4 billion years from now

[VirusType2]

What part of 300 years in the future don't you understand? You assume cars will continue to use fossil fuels and pollute the environment, when there's a clear indication that clean energy sources will gradually replace the need for fossil fuel. Not to mention that it's possible cars won't be used at all 100 years from now.

I never implied that vehicle technology won't improve. It's just that, it could be 100 years before it's actually cheaper to make vehicles with this new technology. And, without government intervention, that's the determining factor whether we will change and use cleaner transportation technology. And as long as we still have fossil fuel, it doesn't look good.

The problem with studies like this is that they have a narrow view of one environmental problem, project it linearly into the future, in this case 300 years, then go on to declare OMG WE'RE DOOMED!!11.

I only pointed out one example. It's just one of the many problems we face, and therefore one of the many studies.

I believe that we will figure a lot of things out in the long run, no question, but don't lose sight of what my point was in the first place: the idea that we are going to - without question - continue to exist for billions of years isn't guaranteed, and suggesting otherwise is not automatically annoying/not worthy of discussion.

There are many gloomy future predictions that, while do not suggest the 'end of the human race' necessarily (besides the giant asteroids, etc.), they do indicate major changes that could drastically reduce our population - for example, we may have to remain indoors/live underground to protect us from the Sun.

So then, nobody in this world has good intentions to create a mode of transportation that requires less fuel, or perhaps a way more efficient form of public transportation that is even better than that of Europe? Technological advancements aren't going to stop next year, and neither are new ideas.

I never said anything about intentions. But fair enough, guys, if you disagree. You do make good points. I just don't see people willing to adapt. People make lighter, greener vehicles, and most everyone balks at the very idea of them.

Maybe not 300 years, but we have 4 BILLION to go!

We were arguing about a specific point in time, which was 300 years.

 

[Remus]

I just don't see people willing to adapt. People make lighter, greener vehicles, and most everyone balks at the very idea of them.

Maybe if they designed these green cars to look normal, people would you know... actually buy them.

Take this one you posted, who in their right mind would buy it? I sure wouldn't.

Besides that, regular people will seriously consider alternative energy sources, when it's economically advantageous. Meaning, cheaper than oil, and equally or more efficient.

 

[VirusType2]

Maybe if they designed these green cars to look normal, people would you know... actually buy them.

Take this one you posted, who in their right mind would buy it? I sure wouldn't.

You prove my point.

Besides that, regular people will seriously consider alternative energy sources, when it's economically advantageous. Meaning, cheaper than oil, and equally or more efficient.

Well, obviously they will use it if it's cheaper. Is this a typo?

And that's exactly what I said. However, it's not cheaper. Not at all. That's the problem.


I don't know if you guys have any idea what is going on in places like China and India. These are countries are only just getting warmed up, like the US during the Industrial Revolution - with citizens that are commonly very poor and can't afford hydrogen powered cars, an' shit.

India, for example, is putting a new Jetliner in the sky all the time. I don't know if you realize how much fuel flying uses, but the figures are - sometimes literally - astronomical.


They are absolutely exploding. The problems we have now are being exacerbated daily. Things aren't improving in the least. They are getting much much worse. The time is pretty much up for any kind of change to make any difference as far as the environment.

As you say though, we will continue to exist and make changes (wind turbines, etc.), this is true.

Meanwhile, lets all sit here and laugh at human powered monorail transportation. That's the latest and greatest new thing? We're ****ed.


EDIT: And as far as the dangers of the Sun's UV; humidity; heat: do you want to put on a space suit every time you go outside?

Yeah, we can invent ways to survive, but CAPITOL LETTERS OF TERRIBLE OUTCOMES

 

[Remus]

EDIT: And as far as the dangers of the Sun's UV; humidity; heat: do you want to put on a space suit every time you go outside?

Yeah, we can invent ways to survive, but CAPITOL LETTERS OF TERRIBLE OUTCOMES

Despite what that study says I seriously doubt it will get that out of hand.
However even if it does, and we end up with Venus like conditions here, we would still be alive and well (without spacesuits). By that time (300 years in the future), I think it's highly likely that our bodies will be completely synthetic anyway.

The argument here was whether humanity will survive, not whether Earth will survive. At this point I think it's a high probability we'll make it.

 

[VirusType2]

Well, 4 billion years is a long time. I can't even fathom, admittedly. But despite our rapid technological advances and so on, eventually we are going to die, in my opinion. I don't think we'll make it, despite our intelligence and ability to adapt and even the good possibility that we can 'shoot down' asteroids, create our own environments, even leave the planet, and things of that nature. The universe is just a mother****er that I see as some kind of tidal wave, where as humans, we can't swim all that well.

Life is very robust, but very vulnerable at the same time.

