What has been thrown at us?

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Caddyshack II

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Are being retarded on purpose?

The very fact that our species even got the chance to evolve and develop was a 1 in a trillion miracle. Disease, famine, war, whatever...

Are you trying to imply that our species has had it easy? This isn't a "They never beat anyone during the regular season!" talk. Take that shit to the B&B show!

And it isn't just "Well, an asteroid didn't hit us, so we've had it easy!" It's the disease, the famine, the war and how many times society went to the brink.

Stop. I argue with you because you're not a fucking idiot. I wish you would argue more.

And no, our species hasn't been here long enough to overcome anything significant. If we have, tell me what it is. War is man made. We have overcone disease, but thats still an ongoing battle. Famine isnt unique to man.

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We are still here, going from the miracle of actually forming life on Earth to the point we are at today is a stunning achievement. We've survived nature itself and self-inflicted disaster both physical and societal. No, there hasn't been an asteroid, Killer Clowns from Outer Space or Godzilla but we've made it this far

Not an easy achievement, our immunity to disease and such was earned, not given.

Fuk Hollywood. They never get it right.

Let me rephrase. We have overcome amazing things, within the scope of the existence we know. My point is that this existence is extremely insignificant. Our existence has earned its place against diseases and viruses, but it doesn't make us any more significant or less destroyable. We would be lucky if our future is a dystopia. It's much more likely that we won't exist at all.

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I find that stance more agreeable and your take on it is actually what I was trying to convey. In that, we walk the razors edge of existence, one or two nudges this way or that and our species never even gets the chance to be destroyed by an asteroid.

I bet cro magnon and homo hobilis wish they were half as good at overcoming non adversities. Number1 baby!

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Could Dorf the Caveman have overcome Coach K kicking sand in his face like BernSTINE did?

I think not!

I would argue that civilization in those 12-30,000 years has presented an incredible amount of challenges over those experienced in the first 2-5 million years. Political control is probably one of the biggest dystopian fears humans have had during that period. We've overcome numerous attempts at totalitarian control with Nazi Germany control over the Jewish population being probably the most recent and significant examples. The asteroid wiping us out or the planet's gravitational pull changing are things that can certainly wipe us out, but its on the more extreme part of the scale. I just don't see a future like that in Mad Max. I see a future of cycles in and out of dystopia society. There will always be revolution to combat controlling governments. There will always be science to cure disease. There will always be human innovation to combat challenges.

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Yeah well you live in fucking Crystal Lake.

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If you are looking for a grand challenge to humanity on the scale of an asteroid, it is very possible that the technological singularity will occur.

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Of course. Are you also a Kurzweil guy?

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Yes. Yes I do.

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Indirectly.

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Also pretty heavy follower of Daniel Quinn, which means I am a hypocrite and should be screaming much more about the coming Mad Max society.

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Holy shit. The man shaped my entire world view at a young age.

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As I've gotten older, I can see what he wrote in Beyond Civilization probably would never work, but interestingly enough, that short book probably gave a lot of the answers to how we reduce our dystopian fear.

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As long as we remember to follow the Prime Directive we're golden.

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a glimpse of man living in his natural state

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I think a lot of you underestimate just how great life is compared to pretty much any other time in history. It's going to continue to get better too.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Here: Yes

Other parts of the world where resources are scarce is going to be different. People will probably be fighting over fresh water sometime during our lifetime. I don't look forward to that.

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I agree with this. We take things for granted.

I'm curious to see how we deal with the end of fossil fuels. That's one we have to invent our way out of, or our economies moving forward will look much different.

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I actually think that is a problem that will mostly solve itself. What probably stifled innovation the most was how cheap gas used to be. Fossil fuel usage has become an economic problem. No one cares about the environment. They care if gas is $7 a gallon. That creates a market oppourtunity for smaller/more efficient/different types of cars and engines.

As a backup plan, full electric + nuclear/wind/solar will get us through it but it's unlikely we'll run out of any fossil fuels in our lifetime.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

An interesting read is "The End of Growth." I read part of it last year. The author talks about the fact that the concept of "Economic growth" as an expectation from year-to-year is only a concept that has come about since the use of fossil fuels. Perpetual economic growth was never expected prior to the use of fossil fuels, and he argues that it is inevitable that after fossil fuels are gone, the expectation of economic growth will also dissipate. I don't necessarily agree - it depends what science can do between now and then. And I agree with you completely in that it is an economic issue, not an environmental issue.

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Dead or alive, you're coming with me.

Star Trek...not Robocop

Robocop had the Prime DirectiveS, 4 of them.

"Serve the public trust"
"Protect the innocent"
"Uphold the law"
(Classified)


Star Trek = Prime Directive

As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Star Fleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation.

Study up, bro!