Some pessimistic thoughts, not porn-related…
(14 votes, average: 4.36 out of 5)
Loading...I love good days like that, when the highly pessimistic me discovers we, as a specy, are pushing forward worse shit than I thought.
… The rest of this post has nothing to do with hentai, but, in a paradoxical way, it may reveal another of the reasons I spend so much time immersing myself in hentai in the evenings. That’s because porn is pure goodness, a blessed time during which I can cast away all the depressing real life worries, and bask in this hentai I love so much. I’m the kind of guy infuriated to be part of a problem I just can’t begin to solve, against which I feel can’t do anything. My dear Hentairules.net is the best form of moral support I could find, thank you everyone 
So, well, you’re welcome to read the rest of this entry if you have time to read depressing information, but I won’t blame you if you just came for the porn and you don’t read the rest, simply moving on to another post 
So far I thought we were heading toward a mass extinction because the ecosystem simply was unable to fix itself fast enough and even cope with the sudden changes brought by the billions of humans eagerly extracting minerals and energy, and using or spreading them everywhere.
When the inputs would suddenly run out (energy, metals, financial system, qualified workers in the proper places and times), chaos and human extinctions would follow, hyperworsened by the chaos brought by humans to the ecosystem, the agricultural productivity falling with climate getting bad and industrialized agriculture becoming impaired for lack of inputs and energy.
And then, after a long time, while humanity would fall back to an early middle ages state, past an apocalyptic era in which population would fall to a few dozens or hundreds millions, we’d be able to live, more or less, peacefully, while the ecosystem would gradually fix itself.
That’s what I was thinking, to be frank.
End of the long story, end of the ambition humanity formerly had to reach outer space or break the secrets of the universe, with the proudly crazy ambition to perhaps manage to find a way to cheat with the rules of nature and prolong prosperity forever.
…
Sup, how about some H2S ? Hydrogen sulfide, guys. The star in most of the former global extinction eras.
Possibly preparing itself for a vivid comeback.
And turning a catastrophe from which the ecosystem and even mankind would eventually recover, into a sick shit ten times worse.
*
In short, with every decade, we’re raising the possibility for this shit.
Mix a series of related or unrelated tipping points. Less air circulation because the globe is warmer and warmer and warmer, less cold and hot waters mixing, less water circulating, more water evaporating leading to less and less oxygen in the sea water, oceans growing more and more acidic, the ozone layer shrinking and becoming thinner… Every of these problems plays a role and may worsen the other problems.
Some of this is a known risk, some of this is already happening (like the acidification, oceans absorbing more and more CO2 since there’s more and more of it in the air, it weakens some of the plantkon), all of this is playing a role in leading to a rabid increase in oceans anoxia, zones without enough oxygen for life to prosper. Even plankton would die off.
Bad anoxia, bad.
Without oxygen, here be no life ?
Haha, no worries, other bacteria would prosper.
Anoxic bacteria.
Feeding on sulfurs.
And releasing H2S bubbles.
The more H2S there is, the more anoxia, the more H2S, etc…
H2S is a highly toxic gas killing everything in sight, and then travelling in the atmosphere.
It’s happened several times in the past, it may happen again.
There are already anoxic dead zones in the ocean, very small zones, but growing with each year, for the moment mostly because of nitrogen released by industrialized agriculture..
We have enough oil, gas and coal left (especially the coal, actually) to push atmospheric CO2 concentration further 1000 PPM.
Save one (lucky dinosaurs), the former mass extinctions were initiated by relatively fast global warming in which CO2 reached 1000 PPM, mostly powered by massive volcanic times, other times by massive methane liberation, or a mix of all this. In our case we’re simply burning stuff to generate energy, and funnily the effect is apparently similar on a global scale.
It would take 2, maybe 3 centuries, to reach the 1000 PPM CO2 concentration seen at the start of all H2S-based global extinction events, which would make H2S liberation accelerate beyond the last hopes of control, but the “beauty” of this is that it is a self-sufficient cycle, it may start low, it just goes on once the balance is tipped in favour of ocean anoxia.
