Will Humanity end?

[Craftsman]

At our current rate, is humanity just on the way to destruction?

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Of course it will whether by evolution or total destruction. It's only the time frame in which it will happens that is in question.

[KOTORFanactic]

Yep (w00t)

 

I mean, eventually, we will travel to other planets, but the humans that colonize the new planets will evolve according to the nature of the planet. so would they be human after all that time?

 

(i.e. settle on a desert planet, start to look more like camels, large nostrils, massive eyelashes, big hump thing to store water, they would be much thinner due to less fat.)

 

So in the end, as soon as Earth is destroyed (one way or another) humanities doom is certain.

[Jurgenaut]

The drake equation (a tool for guessing the amount of alien civilizations in our galaxy) has a variable L, which means the average lifetime of a civilization.

 

How long is such a lifetime? Do increased technological advances pose a threat when social and humanistic advances stagnate?

 

Only time will tell. However, if we let money be the ultimate motive to everything we do, we will burn in about 5 billion years when the sun swallows our planet. Space exploration isn't economical (unless we stripmine Mercury and Mars).

 

All things have an end, except for the sausage, for it has two.

[Cantousent]

We only know what we can perceive. Since our perception tells us all things are fleeting, then it is inevitible that humanity will some day perish. Does that matter? The nihilists will say that it doesn't make any difference anyhow... that we're only individuals and that anything we leave behind has nothing to do with us after we're dead. This is undoubtedly true in the strictest sense.

 

I have a different belief, however. There are two possibilities after we die: either we simply cease to exist or we exist in some other fashion. To those who argue most strenuously that death is the end and that it's foolish to suggest otherwise, I will simply smile and nod. I don't begrudge them their belief. I tire of the notion that belief is somehow equivalent to ignorance, but I'm not going to pick that fight. I look far less ignorant in being willing to accept that there is an opposing view anyhow.

 

On the other hand, acting and living within the confines of my personal code, which carries with it the conviction of eternal life, does no harm to others around me. I cannot answer for what others are willing to do under the pretext of religion. I can only answer for myself and what I argue are the genuine tenets of my faith. With all that stated up front, I seem to be a pretty popular fellow. Indeed, if I'm to judge by my friends (a truly eclectic bunch of folks comprised of a wide array from staunch atheists to devout fundamentalist Christians) then I can only assume that my religion hasn't hurt my interpersonal skills in the least. In that case, I suggest that our belief or lack thereof doesn't make us incompatible. In other words, if we simply die or if we transcend, we can still live honorably and well on Earth.

 

So, to the original question... I'm sure humanity will die, but it doesn't matter. Humanity is not likely to perish during our lifetimes and, atheist or Christian, its ultimate demise is far less important than the here and now.

 

***

I'd like to note that I don't speak as anything other than a Christian and a Catholic.

 

There are a variety of religious (or at least spiritualist) beliefs concerning an afterlife. I merely use the term transcend as a convenient way to wrap disparate beliefs into one package. Since we're a bunch of geeks talking on a message board, I figure I can be forgiven trying to keep the argument simple.

[Product of the Cosmos]

At our current rate, is humanity just on the way to destruction?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

At our current rate IMO we are destroying a lot, but not approaching total destruction quite yet. If that indeed is what were meant for.

 

Soon(next 5-20 years) will have to be some of the biggest changes in our societal structure for many centuries, or destruction may be our end. If the Truth about some things comes out. There is no question a revolution will occur IMO. I'm just hopin the truth comes out.. lol. Because at heart IMO humans are decent people and don't deserve to be weeded out by natural selection through such a hasty way.

[oherror]

yes...the question is when...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....when ever i can jump start a nuke war.....jk

[Darth Sirius]

Well the suns gonna super nova sometime ............. :D

 

And pretty much doubtless unless we all learn to get along. Unless its a natural disaster.

[deganawida]

Minor correction: Sol doesn't have enough mass to go super nova. It will, however, go nova. It will still wipe out the earth and most of the solar system when it does go nova.

[Jurgenaut]

Minor correction:  Sol doesn't have enough mass to go super nova.  It will, however, go nova.  It will still wipe out the earth and most of the solar system when it does go nova.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Another minor correction:

Before it goes nova, it will have become a red giant, expanding out and swallowing the earth. :D

[deganawida]

D'oh! Forgot about that part! The red giant will swallow everything up to Mars, right? It's been a while.

[TentamusDarkblade]

check this site out for all your end of the world needs.

