Can mankind pull itself together? Or are we destined to destroy ourselves?

[Hypercube]

If there is one thing that is abundantly clear about the human race, it's that we are under the false assumption that we are indestructible. There is evidence of this everywhere; I doubt that there is anyone in the world (infants excepted of course) who does not know about global warming and how it could potentially have devestating effects on our planet, and what are we doing to try to prevent it? NOTHING! And anyone who says otherwise is kidding themself. For example, I'm sure everyone knows about the recent jump in gas prices (where I am it's $1.35 CDN per litre at the moment), any you wanna know why the prices are soaring? I'll tell you why, because we are running out of oil, and yet what do governments do about it? They spend billions of dollars to invade other countries to steal their oil.

 

What we should be doing is spending every cent spent in the war to come up with alternative energy sources, because there is no doubt what so ever in my mind that we could have had a breakthrough years ago. I also wouldn't be a bit surprised if there have been breakthroughs that were bought out and shelved by the oil companies, the oil industry did kill the electric car, who knows how far they will go to keep the billions of dollars from decreasing. One thing is for sure, we could have easily had present day hybrid cars 20 years ago, we certainly had the technology, we also have the technology to make every new car created a hybrid; the only explanation for why every car you see today is not a hybrid is because corporate superpowers knew that they would lose a lot of money, and therefore, they supressed the technology. In other words they don't care that they are polluting the earth, and the certainly don't stop to consider that if the earth becomes uninhabitable, all their billions of dollars will be worthless.

 

This is one of our greatest problems; we only care about the here and now, not what will happen 10 or 100 years from now, we continually procrastinate until by the time we finally decide to take action, it's already too late. That is the human race's legacy, maybe we are not as smart as we think we are. Not everyone in the world is like this, I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, but there is no question that if the human race does not pull itself together, we won't survive long enough to reach the status of type I civilation, never mind type II.

[Reaper]

I don't believe that humanity is destined to destroy themselves, though we are it for quite a bumpy ride if we want to cope and solve all of our problems...

[CarolAlynn]

I wouldnt worry about global warming if i were you, the earth has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different. I would be more worried about an accidental nuclear war, which is actually man made. There are enough nukes in the world to kill every single person on earth 80 times.

 

I totally agree with you on the corporations supressing technology and development. And the iraq war is obviously about oil and not osama and saddam. I think world war three will probably be over the last few drops of oil the world has left.

[MrSandman]

You both need to read "Last question," by Isaac Asimov. I'll try to get a copy of it to paste, but it is positively awesome in his concepts of mankinds destruction.

[iNow]

I wouldnt worry about global warming if i were you, the earth has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different. I would be more worried about an accidental nuclear war, which is actually man made. There are enough nukes in the world to kill every single person on earth 80 times.

 

I totally agree with you on the corporations supressing technology and development. And the iraq war is obviously about oil and not osama and saddam. I think world war three will probably be over the last few drops of oil the world has left.

 

Yeah. Why should we try to make things better when we could just throw our hands into the air and abandon all hope? Stellar plan.

 

Ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy?

[thedarkshade]

There is just too much hatred and greed among mankind, and I'm afraid there's really little chance for mankind to come together and seriously try to make improvements whose result would have a world-wide effect. I assume that it's only science and scientists among which there are no signs of discrimination on any basis. But scientists aren't really the big guys who are in charge of everything.

[Phi for All]

I wouldnt worry about global warming if i were you, the earth has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different.

"I wouldn't worry about global warming if I were you, Venus has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different." -Krrtl Rynkzzyn, Venusian Senior Prophet

[Reaper]

"I wouldn't worry about global warming if I were you, Venus has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different." -Krrtl Rynkzzyn, Venusian Senior Prophet

 

You should be careful with that statement actually. Venus had a rather different geological history then Earth did; for example, it is likely that liquid water oceans never even materialized on Venus...

Edited June 10, 2008 by Reaper

[ParanoiA]

As to the OP, I think it's a lack of faith in the necessity that will drive the inventions we want. In other words, just hold on for bit, the need that will drive alternative fuels is arriving, being unloaded right now onto the american psyche.

 

Peak oil, war for oil, high priced oil, blah blah blah - this is the stuff that drives the alternative fuel market.

 

We're all guilty. Man discovered oil and the combustion engine and then just went off on a tangent of industrialization. We bitch about corporations that do this and that - the same corps our grand parents worked for - the corps that paid for our parents upbringing and fancy schoolin'.

 

We bought the cars, the lawnmowers, the plastics, the asphalt - we loved it, and still do.