 

[Remus]

The Universe will be our bitch.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Before the sun even explodes the Andromeda Galaxy is supposed to collide with The Milky Way in just 3 billion years. I'd be more concerned about people near the inside of that collision rather than a single star expanding and then compressing into a white dwarf star. The universe is an insanely violent place, true, but our little planet has been safe this long... I think we'll manage. Perhaps it only seems so because we haven't ventured all that far out in it yet. Fear is amplified through speculation.

 

[VirusType2]

The Universe will be our bitch.

lol

Before the sun even explodes the Andromeda Galaxy is supposed to collide with The Milky Way in just 3 billion years. I'd be more concerned about people near the inside of that collision rather than a single star expanding and then compressing into a white dwarf star. The universe is an insanely violent place, true, but our little planet has been safe this long... I think we'll manage. Perhaps it only seems so because we haven't ventured all that far out in it yet. Fear is amplified through speculation.

Yeah, that's exactly it. I personally don't believe there's any chance we will achieve light speed travel, and so I feel as if there isn't a chance we will leave the galaxy. And galaxies are always spiraling in, recycling in the center, and other galaxies will eventually merge together. This is the tidal wave of incredible power and we are helpless.

Even so, I'm just a regular dude; maybe we can get a few more Einsteins and shit. I suppose it's possible, if we roam the universe over countless generations and are able to sustain life and keep the ship/s maintained continuously. I guess the first step would be to make it to another solar system with a young star and a [at least semi] inhabitable planet to begin colonization anew.

 

[Schall]

We will most likely be dead and gone or evolved beyond the point of recognition.

 

[McGooTheWise]

lol


Yeah, that's exactly it. I personally don't believe there's any chance we will achieve light speed travel, and so I feel as if there isn't a chance we will leave the galaxy. And galaxies are always spiraling in, recycling in the center, and other galaxies will eventually merge together. This is the tidal wave of incredible power and we are helpless.

Even so, I'm just a regular dude; maybe we can get a few more Einsteins and shit. I suppose it's possible, if we roam the universe over countless generations and are able to sustain life and keep the ship/s maintained continuously. I guess the first step would be to make it to another solar system with a young star and a [at least semi] inhabitable planet to begin colonization anew.

It's healthier to be positive about stuff like this, though. it's such a huge, and scary thought to us, but in reality, these things don't happen all that often from our perspective. We won't even have relatives alive to see these things happen. I believe we will have more Einsteins and Stephen Hawkings. Smart people aren't limited to one a century. There are plenty of them out there, but they're not being heard for whatever reason. There are many ideas, and many incredibly smart people coming up with them.

Just to give you a real world example, my girlfriend's nephew just turned 4, and he already knows the name of every dinosaur, knows what Paleontology is, and here I sit at 18 and can't even spell it without spellcheck. If I asked him what period a dinosaur is from he knows it. The kid is a genius, and he's going to make a breakthrough in Paleontology some day. Just that notion, and the advanced schooling going on around my area where first graders are learning things I learned in middle school... It amazes me, and the world is definitely not slowing. My point is, at this rate, we will find a way in almost anything we pursue. What else can we do but be positive? The only thing being negative is going to do is dash hopes and dreams away and halt progress. So look up, yah?

 

[Warped]

lol


Yeah, that's exactly it. I personally don't believe there's any chance we will achieve light speed travel, and so I feel as if there isn't a chance we will leave the galaxy. And galaxies are always spiraling in, recycling in the center, and other galaxies will eventually merge together. This is the tidal wave of incredible power and we are helpless.

Even so, I'm just a regular dude; maybe we can get a few more Einsteins and shit. I suppose it's possible, if we roam the universe over countless generations and are able to sustain life and keep the ship/s maintained continuously. I guess the first step would be to make it to another solar system with a young star and a [at least semi] inhabitable planet to begin colonization anew.

for all we know, we may have all ready tapped out the one remaining resource that could either save this planet or help us get to the stars. I always fear this, especially hearing now that helium, and a few other not so abundant elements will be gone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element

 

[VirusType2]

It's healthier to be positive about stuff like this, though.

Healthier for your mind. You know, because ignorance is bliss? I'm not disagreeing for the sake of it, I think it takes someone who is concerned about: the future; our planet; our species, in order to dedicate themselves to the task of - for example - working their entire life trying to make a difference. If everyone was like, "oh, don't worry, we'll figure something out, we'll be fine.", then everyone would be complacent. I want someone who is genuinely concerned - terrified, even - of a bleak future, the type of person who might go all the way to the amazon to live with the apes, while researching a cure for a disease, or whatever.

I don't know, of course. Everyone is different.

for all we know, we may have all ready tapped out the one remaining resource that could either save this planet or help us get to the stars. I always fear this, especially hearing now that helium, and a few other not so abundant elements will be gone.

