [In Great Britain, woman was subordinate and confined. But at least she was also safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/in-great-britain-woman-was-subordinate-and-confined-but-at-least-she/)

[Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/)

Browse all 393 Confined quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary, or it's going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there's going to be an extinction event.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Elon Musk"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifurcate-in-two-directions-either/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Confined"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifurcate-in-two-directions-either/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c44/elon-musk-1138_confined_the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifur_2348462.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary…” — Elon Musk",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Elon Musk",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The future of humanity is going...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifurcate-in-two-directions-either/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-future-of-humanity-is-going-to-bifurcate-in-two-directions-either/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