So what ?
Who cares, we’ll be dead by then, even our great-grandchildren will be.
Mankind would be gone before the sky turns green.
But even then, that thought terrifies me.
As if I was discovering that, as a the first specy on this globe having reached consciousness, we’re failing our responsibilities much more than I had thought.
Leaving behind us a poorer landscape with the climate changing fast in unpredictable directions is a shame. Having consumed all the easy to extract metals and energy resources prevents any future intelligent specy to reach industrial age and develop technology, it’s another shame.
But…
Leaving a toxic rock devoid of 60 to 90% of its life, circled by purple oceans under a green sky, this is yet something else.
*
Oh, links ? Gee, you can google it, can’t you. But two links among several others, if you care :
Short : http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2011/08/the-truth-about-climate-change
Long : http://energyskeptic.com/2011/will-global-warming-drive-us-extinct/
*
And, yes, of course, I may be wrong, if there’s an H2S cycle (the steady presence of ocean anoxic zones and slight H2S production is already a fact, though), it’s only at the verrry beginning of its cycle. But is this cycle beginning or not, we can’t do jack shit about it at all.
As always in such circumstances, guys, you are MORE THAN WELCOME to prove me wrong. I’m humble, I’d never dare pretend I can’t have been fooled or mistaken. I’d love being proven wrong.
…You COULD be wrong about the greatgrandkids. Just sayin' before it's too late, I love you man. As in if we met we'd be best friends instantly. But hell, what would love and peace do to avert this?
Jesus, man…you have some WEIRD issues…
Well the way I've seen it from a few years back is either we kill ourselves with wars, depletion of resources or some other sick stuff, or the planet kills us for being stupid and irrepsonsible about how we expand and consume, so this just strikes me as another potential threat no one will pay it due attention until they see it crawling up their sides and killing entire populations at a time.
I also feel frustrated to be part of a huge problem and that I can't do jack shit about it, but it just seems that humanity and our leaders can't take the tough calls until it's just too late to do anything about it and they just postpone it thinking "let the next guy handle it". *sigh*
Red Cloud, the indian chief, predicted that long time ago.
"White man, you'll kill all of the buffaloes, you'll cut down all of the trees, you'll fish all of the fishes, and only then, and not a minute before, you'll understand you can't eat your filthy dollars."
But do not worry. As an european, i must say you you forgot the Gulf stream issue. Four Celsius grade more, and the stream will block itself starting an irreversible cicle of cooling and GLACIATION, and there are going to be bitter c0ck$ for everyone on the planet, USA included – because there will be no spaceship to bring you to another planet, believe me.
Time to pay for GW Bush madness. We lost almost a decade thanks to his oil financed USA presidence. What consoles me is that Mother Nature will erase our presence from this planet quicker that you all believe.
[offtopic]
I'm pretty sure Oliver is not american..
[/offtopic]
And that's why I try my best not to think about it. Because every time I think, I start to hate humans even more, because we are so greedy, so full of ourselves and so STUPIDS! We can't take our heads out of our asses and see that we are killing the entire planet just like a bunch of parasites, feeding off of our host until nothing is left and then we die…
Sorry about that, it's just that sometimes thinking about what we are doing to the planet gets me really upset, to put it mildly. Sometimes it sucks to be able to rationalize. Ignorance is, indeed, bliss sometimes.
Oliver is French.
To be fair, we Americans got our ideas of manafest destiny (the idea that god wants us to won and use everything however we want) from our European ancestors who spread across the world destroying everything that didn't follow the idea that everything belonged to the white man because the church decreed it so.
Also, You might not be as bad, but you europeans arent completely inocent in this either. The idustial revolution happened on your shores too, your people have curruption in politics too, and your citizens are still human and therefore by definition PART OF THE PROBLEM TOO.
