the following serves as a list of ways the world as we know it could end: The most common way that people are familiar with is deities intervening in divine judgment. The book of revelations according to many conflicting interpretations gives a bleak picture of our future. There have been many cults and other religions that have gotten all excited over false end of the world claims including: cargo-cults, Native American Ghost Dancers, Jehovah's Witnesses, David Koresh, etc. Growing up, my generation was rapt in fear of the specter of global thermonuclear warfare. Unlike predictions of some, this could have wiped out many species but not destroyed our planet or species. Unfortunately, our current level of ignorance and genetic predilection toward violence and the elimination of competing groups makes holocausts likely in our future. People seem to like fearing some big disaster - I think that's why news stations perpetually overrate hurricanes and snow storms. People love fear of disaster and then jamming up stores while fantasizing of not being able to get food (even though none of them under the age of 50 has ever suffered from disruption of food distribution) Most people see a big Malthusian threat of people destroying the earth via overpopulation and consumption of resources. Actually before mankind had science and technology, many of the great civilizations were wiped out by over-grazing, elimination of tree cover and erosion. The lot of mankind is threatened by some of the following self-introduced, MINI-APOCALYPSES: mega-tsunamis - at anytime, a large undersea earth quake could launch tidal waves that could destroy things up to 100 miles inland - it's just a matter of time for one of these to happen an ice age could start - they happen every 100,000 years and we're due. Some people think if it weren't for all the carbon we dump in the atmosphere that we would have started one already. I personally think we should have the technology in a few decades to permanently avoid this sort of thing - but it would take better cooperation than we have now. salinization of irrigated crop land - water from rivers or underground which is unnaturally spread on fields, evaporates and leaves behind salt residue. This is a underreported story that vast areas of crop land are being used up. a big comet strike - one could wipe out all traces of life and we could have no more than a month or two notice. We should build defenses now. a near super nova - believe it or not, one could fry us - and with little notice the atoms will decay - that's right in 10 to the 100 years, the last proton in the universe should decay. Actually, before this would happen - the last stars would have long since burned out. All atoms are subject to decay, it's just that their half lives (average time to decay) are mostly incredibly long. another universe could blow up into ours - hey, ours came into being. For those who consider an atheistic quantum singularity beginning - you would have to admit it could happen again. our sun could hit another sun in a few billion years. Most suns are binary suns. They either tend to form that way or one sun sucks another into it's gravitational field. Most scientists think a binary sun arrangement would preclude life. our sun will burn out in a few 10's of billions of years - this is guaranteed, just a long ways off. back to Eric's rants Doomsday: 2800 BC - 1700 A sobering look at many serious population related problems another look at the end of the world
The most common way that people are familiar with is deities intervening in divine judgment. The book of revelations according to many conflicting interpretations gives a bleak picture of our future. There have been many cults and other religions that have gotten all excited over false end of the world claims including:
Growing up, my generation was rapt in fear of the specter of global thermonuclear warfare. Unlike predictions of some, this could have wiped out many species but not destroyed our planet or species. Unfortunately, our current level of ignorance and genetic predilection toward violence and the elimination of competing groups makes holocausts likely in our future.
People seem to like fearing some big disaster - I think that's why news stations perpetually overrate hurricanes and snow storms. People love fear of disaster and then jamming up stores while fantasizing of not being able to get food (even though none of them under the age of 50 has ever suffered from disruption of food distribution)
Most people see a big Malthusian threat of people destroying the earth via overpopulation and consumption of resources. Actually before mankind had science and technology, many of the great civilizations were wiped out by over-grazing, elimination of tree cover and erosion. The lot of mankind is threatened by some of the following self-introduced, MINI-APOCALYPSES:
mega-tsunamis - at anytime, a large undersea earth quake could launch tidal waves that could destroy things up to 100 miles inland - it's just a matter of time for one of these to happen an ice age could start - they happen every 100,000 years and we're due. Some people think if it weren't for all the carbon we dump in the atmosphere that we would have started one already. I personally think we should have the technology in a few decades to permanently avoid this sort of thing - but it would take better cooperation than we have now.
salinization of irrigated crop land - water from rivers or underground which is unnaturally spread on fields, evaporates and leaves behind salt residue. This is a underreported story that vast areas of crop land are being used up.
a big comet strike - one could wipe out all traces of life and we could have no more than a month or two notice. We should build defenses now.
a near super nova - believe it or not, one could fry us - and with little notice
the atoms will decay - that's right in 10 to the 100 years, the last proton in the universe should decay. Actually, before this would happen - the last stars would have long since burned out. All atoms are subject to decay, it's just that their half lives (average time to decay) are mostly incredibly long.
another universe could blow up into ours - hey, ours came into being. For those who consider an atheistic quantum singularity beginning - you would have to admit it could happen again.
our sun could hit another sun in a few billion years. Most suns are binary suns. They either tend to form that way or one sun sucks another into it's gravitational field. Most scientists think a binary sun arrangement would preclude life.
our sun will burn out in a few 10's of billions of years - this is guaranteed, just a long ways off.
back to Eric's rants Doomsday: 2800 BC - 1700 A sobering look at many serious population related problems another look at the end of the world