[Weiser_Cain]

I have the perfect solution, space travel. That way we can breed and expand at a rate that hopefully exceeds our growing rate of destruction.

[DemonKing]

It all depends on who wins the next US election, I guess...

[Opus131]

I tire of the notion that belief is somehow equivalent to ignorance

 

It's not the believing that denotes ignorance, it's the nature of your beleif.

 

I can live with the notion of an after life of sort, but i despise the convinction behind arbitrary dogmas which are nothing but figments of our own wishful imagination and yet it's blindly accept as 'truth', without doubt nor reason, plus the inherent hateful arrogance and intollerance (wheter open in criticism or merely condiscending) the doctrine manifests against none beleivers.

 

Beleive all you want, but religion simply needs to die...

[Weiser_Cain]

I don't believe there is an afterlife. I also don't think that anyone with strong religious beliefs should be in a topic like this.

[Arkan]

check this site out for all your end of the world needs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was going to post this, butthole! "

 

Exit Mundi is an awesome (if a bit unbelievable) site. Good to see someone else knows of it.

[Arkan]

check this site out for all your end of the world needs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was going to post this, butthole! "

 

Exit Mundi is an awesome (if a bit unbelievable) site. Good to see someone else knows of it.

[Cantousent]

Beleive all you want, but religion simply needs to die...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

good luck killing it.

[TentamusDarkblade]

check this site out for all your end of the world needs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was going to post this, butthole! "

 

Exit Mundi is an awesome (if a bit unbelievable) site. Good to see someone else knows of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i enjoy the fact that the first half of each description sells you on the end of the world event...then the last half totally debunks it. fair and balanced paranoia

[StormHammer]

I think we'll probably come close to extinction sooner rather than later. I'm just waiting for the old supervolcano under Yellowstone to pop it's cork, and residents of planet Earth are going to have a bad day. Some scientists believe humankind came close to extinction when Toba erupted 74,000 years ago, and Yellowstone is an order of magnitude larger.

 

As for escaping to (or colonising) other worlds - we'd better hurry up and do something about it before we've stripped all the resources from this planet and basically stranded ourself through lack of materials. At the very least we should have our eyes on the asteroid belt and exploiting it for raw materials.

 

While I do think we should 'tread carefully' when it comes to planetary exploration (especially in terms of any kinds of resident life forms - we should not interfere and unbalance potential ecosystems) we will have to exploit the resources of other worlds in order to expand and give ourselves a better chance for survival.

 

In that regard we might become more like the roving 'parasitic' aliens in the film Independence Day. And as others have suggested, genetic manipulation could mean we simply reinvent ourselves and adapt to survive in the environments of other planets - rather than trying to 'terraform' them. However it transpires, we still need to make that 'first step' to another planet, but also look more carefully at setting up 'supply lines' to aid in extending our reach initially throughout the solar system, and then further afield.

[Craftsman]

Opus131 why does religion need to die?

 

A man walked was walking with a Priest and said

 

"Religion is useless. Look at all the worlds problems. It has solved nothing"

 

The priest didnt reply but kept on walking. They came across a poor man, who was dirty as had not washed for days. The priest got out a bar of soap and said to the man

 

"To the athiest, religion is like a of soup. It tastes sour and discusting when eaten, but it is not being used corretly. It is for washing so that we may be clean."

 

He gave the soap to the poor man.

 

"In the same way if religion was applied properly, as it was meant to bethere would be no troubles. Instead our human pride has caused us to look beyond the problem, in which we are to blame, and to blame something else."

[Arkan]

Opus131 why does religion need to die?

 

A man walked was walking with a Priest and said

 

"Religion is useless. Look at all the worlds problems. It has solved nothing"

 

The priest didnt reply but kept on walking. They came across a poor man, who was dirty as had not washed for days. The priest got out a bar of soap and said to the man

 

"To the athiest, religion is like a of soup. It tastes sour and discusting when eaten, but it is not being used corretly. It is for washing so that we may be clean."

 

He gave the soap to the poor man.

 

"In the same way if religion was applied properly, as it was meant to bethere would be no troubles. Instead our human pride has caused us to look beyond the problem, in which we are to blame, and to blame something else."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That doesn't even make sense.

[Althernai]

Beleive all you want, but religion simply needs to die...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ah, but it cannot die -- not while you are incapable of presenting a rigorous proof of the fact that people's beliefs are wrong. Many human beings are optimists; if it cannot be shown that there is no afterlife, afterlives will be believed in.

[ramza]

To the thread's question:

 

"Yes, it will... it will die by my very own hands..."