It's as Bob from the planet of living matresses preached as he commanded his flock...
 
Oh wait, religious topics are against the TOS - nevermind.

The Great Universal Uncertainty says....oh wait.....

drewfx1
Many people believe the World will end during their lifetime. I've become convinced that this is a function of their own melodramatic sense of self-importance.
 
Me? I know enough to know that the World would never dare end during my lifetime.

The world will most definitely end eventually in about 3 billion years or so from now when the sun enters it's final stage. But before the sun engulfs the Earth the sun would have long since burned every living thing at which point in time Earth will look very much like a giant flaming lava ball. 

So, I guess humans will have plenty of time to pack a picnic lunch and plan a trip to another Earth-like planet.  Although, I think the gravity on Earth 2 might be a bit different than usual and if that's the case? we may not need airplanes to get around. Ha' literally one giant leap for humankind. 

let`s face it-the biggest threat to mankind is overpopulation and eventually the top 10 % will engineer a socio-economically targeted virus to "thin the herd".
fortunately,considering the average age of this forum,it will hopefully remain science fiction while we are here.
we are at a remarkable point in our evolutionary scale and the "end of days" prophecies are now probabilities due as Linear Phase stated,to the "greed of man"
all the more reason to make the most of the precious time we have left and more importantly,look after our young.
growing up is hard enough but knowing the earth is stuffed and it`s only a matter of time and there`s nothing you can do about it must have a bearing on their outlook and expectations.
i feel so lucky to have been a post-war baby,growing up in a small country town before the brave new world of technology severed our last ties to the ultimate agrarian animals we were and reduced us to compliant consumers.
having said that i`ve just been into town in my biodiesel truck and bought my Free Trade coffee to have with my free range eggs to offset all the other crap i bought.
oh well 
cheers 
 
 
 
 
 

webbs hill studio
let`s face it-the biggest threat to mankind is overpopulation and eventually the top 10 % will engineer a socio-economically targeted virus to "thin the herd".
 

What? LOL! Where do people get these ideas from? How well did you think this through? First of all, how much does the "top 10%" know about manufacturing herd-thinning viruses? Even if they manage to pay off a crew of unscrupulous scientists to manufacture it for them - and of course a vaccine for the exclusive use of the elite - how would they "socio-economically target" something like this without the threat of it spreading to the rest of the population, and wiping them out too? And how would they stop the 99% or so of scientists who hadn't been paid off (and who wouldn't dream of facilitating mass genocide in a million years) developing a cure, or a vaccine? What would happen if the plot got out? Could this fictional 10% guarantee the support of the military for protection? 
 
I don't even believe that overpopulation is our biggest threat. I believe the "western" style of life, i.e. democracy and prosperity, will spread. And with prosperity comes a lower birth rate. The thing about Western consumerism (and that includes everyone on this forum who loves audio technology) is that you have to work to sustain the lifestyle. Most families in the West stop at 1 or 2 kids - 3 tops - because there just isn't enough time to have any more, and doing so would severely cramp the lifestyle they've grown accustomed to. Of course there are exceptions, notably the kind of welfare recipients who spend a life on the dole and are comfortable with the state paying for the upkeep of their sprogs. Most of the population expansion in Britain and the US over the last few decades has been the result of immigration, not increased birth rates. 
 
As for the poorer countries, well of course the bulk of population growth happens in the third world. High fertility rates come with high infant mortality rates (as they once did in the US) and also parents in poor countries tend to produce larger families because they need to rely on the labor of their children. In the US, a move to two-children families took place when infant mortality rates dropped, when employment opportunities outside of the home became available to women, and when the economy changed from agrarian to industrial. And once what we recognize as the "modern lifestyle" became a possibility, people realized that there was more to life than perpetually giving birth. 

The third world has a long way to go before they reach anything approaching a modern Western lifestyle. The totalitarianism and tyranny that they face are their biggest hurdles. But people have broken free before and they'll do it again. 
 
Besides which, what makes you think that scientists who can engineer viruses which don't spread outside of a socio-economic class, can't also solve the problems of world hunger? 
 
I'm tired of all the pessimism and the Chicken-Lickenism. 

Rightio Pangloss. 
 
I think all the broken free people will get their asses kicked by the Asian countries eventually.

As un-religious as I may be, I understand how a religious person could feel singled out and oppressed coming to these boards and seeing all the people discussing moral/political issues and being free to say whatever they want simply because no official church endorse them.
 
I don't think it's fair to bring in such debates and to deny either believers or non-believers. No matter what I think outside of this context - on these forums, in THIS context, it isn't fair.
 
I'm not putting the blame on any one - I do it and many of us do it. And I often agree with the person who delivers that punch, as a matter of fact. But not that way.
 
This thread is an invitation to break the TOS, from the start - though I do believe that it isn't the OP's intention.

I see what you mean there Rain. e.g. being an atheist or a hardcore environmentalist or libertarian are types of religion these days. And then for others "Football is my religion" etc.
 

hey sharke,
where do i get these ideas-from the movies-of course!
i did say it was hopefully science fiction and it was a bit tongue in cheek but seriously-people like Paul R Erlich stand by the thesis that the human population is too large and is a direct threat to human survival and the planet.
even the old guard,Lord Rees,Royal Astronomer said"this is the first century in history when the biggest threat to humanity is from humanity itself."
as for
" I'm tired of all the pessimism and the Chicken-Lickenism."
i call it pragramatic realism but admire your optimism regarding technology as the saviour of mankind,considering most will argue that industrialisation,technology and consumerism are the culprits who enabled us to properly plunder and foul this utopia.
but that`s the good thing about opinions-they are all valid.
cheers 
  

I remember how depressed I felt when Disneyland changed their Tomorrowland area from an idealic (if unrealistic) Mr. Roger's neighborhood type look to one that resembles more of a bleak Road Warrior landscape...
 
Entropy is degrading.
(Pun intended.)