stringwalker Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 I had an argument with my physics teacher about this and I wonder what you think about it.Progress is essence of human nature. Getting better bigger and better machines, being better than others or oneself, expanding horizons, etc... All these things are goals of progress set out by the human mind. To execute these goals more and more time and energy is needed. To acquire this energy, power and money is needed. Now my question is do you believe that we will blow ourselves up before dying of something beyond our power or will we be able to reach unversal harmony, giving us the ability to work as a unity to better our knowledge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrmdave Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 I have faith in humanity that we will not destroy ourselves, although I can understand why it would seem logical to assume that as our knowledge grew, so to would each individual's ability to kill massive amounts of people. I also, however, think that technology will plateau at some point, and will not increase with the exponential leaps and bounds that it has during the past two centuries. It may take a few hundred years, but I think that there will be a limit on how destructive we can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishteacher73 Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Humans are quite adept at turning new technology into weaponry. I think the inevetable outcome is that as genetic research grows and the synthesis of designer organisms we will inadvertantly (or possibly even intentionaly) make some new nasty bugs. We already are pushing the natural selection with this by our over-use of anti-biotics. This is a realm that humans are charging into w/o a lot of knowledge of how things will turn out. Yes, hypothetically, we have safe guards, but the other thing humans have continually shown is their boundless ability to think in new and creativly dumb ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tormod Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 The book "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood comes to mind. A good read about exactly what Fish mentions in the previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queso Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 all i can say is i'm looking forward to seeing what happens. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffy Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Humans are quite adept at turning new technology into weaponry. I think the inevetable outcome is that as genetic research grows and the synthesis of designer organisms we will inadvertantly (or possibly even intentionaly) make some new nasty bugs. We already are pushing the natural selection with this by our over-use of anti-biotics. This is a realm that humans are charging into w/o a lot of knowledge of how things will turn out. Yes, hypothetically, we have safe guards, but the other thing humans have continually shown is their boundless ability to think in new and creativly dumb ways.I agree. We already use our technology to kill one another and we already have the technology to kill everything on the planet....Every new innovation in technology has a good and bad application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringwalker Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 I honestly think that the only way we will not be the mother of our armegeddon is by living in a utopia. Most of humans follow to what they are told. Just like how Hitler brainwashed the Nazis into a genocide. They need a leader to guide them, it's a question of who can fulfill this position to everybodies content and cannot be bought. Have a community of peace and union for the better of our own world. Which in my opinion, we will never completely acheive. Or another way to stop this disaster would be through fear. Just like how chemical warfare wasn't used in WWII because people feared the other side had them. But a world governed by fear isn't the ideal utopia. Or we might actually change. I recently heard of this theory that humans are soon to be extinct and we will soon reach a level of a superhuman society. Sounds a little far fetched but interesting. What do you think can save us from fate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queso Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 What do you think can save us from fate?not believing in fate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringwalker Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 So then what will lower our chances of deviating from that particular path? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 So then what will lower our chances of deviating from that particular path?Simple rules to live by to avoid Armegeddon:Walk on your tip toesDon't try "No Doz"Stay away from those that carry around a fire hoseKeep a clean noseWatch the plain clothesDon't follow leadersWatch the parkin' metersGet dressed, get blessedTry to be a successPlease her, please him, buy giftsDon't steal, don't liftJump down a manholeLight yourself a candleDon't wear sandalsTry to avoid the scandalsDon't wanna be a bumYou better chew gumBobby Z's always been a pretty smart guy when it comes to living right... Folksy,Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 ___The spread of concerns by such means as your communication is what may keep us from self-destruction. I think human devastations are more likely from Mother Nature though, eg, ice age, meteor impact, volcanoes, etc. In that case we have insufficient technical ability to forestall disaster.___Humanity has survived inumerable disasters, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion. Chance favors the prepeared mind. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockytriton Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Don't forget that soon we will have Cold Fusion: http://pesn.com/2005/04/28/6900088_UCLA_Cold_Fusion/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queso Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 what exactly is cold fusion and how would it benefit an independent island? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockytriton Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Cold fusion is the ability to acheive nuclear fusion at a temperature colder than is currently necessary for thermonuclear reactions, which is in the millions of degrees C. It seems that this group is demonstrating it at around room temp. As for it's usefulness to an island, well, do you need energy on that island? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queso Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 wrong thread. i thought this was "questions about establishing a government"whoops....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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