Discussion
Our sun still has around a billion years worth of energy in it, so if our planet lasts about the same time it has a ways to go.
Humans have only been around for 200,000 years of so, and 'civilization' for a lot less, so as a species we are only just beginning our lease on Planet Earth.
What will the future of humans on earth look like? Will we manage to eke out the planet's resources for thousands of years more? Or just hundreds of years? Or less? Must we necessarily seek to expand onto other planets? Population growth - for how long is it sustainable? Should we as a species be doing some seriously long-term planning? Is anyone doing this? Politicians seem to have a horizon only as far away as the election-after-next so who is thinking about the what happens in 100/200/500 years?
What will Future Earth look like?
Some random thoughts:
Race - will we merge into one race?
Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
??
Humans have only been around for 200,000 years of so, and 'civilization' for a lot less, so as a species we are only just beginning our lease on Planet Earth.
What will the future of humans on earth look like? Will we manage to eke out the planet's resources for thousands of years more? Or just hundreds of years? Or less? Must we necessarily seek to expand onto other planets? Population growth - for how long is it sustainable? Should we as a species be doing some seriously long-term planning? Is anyone doing this? Politicians seem to have a horizon only as far away as the election-after-next so who is thinking about the what happens in 100/200/500 years?
What will Future Earth look like?
Some random thoughts:
Race - will we merge into one race?
Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
??
BIANCO said:
Personally I think its only a matter of time before we wipe ourselves out.
That's a fondly held idea but how would you kill every human being on the planet? Probably impossible to do deliberately (world wars and holocausts didn't dent the global population); don't see how it's going to happen by accident.I think a new Dark Ages might be awaiting. History goes in cycles. You can imagine the Romans lounging around in their tricliniums eating grapes and thinking 'Aren't we great! This is the ultimate in civisation. What could possibly go wrong?'
Ayahuasca said:
Race - will we merge into one race?
Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
1) Probably not, it would be hard to overcome the hate that humanity has for each other.
2) Hopefully, as long as some sense of common decency and morality is preserved
3) Maybe. Natural gas seems to be an interesting route.
4) I'm sure some will be cured, but the illnesses that remain profitable might not be. Sounds terrible, but I wonder sometimes. a
I would imagine that some areas would become one big city, like Leeds Manchester Birmingham, or New York, Washington and so on. War will become more computerised, there might be more big brother than ever before, and judging by how often people are glued to their computers or phones now, we all might never leave home. HA.
Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
1) Probably not, it would be hard to overcome the hate that humanity has for each other.
2) Hopefully, as long as some sense of common decency and morality is preserved
3) Maybe. Natural gas seems to be an interesting route.
4) I'm sure some will be cured, but the illnesses that remain profitable might not be. Sounds terrible, but I wonder sometimes. a
I would imagine that some areas would become one big city, like Leeds Manchester Birmingham, or New York, Washington and so on. War will become more computerised, there might be more big brother than ever before, and judging by how often people are glued to their computers or phones now, we all might never leave home. HA.
Terminator X said:
We're due a large meteor strike soon in geological terms so don't hold your breath
Random events don't work like that. Unless you know and can predict every meteor, the chance of being hit this year is the same as it was last year and the same as it was in every other year. And you can't do anything about it so you may as well discount it and carry on 
Ayahuasca said:
Race - will we merge into one race?
Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
I think you must mean nation as we're already one race.Religion - will we abandon it?
Energy - will we find a way of tapping into the energy at the Earth's core?
Human evolution - will future evolution be 'managed' to prevent reproduction, disease?
Religion will eventually die off over the next few hundred years as the hypocrites realise that according to their holy books modern technology and science shouldn't exist. Yet they are already embracing it on a daily basis. I'm sure it will dawn on them eventually.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, therefore at some point in our future I suspect it will become central to our energy supply. How? I've no idea but I'd say it stood to reason that it's the route that mankind will take.
Nature has kept humanity in check in the past, inevitably it will do so again at some point. Perhaps we will destroy ourselves with some misjudged nanotechnology. Something we create for our benefit that spirals out of control maybe. Or a pandemic on a scale never before seen. Both are real possibilities don't you think?
As someone said earlier, just when you think you are at the peak of civilisation, the £?&@ hits the fan. It's a gloomy outlook long term but I think we'd be naive to think otherwise unfortunately. I'm not talking extinction but I am talking an 80-90% population reduction in an incredibly short time scale, by historic measurements.
BryanUsrey said:
War will become more computerised, there might be more big brother than ever before, and judging by how often people are glued to their computers or phones now, we all might never leave home. HA.
I'd be careful about assuming that ICT as it stands now is the end of the road 
- but people remaining at home and doing whatever might be the uber uber modern equivalent of posting on here, taking conference calls, alerting all and sundry of one's status on The Book Of Faeces or using Chat Rooms rather than going out into the big wide world probably has legs .Terminator X said:
Very large meteors hit every 65m years or so, fairly sure that is a fact. One is due now +/- a million years or so
TX.
No they don't. The last large meteorite DID strike 65 million years ago. The next one could be tomorrow - or 100 million years in the future - or even never.TX.
Eric Mc said:
Terminator X said:
Very large meteors hit every 65m years or so, fairly sure that is a fact. One is due now +/- a million years or so
TX.
No they don't. The last large meteorite DID strike 65 million years ago. The next one could be tomorrow - or 100 million years in the future - or even never.TX.
HRL said:
I think you must mean nation as we're already one race.
We're one species (we can all interbreed) but several races (Caucasian, Asiatic, Negroid etc). If we were all one race no-one could play the race card when they wanted something.HRL said:
Religion will eventually die off over the next few hundred years as the hypocrites realise that according to their holy books modern technology and science shouldn't exist. Yet they are already embracing it on a daily basis. I'm sure it will dawn on them eventually.
I'd like to think so but there will always be people who prefer mumbo-jumbo to facts. On a specific, look at the anti-GM brigade. They don't understand something so they are fearful and try to destroy it trough ignorance, suspicion or both.HRL said:
Nature has kept humanity in check in the past, inevitably it will do so again at some point. Perhaps we will destroy ourselves with some misjudged nanotechnology. Something we create for our benefit that spirals out of control maybe. Or a pandemic on a scale never before seen. Both are real possibilities don't you think?
It keeps humanity in check with plague and famine but has not destroyed it. Inventing something that kills all 8 billion humans down to the last breeding pair in a cave in the Andes is science fiction I think.HRL said:
I'm not talking extinction but I am talking an 80-90% population reduction in an incredibly short time scale, by historic measurements.
That contradicts your last paragraph but it would make the M25 nicer Eric Mc said:
No they don't. The last large meteorite DID strike 65 million years ago. The next one could be tomorrow - or 100 million years in the future - or even never.
It's an interesting logic fail though: 'The last one was 65M years ago so they happen every 65M years' OR 'must be due any day now'.I'd also venture that one day the internet will be gone and for the bulk of mankind at least, life will revert to a simpler mode.
there are no races, arbitrary social constructs only
any two random unrelated 'black' men are just as different genetically as any other two unrelated men (more so even - far wider spread of genetic material within africa than outside)
anyway, massive asteroid/comet strike could easily wipe out all life, all 'big' creatures anyway
any two random unrelated 'black' men are just as different genetically as any other two unrelated men (more so even - far wider spread of genetic material within africa than outside)
anyway, massive asteroid/comet strike could easily wipe out all life, all 'big' creatures anyway
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