Are we going to make it?

[greenwizard]

What are your views on humanity's life span. will it last for much longer?

I believe that human extinction is just a matter of time, the way things are going, the possibility that human race has just a few hundred years left of existence is very real...

 

[Gratefully_dead]

I'd have to agree with you my friend. People are too narrow minded to change. I'm not saying I'm any different, God knows I pollute this world just as badly as anyone else. Unless there are some serious changes in the next couple years, I'd be amazed if humanity can suck another century out of this Earth. I haven't quite lost all hope yet but with every month that passes it seems like people just care less and less. Our current lifestyle is too addictive in its luxuries. We totally take for granted our limited resources. Someones gotta do something...

 

[Jeniger]

be the change u want to see the rest is just one big cause and effect game.

 

[openthirdeye]

society is too materialistic and self centered to change anything, theyre all lost in the convenience of everything. this is an extremely egotistic generation, with the music that appears on mtv and the radio.."mah bitchezz n mah carz" bullcrap.

who really knows whats to become of us, no body can tell the future really, theres a definite chance of us being blown to shit sometime down the road, either by ourselves, or by the sun lol

 

[Ganesha]

All we can be is good people and try as best we can to live in harmony with our world. But we all have to do it. You and me included.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

I think there is reason for hope. Hope because we've discovered cleaner energy sources and gained deeper psychological insights, and psychedelics have become a global phenomenon, with the body of knowledge describing their effects and applications quickly expanding. Outdated religions are gradually losing their grip on society, and the internet has created an alternative to the diurnal brainwashing that affected the generations of our parents and grandparents. More and more people want their veggies to be from organic farms, more and more healthfood shops are opened, and orthomolecular products are helping people nourish their nervous system like never before. We have more knowledge of detoxification than ever before, and in the external world we've started to recycle. The legalization of cannabis is being discussed and experimented with in various influential places of the world, like California (which will of course affect Hollywood, and thus the rest of the world). Really, we could make this thing work, and probably will. Our generation will of course still mess up a lot of things, but our children's grandchildren (including us in future incarnations?) have a chance to turn it all around.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Now on CNN Breaking News: Probe of Bush-era terror tactics

I love this.

 

[greenwizard]

Caduceus has a point. But still, there is just to much power in the hands of few to retaliate. Nevertheless, I do begin to see some positive and clear changes, as well some negative ones. But its just like I always say, equilibrium, equilibrium, its always there


The only thing that affects me negatively about death, is that it will impair me of knowing what will this mess become .

 

[Affirmatory]

I am hopeful. It has never been worse but it has never been better. The surface of our culture gets more materialistic and shallow, in order to fight the great wave knowledge and wisdom rising underneath it. The hardships we are experiencing are stirring consciousness in many of us. Soon we shall march proudly and enlightened out of this age of darkness. We are the people lucky enough to be alive at this time when the battle might be won.

I feel the opposing forces of fear and love fighting for control of this world. Those who would create an environment of fear, and lead this world into destruction for personal greed, are being seriously threatened by the love that is beginning to re-awaken in us. They are scared and desperate.

Just a few thoughts

 

[HeartCore]

I think there is reason for hope. Hope because we've discovered cleaner energy sources and gained deeper psychological insights, and psychedelics have become a global phenomenon, with the body of knowledge describing their effects and applications quickly expanding. Outdated religions are gradually losing their grip on society, and the internet has created an alternative to the diurnal brainwashing that affected the generations of our parents and grandparents.

Cleaner energy sources are not capable to power our big industries. That's one of the things thats majorly overseen by the majority of people. People seem to believe that 'our' way of life can be sustained by just using a cleaner energy source. For the record, there is no (clean) energy source that we know of, that we can (ab)use to keep our industries going.

Psychedelics have been a global phenomenon since the sixties. I don't see much hope here now. In my experience, there was more hope at the start of the nineties when we got a mild case of (re) emerging psychedelic society. I don't see a lot of that now. I still don't see real opportunities for anyone to work with these things in a legal context to provide alternative mental therapy. At least, not in the Western world.

Outdated religions are still dictating the day. We have Islam on one side, the religion of peace that actually will provide world peace, once the entire world is converted to Islam. On the other hand we have the Christians being the gigantic assholes they have been since that Jewish zombie supposedly roamed the streets of Bethlehem, getting into everybody elses business.

The internet can be used to inform oneself. The problem is, most people that should inform themselves, are not doing that.


I want to hope but it becomes exponentially harder in my experience observing the blatant pre-adolescent state of our culture that is basically ravaging the world without any respect for future generations or the preservation of life in general.