Plus, not arguing the reasons of WHO AND WHY, TWO world wars happened on europes watch and that sure as hell takes a big chunk out of a healthy planet. WW2 was hitlers fault, but WW1 was bad world politics and laid the groundwork for hitlers greviences against the rest of europe that led to the second.
*manifest
*wants us to own
Man I wish theyre was an edit comment feature.
…But there already is.
Really? Then how to use it?
I can't see an 'edit' button or anything next to my post :-(
Should be right under your post assuming someone hasn't replied to you and you're logged in on Intense Debate (like you are, Mumei).
It goes "Edit Delete Report"
Then, please answer me, who in the hell opposed to Kyoto? Our deads' souls? Bush did. I think we have already lose our chance. Brace for the worst guys, we are reaching a thermal optimum for the finest diseaese ever. Remember the Medievel themal optimum in the XIVth century? The Black Death? And people were scattered along all of the continent, not just in a few crowded megacities like today.
Resources were wasted, but we had the possibilities to do better. I just think we let these possibilities slip into the sink thanks to Mr Busk and his oil gang. We can avoid hell only if two thirds of all of the coal, methane and oil on the planet will stay hidden FOREVER. NO USE OF IT FOREVER. I doubt your waste factory megacars will be fancy to drive if this happens…
PS I knew Oliver is french. I just wanted to point out who is the biggest responsible in my opinion. It doesn't count what was did by our ancestors, but what we will do to save this planet, and voting for that utter incompetent Bush, who managed to lose himself in his own estate – was sure not the best choice for the world future, Big power means big responsibility, and you – and we know now who – gave poor proof of that. Period for me.
EDIT NOTE: it seems this is highlighted in the secind link you posted. But believe me the freezing is expected to be even worse here in Europe.
I know how you feel, man. I often feel the same way. Hopefully, we can survive this, and learn a goddamn lesson from it.
Well afaik the greates mass extinction event would be when the Oxygen concentration (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Ev… ) as it killed the most species (also they were relativly simple organisms like bacteria).
We, as a species, may still have a happy ending, but I can't see it working in a democracy, as the common men has to be forced to change his way of life. There is no way that everyone can life like the first-world states population and keep the planet from collapsing in on us. So we have to be put back on a "lower" level to sustain us.
Another possibility is that some intelligent people will find a technological answer to the problems (like an atmosphere processor). Humans can be very skillful and creative. If they are forced to find a solution, I think we can.
On an unrelated note: Didn't know you were french, so happy about that
keep up the great work and never forget to hug your family :3
Don't worry, be happy.
First, much is wrong with your scenario. Okay, let's say it's all our fault and we're going to wipe ourselves and everything out. As you are so concerned about it, let me remind you that extinction level events have happened in the past, and every time, the Earth has survived and recovered.
It might take millions of years for a new species to arise, but, guess what? The surface of the planet will have changed, vastly. What goes up, must come down, and vice versa. Meaning that millions of years from now, deeper minerals that are not easily accessible will be accessible, Ocean floors will become mountain ranges and plains. Oil? It's an ongoing process: Someday intelligent fleas might be powering their vehicle with Octane ala Oliver.
So, from a long term view, the only way the planet doesn't recover at some point, and that other species aren't condemned by our having had a first crack at readily available minerals is if the Vogons need to make room for a hyperspace bypass.
this guys is right … alot!
