extinkce

Extinkce is a neologism used in speculative theory and interdisciplinary studies to describe an irreversible process of complete erasure or disappearance that extends beyond biological extinction. It refers to the loss of entities—such as species, cultures, technologies, or repositories of information—through interconnected stressors that compound until recovery becomes impossible.

The term is a modern coinage that blends elements of "extinct" and "extinction" with a nominalizing suffix, and it first appeared in speculative futures literature in the early 2020s. It is not standard across disciplines and is used variably by scholars and writers.

In conservation contexts extinkce is used to model scenarios where multiple threats overlap—habitat loss, climate change, invasive species—and the risk of irreversible loss increases nonlinearly. In information science it describes sudden, irreversible erasure of digital knowledge due to successive failures, lack of redundancy, and poor archiving. In cultural studies and anthropology it denotes the disappearance of practices, languages, or identities due to globalization, diaspora, and policy neglect.

Extinkce emphasizes systemic tipping points, feedback loops, and thresholds beyond which revival is not feasible. It is often analyzed through scenario planning, resilience metrics, and loss-risk assessment.

Critics argue that extinkce risks conflating distinct domains and overextending the term, while proponents see it as a useful heuristic for highlighting interconnected vulnerabilities and guiding precautionary action.

Related concepts include extinction, cultural extinction, information loss, ecosystem collapse, and resilience.