Jeniger makes sense (or so I want to believe), if you change your life for the good, people will recognize it and want that too (if they see that change actually made your life better). I've witnessed this among friends who are now trying out a vegetarian diet, if everybody became vegetarian, we would take away the single most important contributor to global warming for example.

The biggest thing for me working against hope is the realization that most people are perfectly aware of our non sustainable way of living, but almost none of those are willing to accept the consequences of that and change their style.

Here's a very interesting docu about exponential growth of our culture, what the consequences are, and how we are lied to by our governments in relation to how much gas/petro is actually left for us to use.

 

[Psyolopher]

Two things bother me regarding this topic; Overpopulation and recourse trouble!

 

[faithless]

Hi all


Didn't read all the replies, yet I don't think that cannabis legalisation has something to do with the question "are we going to make it?"


Of course we are going to make it. We actually are an intelligent specy yet blinded by our own will. I beleive the truth is appearing right now in front of our eyes. Things are changing, some the good way, some the bad way. But people start opening their eyes. More and more, they realize they have been manipulated. I see it, and I think you see it too. Our perceptions are changing, opening. Those who won't want to accept reality of our existence, will no longer be able to support living here.

People will leave planet Earth, but it's not alarming. Those who will stay are those who will be in total harmony with the energy around them.

Don't be afraid, don't ask if "we" are going to make it. Just fill yourself and everything around you with love.

Love is the key to make it. No hate, even towards "bad" people, will be useful.


Just my 2 cents

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Outdated religions are still dictating the day.

Yes, but not as much as they used to do fifty or a hundred years ago. I was specifically talking about our grandchildren, or their children, not necessarily about the current generation. I have hope, because a lot has improved in the past century, and it seems reasonable to assume more improvements will follow.

 

[greenwizard]

Outdated religions are still dictating the day.

Yes, but not as much as they used to do fifty or a hundred years ago. I was specifically talking about our grandchildren, or their children, not necessarily about the current generation. I have hope, because a lot has improved in the past century, and it seems reasonable to assume more improvements will follow.

even in this generation there are signs that support the downfall of religion- It is becoming hard to find kids of my age (15) that believe in god, or religious christian practices.

 

[st.bot.32]

I think nationalism is even more of an issue than religion. Religion is frequently used by rabid nationalists as just another means by which to convince people that We Are Right. The problem is, it practically is a religion in itself but isn't recognized as such.

 

[Psyolopher]

I think nationalism is even more of an issue than religion. Religion is frequently used by rabid nationalists as just another means by which to convince people that We Are Right. The problem is, it practically is a religion in itself but isn't recognized as such.

Nationalism is one huge super massive ego.
Scary shit.

 

[Tunnelvision]

What are your views on humanity's life span. will it last for much longer?

I believe that human extinction is just a matter of time, the way things are going, the possibility that human race has just a few hundred years left of existence is very real...

if this is what you THINK...this is your destiny

 

[phalaris]

Two things bother me regarding this topic; Overpopulation and recourse trouble!

Yes, those two are intimately connected.

I am quite sure the species Homo-Sapiens will survive in one form of another in the long run. What I am not so sure about is what the population size will be.

Try playing around with this simulator. You'll find that practically the full parameterspace leads to large oscilations.
In English: it is quite difficult to manage resources in such a way, that does not lead to mass hunger and starvation.

Try the slider for the growth speed of grass and set it to zero. This situation is analogues to our use of fossil fuels; it does not regrow within any practical timescale.



Interesting stuff.

 

[st.bot.32]

Very cool. What's interesting is to set the grass growth rate really low (like 2 or so) and if the rabbits make it (might take a few tries) you can watch their population go up and down in cycles as they overpopulate, eat almost everything and then starve/die off until there's only a few left.. then grow again, and almost wipe themselves out repeatedly.

I agree, the trend with population growth as it is cannot continue much longer. A couple factors come to mind already:

-Sad but true, an entire continent right now is pretty much run rampant with HIV, these people are rejecting western medicine as 'propaganda' so they aren't using condoms, they're spreading the disease and yes a lot of people are going to die short of some sort of deus ex machina

-A lot of the population problems are in developing nations. When nations modernize, they tend to have pretty much zero or even negative birth rates. When you know your kids will grow up healthy and not die off by age 6, and you aren't worried about having kids to look after you when you when you get older, you only have one or two instead of ten, or maybe none at all. Of course problems from developing nations can certainly affect everyone (pandemic, etc)

 

[HeartCore]

As long as more than 50% of the American people believe Noah's ark is an actual historic record, you can safely assume that religion still dictates the majority of our culture. Seperation of church and politics is a farce which never happened.