u see I'm an geologist, yeah everybody hate us, we search for oil and minerals, some other shits and stuff … well when I've started the graduation I was just like that: "fucking human killing everything motheafuckas hate u all!!!" but I've learned some shit that the people should have learned at all:
first: the oxygen was an poison in the begin, the first and worst of the extinction, but like in jurassic park (all yeah), life found it's way… now oxygen is the mkost important for life it self, so all the changes in the world, in the end not all gonna be here but for sure there will be life here, until the true end (sun dead …)
second: the great quantity of the CO2 now in the atmosfere was a normal thing, even low, in the past, and even for more then hundreds of milion of years there was a great nunber of CO2 and everything was alright … so there is not like its gonna be all bad, it can trigger some good things, like more intemperism, that remove CO2 from atms … yeah its strange but more intemperism remove CO2 and more CO2 triggers the intemperism, nature is funny …
third: the climate anual differences, like seasons are something new in earth, like less then some milion years, and we have more then billions … so if its "special" and not usual, well thats normal, its not something that is here for so much time, then its only natural its not right
fourth: nature recicles every -fucking-things, everything is been remade right now … there's not even one thing (oil, minerals or others …) that are not been "remade" right now, in the end things are recicled by earth it self, just to mantain the straight line of balance of it on … the problem is that there is and positive feed back, more is been released, more then earth can renew it, so its a problem, but u can be sure that there is something is gonna mantain earth it self, but not as before, not normal as before, but evolve is natural, so why fucking not?
five: the bigger problem is earth core lost heat, that is gonna be the end for sure, once the hot of it dissipate we gonna lost everything that protect us form the universe, most of all the sun radiation is retained by it, direct or not, besides we gonna lose the rotation and dozens of other things …
six: yes radiation is the only one that can be used without problens, its just mantain human stupidity low that we could use it well and without problem for nature or us
now for myself, something that I thing: humans are animal, obviously, and people say that we cant kill animals, be lazy and others, first you really think that if one carnivorous would not do what we do if could? its natural that an animal would try eat what is easy if could, its just that nature is not so kind with everyone … so what?
just dont become some lazy pig that throw shit anywhere and stuff like that, i applaud people that want the world be better and teach their children about it, just dont go teaching then lies and things "one sided" only, everyone should learn the truth and decide for him/herself what want to believe, "nothing is true, everything is permited" is something that makes sence, just dont go believing in everything u hear without discuss with serious people … if u read only the end is alright ahaha!
sorry for the lame english … hope u guys understand
Your post made me think of something. Evolution is natural indeed, so that begs the question: how will the next dominant specie will fare on their time? Following the evolution thought is only natural to think that they will be intelligent. Intriguing.
just like evolution is natural so is extintion, some say that when some species reach a large size they are faded to "disappear" … that not only happened with dinosaurs but with the big mammals (leaving the human part aside) and even before, like rudists (if i remember the name right …) and others that havent keep up with nature it self … as you can think big beings are more likely to suffer from even the little change in the ambient … some people even say that humans cam be put in big being, and thus faded to disapear too, another interesting thing to think for yourself as you becomes aware of nature it self hahahah!
but that have nothing to do with your post alone ahhahaah! anyway that is something everybody must think at least once in life, if a day will come and humans will face inteligent beings, from here or not, and i think is something nice to think once we dont now a shit about things …
Remember that oft used science fiction thing about locust-like alien species that move from planet to planet after they've drained the previous ones dry?
No? Anyone?
Funny enough, that's what I thought of when this post made me think about humans somehow going over these enviromental issues: pack up and find a better place to live in.
Because spending millions on dealing with a problem that isn't really a problem yet is excellent bait for your political adversaries to bash you in the head with for wasting taxpayer money. Far more safe for your career to wait until fixing the issue, or even slowing it's progress down, will cost many, many billions or trillions and require the support of major world powers. And of course, even then some knucklehead is likely going to start a hate campaign so he or she can drag you down in the upcoming elections…
'Packing and finding a better place (an other planet) to live in' is actually very very expensive, much more than we could ever afford.
And of course, any new place we find to survive won't last much better than earth did.
Therefore, I think that wouldn't be a solution to the problem :-(
well it has been said that any alien life we are likely to encounter will be hostile and trying to take our resources. Remember that a species only advances based on its pressure to evolve so it's not to far-fetched to say that the main reason species would gain space travel would be because they have exhausted their resources, kinda like migration but when there isn't any usable land you simply go up.
We will survive this, like we did with all the other problems – we are 9 billion people, do you really think everythign will fall down? Our true divinity is to create. So if we find a problem, we can invent solutions.