Recycle your electronics, guys. Don't throw them away.

 

[Warped]

Recycle your electronics, guys. Don't throw them away.

well maybe in 100 years we'll have machines that have one sole purpose: and thats hunting for a specific mineral lost at the bottom of the ocean. who knows. i say we take our time with technology, we may be screwing ourselves over in the long run with this Industrial/Technological Revolutions

 

[VirusType2]

I think you are suggesting we are wasting valuable rare materials on what will be eventually antiquated technology, and then we won't have it in the future for more important technologies?

I'm more worried about running out of trees than I am of rare materials. That's far from my mind. As far as technology is concerned, we tend to develop newer and better things that use different materials altogether.

Note: obviously we won't run out of trees altogether; however, I mean that we are mowing down rainforests and aren't replanting enough.

 

[Warped]

I think you are suggesting we are wasting valuable rare materials on what will be eventually antiquated technology, and then we won't have it in the future for more important technologies?

I'm more worried about running out of trees than I am of rare materials. That's far from my mind. As far as technology is concerned, we tend to develop newer and better things that use different materials altogether.

Note: obviously we won't run out of trees altogether; however, I mean that we are mowing down rainforests and aren't replanting enough.

yeah I know what you mean. that too, everything is going to waste and nothing is repaired to what it was. It could take millenia to fix what we have done wrong to this planet. also i remember as a kid giving money for rain-forest preservation. i hope this is still prevalent in schools

 

[McGooTheWise]

Healthier for your mind. You know, because ignorance is bliss? I'm not disagreeing for the sake of it, I think it takes someone who is concerned about: the future; our planet; our species, in order to dedicate themselves to the task of - for example - working their entire life trying to make a difference. If everyone was like, "oh, don't worry, we'll figure something out, we'll be fine.", then everyone would be complacent. I want someone who is genuinely concerned - terrified, even - of a bleak future, the type of person who might go all the way to the amazon to live with the apes, while researching a cure for a disease, or whatever.

I don't know, of course. Everyone is different.

Well of course, the responsibility doesn't disappear with a difference in attitude. Nor does human curiosity. If fear doesn't drive us, curiosity will. Just because you're positive doesn't mean that you ignore it. What I'm saying is that it makes life a lot less terrifying, because if you fear everything that might happen, you're just putting years on yourself. I'm not saying "Eh, just forget about it." Just believe that if we keep working hard that good things will happen. Know the danger, know the need to progress, but don't let it consume you and create fear. There's no use for it. Do the work, and live your little life.

Of course, do what you will. I just like to have a positive attitude. What happens in 3 billion years doesn't concern me. I want to find the most present danger, and see how feasible it is.

 

[Remus]

Do the work, and live your little life.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Speaking comparably to the universe, our lives are little.

 

[VirusType2]

I'm not talking about shaking in your boots fear. I'm talking about a genuine concern - you know, the opposite of "God has a plan".

 

[Cornerstone]

In 4 billion years, I can say with a great degree of certainty that I'll be dead. Along with being dead, I can ascertain that I will absolutely not give a flying ****.

 

[McGooTheWise]

I'm not talking about shaking in your boots fear. I'm talking about a genuine concern - you know, the opposite of "God has a plan".

I gotcha. I pretty much said anything I could possibly put in this post, though, so I'll just leave it at that. lol

 

[Remus]

In 4 billion years, I can say with a great degree of certainty that I'll be dead. Along with being dead, I can ascertain that I will absolutely not give a flying ****.

OK... Let's assume for a moment that what Ray Kurzweil predicts, will actually come true, and most of the people alive today will have the opportunity to technically live forever. Are you saying that you would eventually get bored, and take your own life? Or that you wouldn't take advantage of these hypothetical technologies in the first place?

 

[Cornerstone]

OK... Let's assume for a moment that what Ray Kurzweil predicts, will actually come true, and most of the people alive today will have the opportunity to technically live forever. Are you saying that you would eventually get bored, and take your own life? Or that you wouldn't take advantage of these hypothetical technologies in the first place?

I might take advantage but I would kill myself. Living 4 billion years sounds horrific to me.

 

[Dynasty]

Ironically had a Jehovah's witness come to my door this morning. Only really agreed to talk to her her because her friend behind her was ridiculously cute.

Basically discussed why I didnt believe in God, if fear was teachable (that was random and made me stumble) and the origin of the Universe. Its like theyve studied science's explanations and just come up with a religious equivilant. 'God' giving life the ability to be. How evolution was a gift. I was seriously biting my lip at that point.

Evolution is something we created damn it woman!

She was quite nice though, very open to my own views etc, she didnt preach God in my face and say I was going to burn in hell for not believing etc. Im also pretty sure I knew her from somewhere.