The End of Life As we Know It

[General Gonad]

From Black Holes, to Supervolcanoes, to Artificial Intelligence, to disease, what will bring down humanity and end life on Earth as we know it? I am watching it right now on ABC's 20/20:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/

It is fascinating. Can you imagine if you were with an SP when a Black Hole comes sucking you into its vortex?

GG

 

[Techman]

The planet has gone through periods of drastic climate change throughout it's history. I don't think it will be the cause of man's extinction unless it is due to some drastic event such as an asteroid strike or nuclear war.
I think the term Artificial Intelligence should be Artificially Developed Intelligence instead. People who believe this will lead to our extinction have watched the Terminator films one too many times. I think there will be human life on this planet until the day our sun either dies or goes supernova. Hopefully we will have found another planet to live on by then.

Can you imagine if you were with an SP when a Black Hole comes sucking you into its vortex?

There are just so many ways i could reply to this comment and all of them will get me banned so I'll just shut up.

 

[General Gonad]

The planet has gone through periods of drastic climate change throughout it's history. I don't think it will be the cause of man's extinction unless it is due to some drastic event such as an asteroid strike or nuclear war.

I disagree. Global warming is wreaking havoc on planet Earth and every serious scientist knows it. Only Bush and the oil industry's pseudo-scientists do not believe in global warming.

GG

P.S. I have little confidence in our world leaders. I believe war and disease will kill us long before the next asteroid strikes.

 

[eastender]

Chicken Little

All the alarmist pseudo science is interesting but it ignores some very simple data.

In the last 100 years the average life span in North America has increased from roughly 47 years to app 80 years despite two world wars,Korea,Viet Nam, dramatic increases in accidental deaths due to car accidents etc,significant increases in the homicide rate, the advent of new diseases such as AIDS,the proliferation of pollution,growth of drug abuse,etc.

Granted the quality of medical knowledge and health science has increased exponentially - cancer is no longer a death sentence,polio has been significantly curtailed,tuberculosis is not the health threat that it was, etc.

Global warming may be a factor but mankind has shown an ability to reach a state of equilibrium and adapt or modify abuses of the environment.

 

[General Gonad]

Global warming may be a factor but mankind has shown an ability to reach a state of equilibrium and adapt or modify abuses of his environment.

Well, I am not as optimistic as you. Mankind in its perrenial quest to subordinate Mother Nature, will realize (too late) that it cannot control its fate. We are a mere speck of dust in the cosmos and we will succumb to our own stupidity.

GG

 

[oobe]

In the last 100 years the average life span in North America has increased from roughly 47 years to app 80 years despite two world wars,Korea,Viet Nam, dramatic increases in accidental deaths due to car accidents etc,significant increases in the homicide rate, the advent of new diseases such as AIDS,the proliferation of pollution,growth of drug abuse,etc.

Instead of the extinction of mankind, I expect more of the same we've seen in past centuries (except for the last couple of decades in the western world): lots of misery and suffering, but survival of the species.

Global warming may wipe out countries, flood fertile lands and only leave deserts and mountains, diseases may kill half the population, but check what's happening around Chernobyl: cancers, mutant babies, but people still survive long enough to reproduce.

What's unbearable to us will look ok to those who won't have known anything else - men adapt to anything.

 

[General Gonad]

If asked whats the largest plague affecting earth? The answer would be mankind. We are a virus and Mother Earth will cleans itself if nessary.

BDC,

You can say that again. Whether we like it or not, we are at Mother Nature's mercy.

GG

 

[anon_vlad]

The Gaia Hypothesis

I think that Big Daddy was kidding, but:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_theory_(science)