If we run out of a resource, we will find another way. The technology level increased rapidly in the last 100 years from the first gasolinecar to electric car nowadays. You cant even imagine the technology in 2 – 3 centuries. So don't worry.
btw1. we would have died even faster, if the poles are melting the whole oceancircle would stop, ths means massive dieing of life in the ocean
btw2 heating up is a normal process in the worlds changing. there was ice age, theres was volcanic heating, which produces massive co2. so it will warm up anyway, we are just about to force it faster.
The problem here is NOT that we can invent, but that we don't have enough to do so. Time isn't even such a great issue, Energy AND Matter is.
We require energy to thrive. We abuse energy reserves to thrive. We don't spend enough time to think about what could go wrong with this energy abuse because we really DIDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO, until the last couple decades.
Available energy, or actually "power" (which could be called "maximum energy you can whip out in a day") is finite, and limited. We require energy to move, work, create, experiment, and that energy can't go over a certain cap, which can rise 'till we use up all fossil/nuclear/expendable fuel, then it'll crash down to whatever can be extracted from nature. Hydric, Eolic, Solar, Wood… these kinds of energy.
With global warming, though, the first two will be getting gradually weaker, because there will be no temperature difference between zones, which will weaken currents, thus extracted power. The third will become less efficient. The fourth isn't actually a great choice since it doesn't net out enough energy to fit our needs (and, btw, it would need a reasoned plant-grow-harvest-replant schedule, which isn't really in most industrial civilizations' thoughtset <- is that actually a word?).
I AM hopeful, and like you believe we will find a way. But, being almost through with a degree in Mech. Eng., am actually realising just how much we depend on so much energy, and how many efforts have been spent to actually make that amount less and less (for economic reasons, though – to lessen production expenses).
I do believe we'll start with a new page, and we could actually make this better, but the first problem that comes to mind is that _we're too many_, and _most of us are oblivious to problems and solutions_ or, worse, they don't care. So I balance my expectations between "Ohgod we're fucked to the bone"-panic attacks, and "It's ok. I'm working too, to make it better, we just need to improve our efforts"-bravery bursts.
As for H2S problems, I never heard of it, and I think it's still not the main problem we must face. It'll grow slowlier if we correct our planetary habits, so I think we'll be able to deal with it. I'm not too keen on Chemistry, tho, so I'd say we could make, or already know, a way to adsorb H2S into filters, probably to use it in some other way. Who knows, make it into rubber vulcanizing solutions -Hope any Chem. expert will correct me, so don't take my words too seriously
-Off topic
@Oliver: On a side note, to lighten up a little… I've made an Italian translation for Hatsu Inu (all volumes) for a friend, and thought to actually bring it to public. It's based on the volumes you shared and 4DAWGZ' ones, would it be alright if I sent you the links after some final quality checking?
-/Off topic
-TKJK
well actually energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, it's just really difficult to convert it a usable form such as processing fossil fuels to create oil. So theoretically we can keep going for a long while just looking for something thing new to burn or maybe developed some new way to process another resource and then exploit it until it becomes scarce. The only real problem is when energy gets converted into heat and fly out the ozone layer…. yeah eventually all the energy created through friction ends up escaping and going out into space were we can't reach it.
So i do agree with you but still think that even after we wise up and discover new energy means we will simply fall back on old habits.
When the world was lurching into the modern era, it grew magnificently more populous, and in a hurry. Most of this expansion took place in urban centers like London, Paris, New York, and Chicago. In the United States alone, cities grew by 30 million residents during the nineteenth century, with half of that gain in just the final twenty years.
But as this swarm of humanity moved itself, and its goods, from place to place, a problem emerged. The main mode of transportation produced a slew of the by–‐products that economists call negative externalities, including gridlock, high insurance costs, and far too many traffic fatalities. Crops that would have landed on a family's dinner table were sometimes converted into fuel, driving up food prices and causing shortages. Then there were the air pollutants and toxic emissions, endangering the environment as well as individuals' health.
We are talking about the automobile,aren't we?
No, we're not. We are talking about the horse.
