New sex drought threatens SS, Medicare, the GDP, the future (Politico report) and more Autism. Young adults are scared.

[_DoubtingThomas]

All we have to do is look back in history to see how often we can expect to be hit by large objects.

If that is the case then it means we are long overdue. The last large asteroid impact happened 65 million years ago.

Actually one of the main reasons countries let people in is to fill jobs that we don't have enough people for. They tend to be younger as well. It also helps a country grow in population, which in turn helps to grow GDP, which in turn helps us deal with deficits and debt we cannot seem to stop doing.

That is very true, but unfortunately we live in the Trump-era. I hope we don't get another Trump in 2024 because anti-immigration politics works.

[_DoubtingThomas]

Actually one of the main reasons countries let people in is to fill jobs that we don't have enough people for. They tend to be younger as well. It also helps a country grow in population, which in turn helps to grow GDP, which in turn helps us deal with deficits and debt we cannot seem to stop doing.

I think the system will have to change because automation will take over many jobs and there won't be enough tax payers in the US.

[_Themis]

If that is the case then it means we are long overdue. The last large asteroid impact happened 65 million years ago.

No that's not how it works. If the odds of a large asteroid like the one that killed off the dinosaurs hits on average every 60 million years, it doesn't mean the odds are now really high one will hit in the next 1000 years. The odds are still 1 in 60 millions years. Now we may be able to discover one that size well before it arrives. If we have to decide whether to put money into getting humans to Mars or money on creating capabilities of finding and stopping asteroids from hitting earth I will take the latter every time. Even if one were to hit today, I suspect it would not end humanity due to many things like bunkers and long term food storage.

That is very true, but unfortunately we live in the Trump-era. I hope we don't get another Trump in 2024 because anti-immigration politics works.

yes just like in Nazi Germany. it seems to go up and down over time. We have always had problems with it, but we have seen great improvements in the last century, so hopefully it will be short lived.

I think the system will have to change because automation will take over many jobs and there won't be enough tax payers in the US.

GDP is fairly dependent on consumerism, which depends on consumers. Eventually machines will be able to do all jobs, so yes we will need a new way of doing things. Continual growth in consuming is not sustainable forever.

[_Gunnar]

If that is the case then it means we are long overdue. The last large asteroid impact happened 65 million years ago.

No that's not how it works. If the odds of a large asteroid like the one that killed off the dinosaurs hits on average every 60 million years, it doesn't mean the odds are now really high one will hit in the next 1000 years.

That's certainly true. I was about to point that out too, but you beat me to it. No matter how long it has been since the last large asteroid strike, that does not increase the odds that we will soon experience another one in the slightest. There is no such thing as "overdue" in this case, unless we are talking about an object with a known orbit that periodically approaches dangerously close to earth at some known though long interval of time. It is not like a volcanic eruption or earthquake were the probability of experiencing the next one increases with how long the tectonic forces have been building up since the last one.

[Guest]

If that is the case then it means we are long overdue. The last large asteroid impact happened 65 million years ago.

No that's not how it works. If the odds of a large asteroid like the one that killed off the dinosaurs hits on average every 60 million years, it doesn't mean the odds are now really high one will hit in the next 1000 years.

I understand. You said, "All we have to do is look back in history to see how often we can expect to be hit by large objects."

[_DoubtingThomas]

yes just like in Nazi Germany. it seems to go up and down over time. We have always had problems with it, but we have seen great improvements in the last century, so hopefully it will be short lived.

Right, but SS only has 10-12 years according to a new report.

[Guest]

.

[_DoubtingThomas]

Overpopulation should be the least of your worries. It's way harder to get laid these days, isn't it?

"Women probably have higher expectations than they have ever had," Gerson observes.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/men-we-hav ... nerations/

[_DoubtingThomas]

To some extend it will help feed the masses, but no it does not solve the overall problem. Sending the masses to Mars doesn't help either. There are massive amounts of Land in places like northern Russia and northern Canada. We don't grow much of any food there because it is not very practical, but if we ever decide to, it will cost a fraction of what it would cost to try doing the same on Mars. Even the MOON would be a lot cheaper. Colonizing Mars is something I would like to see, but it will not solve overpopulation on earth, so it would be better to focus on things that can solve the overpopulation on earth.

You have a point.

[_Gunnar]

Even if Mars is successfully colonized, and the Martian colonists are so spectacularly successful in finding ways to raise food on Mars that they actually manage to produce a surplus, there is no way it would be economically feasible to ship any of that surplus all the way to earth help feed the starving masses here.