What the World needs Now

[drew]

Not sure if this is a Tank subject or a Close subject...I'll start it here...mods feel free to transfer if ned be.

Okay, there's always been wars going on continually throughout the globe. And in the last cvouple of hundred years, there's always been polution, and general Earth abuse.

But it seems nowadays that there's more of it going around; so much so that to put an end to everything bad would seem impossible.

Where would we start?

Do we sign dozens of peace treties; do we stop all fighting through force (that doesn't really seem to work) do we put an end to all poution, no matter what conciquence it has onthe Modern World?

The thing is, it's likely none of this will happen.
To think that all the fighting all over the world will just one day end is crazy.
Until we are willing ourselves to cleaen up our part, big businesses and Governements will not take up the slack.

The thing is, I don't see an end in sight, not a man mae end anyways.

The point is, the Earth herself will eventually find an end to the abuse we put her through.
And I think it's comming sooner rather then later.

If not in this generation, then certanly the next, we will see an end to our ways of life, and be forced to adapt in a way that nature sees fit.
We can watch movies by ex Vice presidents all we want about global warming, but watching a movie does nothing to end it (infact when you think about all that's involved in creating and distributing a movie, it' probebly caused more polution then it has averted)--I don't think anything will be done to curb global warming, until the Ice Caps DO melt, and they DO flood most of the coastal area's of the world; then we will be forced stop it.

I think that all the fighting in the world will eventually come to an end--not though treaties, but through a near eradication of life.-Wether it's through nuclear war or whatever.

We will not see an end to abject poverty and large gaps in class structure until the glabal economy ends up failing so drastically it will make the Great Depression look like a Bank Holiday.

I don't mean do be so pesimistic; but what else could happen? What other options are there?[/i]

[danlo]

Here, this stuff will cheer you up! Just 6 (and the most important) years to go: diagnosis 2012

[Fist and Faith]

We can watch movies by ex Vice presidents all we want about global warming, but watching a movie does nothing to end it (infact when you think about all that's involved in creating and distributing a movie, it' probebly caused more polution then it has averted)

I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'm sure you're right!

Yes, I agree with you. Humans have always warred on each other, and that's never going to stop. We are, unfortunately, not capable of getting everybody in the world to agree to let everyone live in peace. There's always some who want all the (insert any given racial/religious/cultural group) dead. And some of them will gladly kill themselves and everyone else in the world if it is the only way to get rid of the X's.

Unfortunately, technological advances have made it possible for some idiot to destroy huge chunks of the human race, instead of only being able to off a few million, as in the past. There always seem to be survivors of any species we try to eradicate, so maybe there will always be human survivors after anything we do. It's also easy to imagine someone eradicating all human life in the not-to-distant future.

I'm not as worried about the earth destroying us, but only because I think we'll do it to ourselves first.

[Avatar]

I am, as I've siad before, an optimist in a screw-ball kinda way. We'll either sort it all out, or we'll die. Problem solved either way.

Hey danlo, they left out the "time map" from the great pyramid...

Interesting though, the earth's magnetic field is, IIRC, rather overdue for its "flip". Some strange stuff going on there right now in fact.

Anomalies hint at magnetic pole flip


--A

[The Laughing Man]

thats prolly how the moon will be affected, hence the earths axis will shift even more, and whammo! New Earth.....good luck everyone....

[stonemaybe]

Only slightly tongue in cheek, I would say the most important thing for us is to colonise space. Having all our eggs in this one fragile basket is the problem - so let's create lots more baskets!

[Avatar]

In the long run, it will be the only way to ensure the continuation of the species. *shrug* Everything else is just a stop-gap.

--A

[The Laughing Man]

• What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  It's the only thing that there's just too little of
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
  No not just for some but for everyone.
  
  Lord, we don't need another mountain,
  There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
  There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
  Enough to last till the end of time.
  
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  It's the only thing that there's just too little of
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
  No, not just for some but for everyone.
  
  Lord, we don't need another meadow
  There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
  There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
  Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.
  
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love
  It's the only thing that there's just too little of
  What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
  No, not just for some but for everyone.
  
  No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone

[Tjol]

What the world needs, is for humans to be afraid of the humans they hate, first in the paralysing terrified kind of fear, but eventually the I respect you enough not to threaten you with violence kind of fear.

Violence needs to always be on the table between all people, but only actually used under direst actual need. If one does not respond to violence, one is a victim to it. If one invents violence, they also fall victim to it. Somewhere in between is violence enough to discourage violence, and peace enough to discourage violence.

[Avatar]

It's an interesting idea Tjol, but I suspect it's a line too fine to walk.

That said, we're never going to eradicate violence. I suppose that the above was the reasoning for the mutually assured destruction stance during the cold war.

--A

[Elfgirl]

Only slightly tongue in cheek, I would say the most important thing for us is to colonise space. Having all our eggs in this one fragile basket is the problem - so let's create lots more baskets!

Or a lot less eggs? Overpopulation is the main problem...and greed.

[Avatar]

And lack of competition. Or rather, all our competition is intra-species.

