How long will the human race last?

[brewdog]

It amazes me how so many people can predict such events when they still can't seem to get the daily "weather forecast" right and they have Doppler Radar.

"No man knows the day or the hour." I'd like to get a few hundred more hours on my 3040 though.

 

[kidr]

I thank God that we're not allowed to discuss religion or politics on TBN

 

[Egon]

Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.



It all depends on the perspective.:thumbsup:

 

[SPYDERLK]

Interesting topic. I'd like to throw in one thought...repeated reference to the human race as, "Man", is really outdated and unfair. There are as many intelligent females in the world as males. "People", "Human", my favorite, "Folks".
...we don't require our women to wear veils. There's a reason for that

Man. Woman. Human. Mankind. Notice the commonality? Why fixate? PC will make it hard to talk.
larry

 

[dave1949]

I thank God that we're not allowed to discuss religion or politics on TBN

Indeed.

I try not not discuss religion per se. There are philosophical and cultural phenomena to consider. :laughing:

We all have our own 'truths'. I try to distinguish between the personal pursuit of truth and the protection of mythology; there is a difference.
Dave.

 

[Chuck52]

Hopefully long enough for me to harvest my sweetcorn, I really like sweetcorn.

I'm going to pull an ear of mine today to check the progress, so you guys better duck and cover.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

On the other hand, from what I've been reading in other threads it appears that the Mayan's were just off by about a month.

Chuck

 

[jimmyj]

Does this mean when the corn is ready we're all schnookered? I like corn too.

Seroiosly, people will scratch along in one form or another until the planet or sun is fundamentally altered (quickly) by some form of catastrophe such as asteroid collision or outer space phenomenom (i.e. supernova or giant sun radiation burst). I think only those sorts of major disasters can cause our extinction.

We as a race will really mess things up by generally doing dumb things but some of us will still get through these challenges one way or another.

I personally think the greatest threats that will come to pass, without causing our extinction are:

- inability for humans to coexist peacefully. As one group (ethnic, religious, political, etc) grows it tries to take over - that's always been our way. Then, it repeats with another group in time. I worry that we seem headed for a showdown again as what used to be 2nd or 3rd world countries grow to points of empowerment.

- mutations of disease and the rapid ability for them to spread around the world. This would be augmented by another world war if it happened.

- food alteration for no good benefit. (Good food alteration is a benefit but not bad food alteration). Our bodies evolved in certain ways and in consideration of our surroundings. We do good things like improve medical care, nutrition etc but we offset them with manipulation of foods for commercial benefit or other corrupt reasons. Our bodies will not react well to bad evolutions to our foods.

- pollution. No good comes from using your house as a toilet. If we burn off too much ozone, our plants will all die. If we mess the oceans up too much, no more oxygen or food. Almost all of the major food species of fish have been permanently altered by human consumption. That's a pretty major statement in itself.

- overpopulation. This causes eventual overtaxing of resources and a collapse of the system of order. It's inevitable regardless of the type of animal, humans included.

I'd love to have a time machine. Don't know if I'd want to go forward or back though.....

I also think that "faith" in itself is a good thing but "blind faith" is not. This is not a shot at any religion or faith of any sort. But I think that the physical world must be recognized and reacted to regardless of the strength of a person's faith.

Whew...enough said. I'm gonna make ribs and corn today, and have a Bud! *Note new avatar, mmmm ribs and corn....mmmm

 

[JB4310]

I'd love to have a time machine. Don't know if I'd want to go forward or back though.....


Whew...enough said. I'm gonna make ribs and corn today, and have a Bud! *Note new avatar, mmmm ribs and corn....mmmm

I would go back to the old west days, That's my fantasy world

Your avatar is making me hungry, I'm about to eat some local corn myself :licking:


As far as evolution goes, the human species is not changing very quickly, that's how natural evolution works. What will dramatically change that is going to be unnatural influences like bio and genetic engineering.

As was mentioned, we are so far from securing our survival by colonizing space from where we are now. But once we start evolving at a pace that is equal to the advancements in technology, the impossible will become possible.

I'm really not a sci fi person, but it looks like that's where we are heading.

JB.

 

[RobertBrown]

I'd love to have a time machine. Don't know if I'd want to go forward or back though.....

Why not both?