Themis wrote: We have had close calls when it come to nuclear war.
Right, but it didn't happen, and if it ever happens it wouldn't necessarily mean the end of all humanity. Is there are good reason to think that most intelligent civilizations destroy themselves?
Themis wrote: We have had close calls when it come to nuclear war.
Right, but it didn't happen, and if it ever happens it wouldn't necessarily mean the end of all humanity.
We certainly don't know for sure, but a large nuclear war could possibly mean the end of humanity. It would probably mean any remaining humans would end up at a much earlier stage of civilization.
Is there are good reason to think that most intelligent civilizations destroy themselves?
We are not really close to beginning to answer these kind of questions, so for now it is just one possibility to consider. Especially in relation to our intelligent civilization and how to preserve it.
Yes, so we have to go to Mars.
While I think we should put some resources in getting man to mars this is not a cure to earth's rising population. We would spend significantly more resources in getting a large number of people to mars over the next century then it would cost to just keep them here.
Themis wrote:We certainly don't know for sure, but a large nuclear war could possibly mean the end of humanity. It would probably mean any remaining humans would end up at a much earlier stage of civilization.
Yes, but we would probably recover in less than one thousand years.
Themis wrote: While I think we should put some resources in getting man to mars this is not a cure to earth's rising population. We would spend significantly more resources in getting a large number of people to mars over the next century then it would cost to just keep them here.
I think you are right, but what about the far far future? We will eventually run out of space here on earth.
DoubtingThomas wrote:Yes, but we would probably recover in less than one thousand years.
Maybe, maybe not. It would depend on the level of destruction and how much we change the environment long term.
I think you are right, but what about the far far future? We will eventually run out of space here on earth.
That is too far in the future to worry about, but certain something we hope will will eventually get to. Long before we go and change the universe we have to learn how to protect where we are and manage our population. I also suspect by the time we can start populating the solar system and beyond we may already have changed ourselves to an extent we may no longer classify ourselves as homo sapiens.
Themis wrote: Maybe, maybe not. It would depend on the level of destruction and how much we change the environment long term.
It is a good point, but an apocalyptic scenario is unlikely. We humans survived the great ice age. The last super volcanic eruption happened 72,000 years ago, but we humans are still around. A super volcanic eruption releases the force of 1,000 Hiroshima explosions every second. It wouldn't be easy to destroy all human intelligence on earth.
Themis wrote:That is too far in the future to worry about, but certain something we hope will will eventually get to. Long before we go and change the universe we have to learn how to protect where we are and manage our population. I also suspect by the time we can start populating the solar system and beyond we may already have changed ourselves to an extent we may no longer classify ourselves as homo sapiens.
You are right, we must learn to protect and manage our population, but we really should start thinking about moving to space. We never know what can happen in the near future. An asteroid impact can really mess things up. We humans shouldn't only have one planet.
DoubtingThomas wrote:It is a good point, but an apocalyptic scenario is unlikely. We humans survived the great ice age. The last super volcanic eruption happened 72,000 years ago, but we humans are still around. A super volcanic eruption releases the force of 1,000 Hiroshima explosions every second. It wouldn't be easy to destroy all human intelligence on earth.
It may be hard but probably not impossible and an all out nuclear war could do it, so we should do everything we can to avoid even a small one. Also if we don't change how we do things we could change our environment to such an extent in the long term that life on earth for humans is all but impossible. There is a reason no one is considering putting humans on Venus.
You are right, we must learn to protect and manage our population, but we really should start thinking about moving to space. We never know what can happen in the near future. An asteroid impact can really mess things up. We humans shouldn't only have one planet.
People are already working on moving into space, but we will only have one planet for a least a century or more before life on say Mars can be self sufficient on it's own.
Themis wrote:It may be hard but probably not impossible and an all out nuclear war could do it, so we should do everything we can to avoid even a small one. Also if we don't change how we do things we could change our environment to such an extent in the long term that life on earth for humans is all but impossible. There is a reason no one is considering putting humans on Venus..
Yes. You are right, but I doubt that planetary suicide is common in the universe.
Themis wrote:People are already working on moving into space, but we will only have one planet for a least a century or more before life on say Mars can be self sufficient on it's own.
Interstellar travel is achievable in our lifetime according to a physicist, but obviously we are not working hard enough for space travel.