EPTThe End of Humanity - Page 5
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KissBlade
United States5718 Posts
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BottleAbuser
Korea (South)1888 Posts
Also, on "evolution" -- the term merely means change over time. Surely such a descriptive term has no "purpose." Although evolution (which means, remember, "change over time") does tend to kill off genes (or genotypes, whichever you prefer) of certain traits, and tends to support the proliferation of those with other traits. Kind of like attaching a purpose to gravity. It WANTS bricks to sink. And it WANTS birds and rockets and humans to constantly fight against it. Silly, huh? | ||
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Krohm
Canada1857 Posts
On August 13 2008 07:38 CharlieMurphy wrote: I can't believe Rapture is in second place? Wtf??? I would put my money on either something man made (either weapon or something that backfired like the Matrix), some unstoppable evolving disease, or some doomsday thing from space (meteor, gamma ray burst, etc, etc.) Something like global warming or a super volcano will probably devastate the earth really badly but not everyone will die. The strong will survive. As history/prehistory has shown geologists most of the wipeouts like the shit that killed the dinosaurs or the end of the Cambrian period were not just 1 meteor that killed everything, it was usually a combination of a meteor (there is a GRB theory as well) and something else earth born combined which wiped everything out. as far as this topic, there is probably one of these every year and I post this every time: http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm Very interesting read but lots of shit to read, be prepared to kill more than a few hours. (some of it is just plain silly but still a possibility?) Thats a really good link Charlie. I think humans will die in two ways. Either we'll simply destroy ourselves which is the most obvious answer, or we'll develop AI that surpasses us by leaps and bounds within a very short time frame. Eventually, we'll be obsolete. | ||
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Alizee-
United States845 Posts
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0xDEADBEEF
Germany1235 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.pbfcomics.com/archive_b/PBF111-Reset.jpg) | ||
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samsung10
6 Posts
am I one of the only pious people in here? O.o | ||
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AngryLlama
United States1227 Posts
one of the reason why techological singularity is so scary is because it can possibly happen a lot sooner than we think imo | ||
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BanZu
United States3329 Posts
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doubleupgradeobbies!
Australia1306 Posts
Eg when we consume all currently useable resources, and due to lazyiness/greed/lack of foresight we fail to put enough effort into technological advancement to either live on other planetary bodies and exploit their resources or make use of the remaining resource on earth that we now don't have the technology to utilize. Leading to a slow energy starved death of the world. Yep, i'm an optimist with faith in humanity's ability to look after itself..... | ||
cgrinker
United States3824 Posts
Oops! Too late | ||
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Spike
United States1392 Posts
while genetic engineering is a scarey prospect, i don't think it will wipe out humanity. global catastrophe... maybe, an asteroid; again, i don't see famine or disease wiping out humanity totally. my bet would be a massive nuclear war and throw some ai/robotics/nanites in for good measure. :edit: actually, i take it back and go with evolution. i just don't see our present countries entering into a total nuclear war. | ||
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Skittled
United States160 Posts
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BottleAbuser
Korea (South)1888 Posts
Even when we're trying to kill every human inside a small area of several square miles, we have a really tough time doing it and we're not sure that it worked. Global warming will kill us? Pshaw. Unless there is absolutely no pocket ecology left in the world and all the water's boiled away (not saying we still can't build condensors) and whatnot, it won't kill EVERYONE. It might kill me and you, and that's what's important to me and you, but that's still not extinction of the human race. Genetic engineering won't kill us any time soon, if ever. See, it's fucking expensive. So we're going to have a group of people who will manipulate their genes, and the other group of people who can't or won't do it for various reasons. Genetic manipulation might wipe out one group, but it can't touch the one that doesn't use it. The only way that genetic manipulation would destroy humans if it became so beneficial that we're no longer human. But I still don't see that happening - there's a population of purists everywhere. See the Amish. | ||
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Luddite
United States2315 Posts
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doubleupgradeobbies!
Australia1306 Posts
On August 13 2008 12:01 BottleAbuser wrote: You guys totally underestimate humans, or misunderstand what "extinction" means. Even when we're trying to kill every human inside a small area of several square miles, we have a really tough time doing it and we're not sure that it worked. Global warming will kill us? Pshaw. Unless there is absolutely no pocket ecology left in the world and all the water's boiled away (not saying we still can't build condensors) and whatnot, it won't kill EVERYONE. It might kill me and you, and that's what's important to me and you, but that's still not extinction of the human race. Genetic engineering won't kill us any time soon, if ever. See, it's fucking expensive. So we're going to have a group of people who will manipulate their genes, and the other group of people who can't or won't do it for various reasons. Genetic manipulation might wipe out one group, but it can't touch the one that doesn't use it. The only way that genetic manipulation would destroy humans if it became so beneficial that we're no longer human. But I still don't see that happening - there's a population of purists everywhere. See the Amish. noone said it had to happen quickly, a major change in climate, or a genetic engineering breakthrough may not kill us off outright, but it can set into motion events that will eventually see us out-competed. Most extinctions are not all that sudden, it's just a shift in the balance causing eventual death of a species. Our extinction should it occur might take longer given our greater ability to manipulate our environment but we are certainly not immune to those phenomena causing extinction. | ||
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Romance_us
Seychelles1806 Posts
On August 13 2008 11:46 BanZu wrote: Global catastrophe because the bible says so. I can't tell if you're joking or not. | ||
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BottleAbuser
Korea (South)1888 Posts
I think humans have a huge advantage that we can create tools that can allow life in hostile environments - other organisms take millenia to develop mutations that are beneficial, while we take something on the order of years. | ||
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iPF[Div]
Spain572 Posts
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TheOvermind77
United States923 Posts
There are an estimated 20,000 active nuclear weapons in the world. As every second passes, there is a chance that we will set one off. Sure, it may be something like a .00001% chance, but give us a few centuries and I'm nearly positive someone somewhere will nuke something. "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -Albert Einstein Sticks and stones is if we are lucky, right? | ||
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BottleAbuser
Korea (South)1888 Posts
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