Let’s say society has crumbled around our ears into chaos…..the question has been asked many times….what do we do next?
Should we think about re-population? Should we start trying to re-build our failed society? Should we try to preserve the knowledge of man? Should we consider off-world move? What should be the survivors main task?
This article is about the later…..
Last week, scientists announced that for the first time on record, Antarctic ice has failed to “substantially recover” over winter, in a “once in 7.5-million-year event.” Climate change is the most likely culprit.
Petra Heil, a sea ice physicist from the Australian Antarctic Division, told the ABC it could tip the world into a new state. “That would be quite concerning to the sustainability of human conditions on Earth, I suspect.”
And in March, a senior United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council the risk of nuclear weapons being used today is higher than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
Both warnings speak to concerns about Earth’s security. Will our planet be able to support human life in the future? And if not, will humanity have another chance at survival in space?
Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed the rise of the “billionaut.” The ultra-wealthy are engaged in a private space race costing billions of dollars, while regular citizens often condemn the wasted resources and contribution to global carbon emissions.
Space—described in the Outer Space Treaty as being the “province of all mankind”—risks instead becoming the playground of the elite few, as they try to escape the consequences of environmental destruction.
But if we have to select humans to send into space for a species survival mission, how do we choose who gets to go?
In Montreal last month, the Interstellar Research Group explored the question: how would you select a crew for the first interstellar mission?
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-world-ethical-rebuild-humanity-off-planet.html
The way greed has taken control of the people I would say those that can bribe their way to a better life will leave the rest of us peasants behind to fend for ourselves.
Any thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Perhaps almost total destruction is what it will take to make people learn from their mistakes and move forward productively. (Too bad we’re talking hypothetically.)
It is a possibility but history dictates that we probably will not. chuq
All those conditions you mentioned that are required to rebuild the society are accurate but it will never happen because those who try to rebuild the society will make the same mistakes again as before.
You mean like ‘secrecy agreements’ going forward? Or will turning CIA agents (male) into remote covert rapists of female CIA agents save the day?? Arctic melt, ok, so times near for ‘some’ disclosures. Those that sell out the rest, never mind.
Yes– all that and more. How very observant you are!
In other words we learn nothing from our actions….I agree chuq
People do not learn well and their memories are as short as that of a two-peckered tomcat.
The attention span of a goldfish, right? chuq
Goldfish are smarter than that.
Smarter than? chuq
smarter than the average bear
Tee hee…..Yogi and his pinanic baskets…LOL chue
JIHAD! now!!
WTF?
I can only believe that, while perhaps too late to stave off ongoing natural disasters, we will find a way to fight back to save our civilization – probably off of the efforts of the engaged young community, who continues to speak up and out about the world they are being left with.
I hope you are right…..sadly the young voices are all but a whisper to the rest of society these days. chuq
The billionaire space race might well be designed to get them off the planet once it all falls apart. But where will they go, and how will they live once they are there? Terraforming and populating a new planet is still a very long way off, and I doubt that Bezos, Musk, and Branson wil ever live to become the new ‘settlers’.
Best wishes, Pete.
My daughter said the same thing. chuq