Stephen Hawking predicts man's expiration date: https://www.yahoo.com/news/stephen-hawking-puts-expiry-date-103124525.html
If we continue on this same trend, I agree with him. But I am an optimist, and I believe humans will wisen up when the shit looks like it is about to hit the fan. That said, we DO need to get off the planet or one rogue comet will cause our extinction.
We're growing more food on less land than ever before and we use resources better than ever before. I don't get all of the doom and gloom.
If they unveiled a starship tomorrow that could take you to the closest star, but would take 100 years in suspended animation and was a 1 way trip, do you go?
It's an interesting prospect. I'd probably do it if I could convince the husband. Of course I don't have children, which would change things.
I am not sure I would go, personally. But we don't even need to make one way trips to another star system. We already have 100's of thousands of people that have volunteered for one way trips to Mars.
I am not all doom and gloom, just acknowledging the potential. Yes, we are growing more food than ever before, but at what cost? Homogeneity in food products (take bananas for instance) is great for making lots of food, but all it will take is one bug or fungus to wipe it out. The increased likely hood of antibacterial resistant diseases is becoming more common. This tells me that our solutions often create other problems. But this has been true throughout human history and why I said I am an optimist and believe we will survive. In fact, the above scenarios will not (most likely) cause the human extinction. It is almost mathematically impossible to wipe out the entire species with one disease, for instance. But a combination of events could cause it, and most likely would cause an end to current human civilization. The only two scenarios where I see an actual extinction of the species is a) a planetary collision with another large body and b) a nuclear accident (war or industrial). But I think we will be OK.
this exactly. I remember when I was a kid that people were projecting much of the world would be starving by now because of overpopulation and if anything we have the lowest level of starvation now in world history.
Speak for yourself, I've gotten pretty good at wiping out the planet in about 30 days playing Plague... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plague-inc./id525818839?mt=8
Same type of bullshit Ted Danson was spewing 20 years ago about. "If we don't do something NOW(!!!) the oceans will all dry up by 20xx.... " If you want to go around scaremongering, go right ahead but after a while folks stop listening at all.
A pretty good M.O. for me has been to believe exactly the opposite of what the "environmentalist" whackos are screaming about... Legit science? I'm listening but anyone who tells me the world is going to explode if we don't do (insert anti capitalist dogma here) RIGHT NOW(!!!) is pissing into a strong headwind as far as I'm concerned.