 

The business of oil is unfortunate since we discovered the damaging effects long after the infrastructure for it was built and cemented in place. And now we're going to point at them and act like it's their fault? Or pretend as if they're not like every other business in the world in not seeking its own end?

 

Oil guys aren't into alternative fuels because they're into oil. Just like M&M's isn't investing in steak burgers. It's just not their bag.

 

But it is somebody's bag, and I'm hearing more and more alternative this and that everyday. Look at the ThinkCity (or is it CityThink?) Car. I'm seeing more media on the subject, everyday conversation, forum threads, newspaper articles and etc.

 

Relax, it's coming. Well don't relax too much, intensity is good. But the idea of man killing himself is a bit too poetic for me. I've heard this since I was a toddler about everything from food to nuclear war. Man isn't going anywhere people - no matter how much you don't like him.

[Hypercube]

ParanoiA, are you really gonna sit there and try and convince us that the oil industry is an innocent in this? Fine then, explain to me why YOU think that every car made today isn't a hybrid, hell, why cars don't have solar panels installed on them to help recharge their batteries, even though we certainly have the technology to do so, and have had it for decades for that matter. Please ParanoiA, enlighten us.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Because it doesn't make car companies enough money to justify their investments. Hybrid cars cost several thousand dollars more than the equivalent non-hybrid car; people just don't want to spend the money on hybrids.

[Phi for All]

This is one of our greatest problems; we only care about the here and now, not what will happen 10 or 100 years from now, we continually procrastinate until by the time we finally decide to take action, it's already too late.

This *sounds* foreboding, very doomy doom, but can you give me any actual examples of what you mean? What actions did we procrastinate on to the point where we are now too late?

[ParanoiA]

ParanoiA, are you really gonna sit there and try and convince us that the oil industry is an innocent in this? Fine then, explain to me why YOU think that every car made today isn't a hybrid, hell, why cars don't have solar panels installed on them to help recharge their batteries, even though we certainly have the technology to do so, and have had it for decades for that matter. Please ParanoiA, enlighten us.

 

Enlightenment commenced....

 

The reason they haven't taken off is because market demand has not been there to drive it. It's been there just enough to poke it along. Solar is expensive. Electric car particulars are sobering, and really don't address the carbon output anyway, although I guess it would at least consolidate the source. Hydrogen cars aren't available, at least not by any affordable means, nor practical. Corn energy is just stupid.

 

So far oil has outperformed these alternative fuels due to its cost and established infrastructure. It's just cheaper. We all want to do the right thing but we also need to eat. Humans are going to choose the most practical option for energy and oil is quite simply it.

 

I understand the impulse to indict someone as the "bad guy" and pretend as if you're absolved from responsibility for this predicament. They put the product on the shelf, and you bought it. I said we're all to blame - including the oil companies. I also think it's more than just ridiculous to expect them to do anything other than ensuring the survival of their market.

 

You're basically blaming a dog for eating bologna off the floor, while trying to train him to purr.

 

Anyway, the positive side is that I think that market demand has arrived. 4 dollars a gallon seems to be a magic number for getting people to say "WTF?" I'm so ready for alternative fuels. I'm so done with oil. I'm now just waiting on capitalism to do its thing here.

[Ladeira]

I wouldnt worry about global warming if i were you, the earth has been warming and cooling since it began and this time is no different. I would be more worried about an accidental nuclear war, which is actually man made. There are enough nukes in the world to kill every single person on earth 80 times.

 

I totally agree with you on the corporations supressing technology and development. And the iraq war is obviously about oil and not osama and saddam. I think world war three will probably be over the last few drops of oil the world has left.

 

 

I believe in global warming.

Maybe it's too late to save the Earth so we could prepare Moon and make a global warming on it to turn water liquid.

[Mr Skeptic]

I believe in global warming.

Maybe it's too late to save the Earth so we could prepare Moon and make a global warming on it to turn water liquid.

 

However badly we may damage the earth, it is unlikely that there would be any more hospitable place in our solar system. At worst, we would have to go underground, and wear enviro-suits when going outside. And that would be for nuking ourselves, or for truly insane warming.

[Ladeira]

However badly we may damage the earth, it is unlikely that there would be any more hospitable place in our solar system. At worst, we would have to go underground, and wear enviro-suits when going outside. And that would be for nuking ourselves, or for truly insane warming.

 

I'm sure there's nothing compared to Earth in solar system...

We're damaging Earth so much as it's damaging our health, it's time to be worried how to stop the excess warming or at least make it go slower.

There's much CO2 and less trees...

People are annoying nature and hurricanes (and other disasters) are just getting more often than never before.