Can the human race survive the next 100 years?

[Pebs]

I hope so. I plan to live a very very long time and become a total pain in the buttocks for my children.

[Metalface Mark]

Originally Posted by Ravenlord

Let's consider then the obstacles that we are facing in the 21st century as a race, obstacles that will likely grow and become ever more insurmountable as we go on into the next century...

Take for example terrorism. It would take only one act, one device with a high enough casualty list, to spark a war on the middle east so great in scale that nuclear weapons would almost certainly be used.

Nature is fighting back for our past mistakes. Crops are failing. Bees are disappearing. The world is getting warmer.

Oil is running out; it is the world's most precious resource and a major world war over energy can no longer be resigned to the realms of fiction.

Relations between nuclear-capable nations are deteriorating. The most obvious example is the west and Russia. Are we heading for another cold war?

The Balkans are coming apart at the seams. Turmoil in the region is what led to the First World War. We've already seen with the Georgian crisis that old quarrels still persist, and sides will inevitably be taken between countries that could blast each other into the stoneage.

Whether this means the human race will cease to exist within 100 years is perhaps an exaggeration, but it seems increasingly likely that the next few decades is going to be very tough going for us as a race.

Oils not running out, in all of history from when we started using oil, we have used about 1/3 the total amount. Theres plently of renewable energy to replace it as well.

The human race has a very good way of adapting to change, and in times of need, things can be found and done. Take sending man to the moon by 1969, a challenge was issued, new technologies were developed, and they got their within the guideline set out.

[Fayshun]

TBH I don't think any of the former superpowers would ever use a nuke, they understand the concept of mutually assured destruction.

The only nuclear threat comes form some 2-bob country that has a nuclear arsenal that can be couted on the fingers of both hands. Not much of a threat to the whole of mankind.

[Ravenlord]

Originally Posted by Fayshun

TBH I don't think any of the former superpowers would ever use a nuke, they understand the concept of mutually assured destruction.

The only nuclear threat comes form some 2-bob country that has a nuclear arsenal that can be couted on the fingers of both hands. Not much of a threat to the whole of mankind.

The problem with MAD is it only works if the instigators care about living or dying, particuarly if their brand of religion decrees that sacrifice on the battlefield is a surefire way of getting into paradise. Another point to consider is that if the aggressor's think they can disable the target's nuclear capabilities in a first strike attack, there's little to hold them back.

In a hundred years we could well have established human colonies on the moon. In fact some believe that if the Roman Empire hadn't fallen and mankind procrastinated for centuries in the Dark and Middle Ages, we would already be on Mars and beyond by now. We as human beings have an incredible ability to adapt far beyond what we think we are capable of, but again, it only takes one event, one trigger, to catalyse something disasterous. We've seen it too many times before to ignore it. As we enter a tougher economic climate and people become more and more selfish, and homegrown terrorism continues to snake it's way through our communities it will be interesting to see just how much we can endure before we start turning on each other.

Just think, in 50 years time medical advancements could see people living for so long that death rates plummet and overpopulation becomes the biggest threat to world security. Nature has a way of dealing with these things, and the spread of a highly contagious disease, i.e. human HN51 for example, in a culling of say 1/3 of the world's population, would certainly even things out and ease the strain on an already overly cultivated planet.

[divine]

Originally Posted by Ravenlord

In fact some believe that if the Roman Empire hadn't fallen and mankind procrastinated for centuries in the Dark and Middle Ages, we would already be on Mars and beyond by now.

The only place i've seen that is posted on OcUK by one of the crackpot alien conspiracy theorists last week

[Ravenlord]

Originally Posted by divine

The only place i've seen that is posted on OcUK by one of the crackpot alien conspiracy theorists last week

It was on a documentary, might well have been 'In the shadow of the moon'. It is an interesting thought considering how technologically advanced the Romans were for their time, they swept across Europe like a plague, and how very little of note occured between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance, Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution that followed due to the actions of an antagonistic Christian church that oppressed scientific advancement for centuries.

[Matblack]

Originally Posted by cleanbluesky

I think I know where you're going with this, homosexuality concerns me too.

Don't be concerned, we are very open minded here, just be yourself

MB

[cleanbluesky]

Originally Posted by Matblack

Don't be concerned, we are very open minded here, just be yourself

MB

Who, dear, me, dear, gay, dear, no, dear...

[loki]

Originally Posted by divine

The only place i've seen that is posted on OcUK by one of the crackpot alien conspiracy theorists last week

As in Aliens don't exist

In regards to the OP, I was thinking about the question indirectly this morning. In as much as the political model of democracy and the economic model of capitalism brought about a lot of personal wealth, does it serve the best interests of mankind ?

I often wonder how much more advanced we would be as a species if we weren't wasting resources as we do. There is such a disparity between the haves and have nots and it only appears to be getting wider. Would we be talking about colonizing Mars if as a planet we had a unified space programme ? I suspect we would be further on than we are.

Anyway i'm with the Mayans. They predicted all of the current worldy up heaval. Don't worry it's all due to end this November. I'm not sure if thats a good or a bad thing though

[Fayshun]

This thread delivers. Romans, Mayans, The Gays and the end of humanity!