--A

[Worm of Despite]

I believe we are another animal that has raised this planet's lust for survival and procreation to a refined art. We have consumed and abused the earth like no other species, and we cannibalize ourselves to an astonishing degree through "man's inhumanity to man.” I believe that there’s nothing that will change these bare facts--nothing whatsoever that we can impose upon ourselves as a collective. World War III could wipe out 95% of humanity, but men would still fight in scattered tribes or one man against the other for food and clothing.

Ah well, can't escape extinction in the end, I guess. We had a good run--or at least our history books like to tell us that it was more than just a base existence, a hurried scraping. The earth is either going to be uninhabitable because of some ice age, or a major geological event millions of years from now, a huge meteor, the sun dying, Vishnu's avatar returning, etc. We're surrounded on this tiny drop of life in the middle of black nothing, pretty much. The tide has fallen back for the moment, but it will rise again.

[drew]

Humans (obviously) have done more stuff to the earth then any other specis...but have we done any good?

We've done good to other humans.

We've done good to counter problems that we've casued (for example making endangered specis illegal to kill, but if it weren't for humans, they wouldn't have been endangered in the first place)

If you took humans out of the mix...the world would be in a lot better place.

Imagine how beautiful it would be to discover a new world, exactly like ours, but with no human (or human-like) life.

Of course we (being humas) would look at it as ripe for the plucking.

[Tjol]

FWIW, I think it's still on topic,

there is a vast chasm between those parties that decide to throw violence into the equation, and those that begrudgingly take part in violence until the other party ceases.

All violence is not inherently to the worst, some violence works towards the aim of inflicting suffering, other violence works towards the aim of inflicting peace.

In a world where there is no violence, introducing that violence would be detrimental. In a world where the violence and the potential for violence are an inherent risk, not abstaining from violence is simply an act of self preservation.

[sgt.null]

there is much violence in anture.

"nature, red in tooth and claw"

[drew]

Violence in nature: Yes of course--for mating priveliges and food onsumption.

But you'd neer see pack of wolves attack another entire pack for some pointless reason suh as politcal or religious differences.

[Tjol]

Violence in nature: Yes of course--for mating priveliges and food onsumption.

But you'd neer see pack of wolves attack another entire pack for some pointless reason suh as politcal or religious differences.

In truth politics tends to wrap around the same things that nature's violence does. Granted perception is a much less accurate thing for mankind based on the shear complication of things which we can absorb, sort, and react too... so, at first anyways, it would seem that perhaps, mankind is able to be more inaccurate based upon the things that also allow mankind to see things so very accurately.

But politics for the most part wraps around perceptions of threatened survival, perceived need for resources, perceived means for looking after one's progeny. Mankind is somewhat unique in that it fights a great number of conflicts without shedding blood in physical violence, but from that has arisen litigiousness, so it's not perse, any holier or fairer than physical violence... such battles have better survival rates for the combatants at least....

(ending stream of thoughts for the moment)

[Avatar]

Great post Lord Foul.

I'll agree that they may be based around the perception of the same kind of threats, but the application is far less straightforward I think.

--A

[Zarathustra]

My god, I don't understand all this pessimism. Let's look at the facts:

Humans live longer, healthier lives than at any time in history. Even the poor ones. Life expectancy has almost tripled in the past century. Per capita incomes are steadily rising. People have ever-increasing leisure time. People have more access to resources and information. People have more potential for global communication, travel, entertainment. We no longer spend most of our lives scrambling for food, fighting off easily cured diseases, and working 16 hour days.


We are healthier, safer, freer, more educated than humanity of the past.

The environmental issues are also miniscule compared to what humans have suffered in the past. The last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago. We managed to get through that difficult time. We've also had catastrophic volcanic eruptions unseen in modern times which wiped out entire civilizations (the Minoan civilization, for example).

We've been through much worse than even the most dire doomsday scenarios (except perhaps nuclear war). Let's not throw in the towel on humanity while we're living in its Golden Age. We are on the cusp of mind-blowing technologies that most of us are going to live to see. Nanotechnology. Artificial intelligence. Genetic medicine. Hydrogen energy production.

And we are on the cusp of a global civilization. In fact, what we are experiencing right now politically is the growing pains of just such a transformation. The more each country is dependent upon the whole, the more we will see peace. Look at our past enemies: Japan, Russia, Germany--they are now trading partners with the U.S. with whom they share a symbiotic relationship. Such relations will continue to grow, linking up mankind as a whole.

Get ahold of Nonzero, by Robert Wright. Read it. Now. You will see how our entire history (and prehistory) has been a continous process of mankind uniting in greater and greater systems of organization. There is a definite progression which is DIRECTLY responsible for all the benefits we experience today. It can be described by the math and logic of game theory. Mutually beneficial relationships developing--often even when the individual members resist it--because it makes sense on a level more fundamental than logic: our survival. There are temporary speedbumps in this process, but there is a natural direction we're heading nonetheless.

Don't let activists and doomsday preachers inform your worldview. Take a look at actual scholars using history, logic, and insight to peer into our future.