Death, Pleasure, and what makes us Human

[Kirkreng]

I'd rather cheer with joy the day we can finally live in peace and not in fear of terrorism. Not that I believe that day is near at all.

I honestly believe that day will never be seen by us or even our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren... Probly even be worse for them...

I doubt there will ever be 100% peace. But humans are getting smarter and smarter over time, and I hope that someday we will be smart enough to actually realize what the hell we are doing, and how it affects other people.

[ProHypster]

I'd rather cheer with joy the day we can finally live in peace and not in fear of terrorism. Not that I believe that day is near at all.

I honestly believe that day will never be seen by us or even our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren... Probly even be worse for them...

I doubt there will ever be 100% peace. But humans are getting smarter and smarter over time, and I hope that someday we will be smart enough to actually realize what the hell we are doing, and how it affects other people.

 

We are already smart enough to realize what we're doing... We are just ignoring it.

 

I mean USA knew the effect of nukes.. they knew civilians would die, they still did it.

 

Japan knew they are on an island which is constantly hit by storms and earthquakes they still built m danerous nuclear reactors there. (Of course I'm not trying to blame them here but they had other options)

 

That's why I say that there is something true in the phrase: intelligence is blinded by Will

 

Here is some logical proofs by Schopenhauer:

 

But against the palpably sophistical proofs of Leibniz that this is the best of all possible worlds, we may even oppose seriously and honestly the proof that it is the worst of all possible worlds. For possible means not what we may picture in our imagination, but what can actually exist and last. Now this world is arranged as it had to be if it were to be capable of continuing with great difficulty to exist; if it were a little worse, it would be no longer capable of continuing to exist. Consequently, since a worse world could not continue to exist, it is absolutely impossible; and so this world itself is the worst of all possible worlds.

 

Thus throughout, for the continuance of the whole as well as for that of every individual being, the conditions are sparingly and scantily given, and nothing beyond these. Therefore the individual life is a ceaseless struggle for existence itself, while at every step it is threatened with destruction. Just because this threat is so often carried out, provision had to be made, by the incredibly great surplus of seed, that the destruction of individuals should not bring about that of the races, since about these alone is nature seriously concerned. Consequently, the world is as bad as it can possibly be, if it is to exist at all.

 

And a picture to think about:

 

[Doom Shepherd]

In the case of Technology V. Malthus, Technology is still winning. Except in places where crappy governments still run things. Most of our historically recent large-scale famines (China, Ethopia, the Ukraine) have been due at least as much to ideology as they have been to any other factor.

 

As for terrorism... just you wait until we develop the meme-bomb. When the mere act of believing that intentionally targeting civilians is an acceptable strategy makes your head explode...

[Alyxx Thorne]

I can imagine the terrorists running around like those aliens in Mars Attacks with their heads popping like eggs in a microwave.

[BTGBullseye]

As for terrorism... just you wait until we develop the meme-bomb. When the mere act of believing that intentionally targeting civilians is an acceptable strategy makes your head explode...

+rep just for the image that conjured...

[ProHypster]

Most of our historically recent large-scale famines (China, Ethopia, the Ukraine) have been due at least as much to ideology as they have been to any other factor. [/u]

In the case of Ukraine all I have to say is why didn't Stalin just go and marry hitler.... They're very alike. Sure, different moustaches, same evil shit.

 

Shepherd, what do you think the maximum optimal human population of this earth can be?

40 Billion

[BTGBullseye]

what do you think the maximum optimal human population of this earth can be?

40 Billion

I have my opinion on that, but I don't think you're going to like it... 500 million - 1 billion...

[ProHypster]

what do you think the maximum optimal human population of this earth can be?

40 Billion

I have my opinion on that, but I don't think you're going to like it... 500 million - 1 billion...

 

That's barely China............

And we still have very scarce lands like Africa, Arabia...

[BTGBullseye]

That's barely China............

And we still have very scarce lands like Africa, Arabia...

See, I said you wouldn't like it.

 

"Optimal" IMO means the population is concentrated in the "green-zones" and evenly dispersed with lots of human-tended farmland... Somewhere up to 1 billion in population at the maximum.

[Doom Shepherd]

Most of our historically recent large-scale famines (China, Ethopia, the Ukraine) have been due at least as much to ideology as they have been to any other factor. [/u]

In the case of Ukraine all I have to say is why didn't Stalin just go and marry hitler.... They're very alike. Sure, different moustaches, same evil shit.

Pretty much.

 

Shepherd, what do you think the maximum optimal human population of this earth can be?

40 Billion

 

Honestly? No idea. It probably depends on how you define "optimal." Especially in terms of what kind of lifestyle we are willing to accept. If we all lived like Indians (from India, not the Americas), Earth might be able to hold around 15 billion of us.

 

But if we all want to live like Americans, that number is going to be much, MUCH lower. Probably closer to BTGbulleye's numbers.

 

Assuming, that is, no major paradigm shifts (I seem to be using that phrase a lot today) in the way we do things, like the development of new technologies. Groundbreaking innovations like fusion power and asteroid mining (so we no longer have to take resources from the Earth alone) or new developments in increasing crop yields, would have a great effect on our sustainability, and hence the number of people who could live comfortably.

[ProHypster]

Assuming, that is, no major paradigm shifts (I seem to be using that phrase a lot today) in the way we do things, like the development of new technologies. Groundbreaking innovations like fusion power and asteroid mining (so we no longer have to take resources from the Earth alone) or new developments in increasing crop yields, would have a great effect on our sustainability, and hence the number of people who could live comfortably.

Hence the importance of colonising the moon, antarctic, arctic while too many people think it's a waste of money

[Doom Shepherd]

I think it'd probably be easier to irrigate and farm the Sahara than colonize the arctic (which is water) or antarctic. After all, it USED to be much greener before the climate shifted.

 

Maybe the continental shelf.

[Axeldeath]

Colonize the Arctic? Global warming would f**k that country up

[ProHypster]

Colonize the Arctic? Global warming would f**k that country up

Yeah well maybe we will learn a lesson or two about global warming when we colonize the arctic (Also if it's going to be that fucked up the whole earth will be flooded and not just that country)

[Axeldeath]

Colonize the Arctic? Global warming would f**k that country up

Yeah well maybe we will learn a lesson or two about global warming when we colonize the arctic (Also if it's going to be that fucked up the whole earth will be flooded and not just that country)

 

But the Arctic is just ice, I can see the arguement for Antarctica because it's a land mass... Why would you colonize somewhere where nothing would grow? Everything would have to be imported and it would cost assloads to maintain the buildings in that temp.

[ProHypster]

Colonize the Arctic? Global warming would f**k that country up

Yeah well maybe we will learn a lesson or two about global warming when we colonize the arctic (Also if it's going to be that fucked up the whole earth will be flooded and not just that country)

 

But the Arctic is just ice, I can see the arguement for Antarctica because it's a land mass... Why would you colonize somewhere where nothing would grow? Everything would have to be imported and it would cost assloads to maintain the buildings in that temp.

 

Well:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/02/russia.arctic

 

if russia gets that oil, that's another 50 years or so of richness.....