The horse, a versatile and powerful helpmate since the days of antiquity, was put to work in many ways as modern cities expanded: pulling streetcars and private coaches, hauling construction materials, unloading freight from ships and trains, even powering the machines that churned out furniture, rope, beer, and clothing. If your young daughter took gravely ill, the doctor rushed to your home on horseback. When a fire broke out, a team of horses charged through the streets with a pumping truck. At the turn of the twentieth century, some 200,000 horses lived and worked in New York City, or 1 for every 17 people.
But oh, the troubles they caused!
Horse–‐drawn wagons clogged the streets terribly, and when a horse broke down, it was often put to death on the spot. This caused further delays. Many stable owners held life–‐insurance policies that, to guard against fraud, stipulated the animal be euthanized by a third party. This meant waiting for the police, a veterinarian, or the ASPCA to arrive. Even death didn't end the gridlock. 'Dead horses were extremely unwieldy,' writes the transportation scholar Eric Morris. 'As a result, street cleaners often waited for the corpses to putrefy so they could more easily be sawed into pieces and carted off.'
The noise from iron wagon wheels and horseshoes was so disturbing,it purportedly caused widespread nervous disorders,that some cities banned horse traffic on the streets around hospitals and other sensitive areas.
And it was frighteningly easy to be struck down by a horse or wagon, neither of which is as easy to control as they appear in the movies, especially on slick, crowded city streets. In 1900, horse accidents claimed the lives of 200 New Yorkers, or 1 of every 17,000 residents. In 2007, meanwhile, 274 New Yorkers died in auto accidents, or 1 of every 30,000 residents. This means that a New Yorker was nearly twice as likely to die from a horse accident in 1900 than from a car accident today. (There are unfortunately no statistics available on drunk horse–‐drivers, but we can assume the number would be menacingly high.)
Worst of all was the dung. The average horse produced about 24 pounds of manure a day. With 200,000 horses, that's nearly 5 million pounds of horse manure. A day. Where did it go?
Decades earlier, when horses were less plentiful in cities, there was a smooth–‐functioning market for manure, with farmers buying it to truck off (via horse, of course) to their fields. But as the urban equine population exploded, there was a massive glut. In vacant lots, horse manure was piled as high as sixty feet. It lined city streets like banks of snow. In the summertime, it stank to the heavens. when the rains came, a soupy stream of horse manure flooded the crosswalks and seeped into people's basements. Today, when you admire old New York brownstones and their elegant stoops, rising from street level to the second–‐story parlor, keep in mind that this was a design necessity, allowing a homeowner to rise above the sea of horse manure.
All of this dung was terrifically unhealthy. It was a breeding ground for billions of flies that spread a host of deadly diseases. Rats and other vermin swarmed the mountains of manure to pick out undigested oats and other horse feed,crops that were becoming more costly for human consumption thanks to higher horse demand. No one at the time was worried about global warming, but if they had been, the horse would have been Public Enemy No. 1, for its manure emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
In 1898, New York hosted the first international urban planning conference. The agenda was dominated by horse manure, because cities around the world were experiencing the same crisis. But no solution could be found. 'Stumped by the crisis,' writes Eric Morris, 'the urban planning conference declared its work fruitless and broke up in three days instead of the scheduled ten.' The world had seemingly reached the point where its largest cities could not survive without the horse but couldn't survive with it, either.
And then the problem vanished. It was neither government fiat nor divine intervention that did the trick. City dwellers did not rise up in some mass movement of altruism or self–‐restraint, surrendering all the benefits of horse power. The problem was solved by technological innovation. No, not the invention of a dung–‐less animal. The horse was kicked to the curb by the electric streetcar and the automobile, both of which were extravagantly cleaner and far more efficient. The automobile, cheaper to own and operate than a horse–‐drawn vehicle, was proclaimed 'an environmental savior.' Cities around the world were able to take a deep breath,without holding their noses at last,and resume their march of progress.
The story, unfortunately, does not end there. The solutions that saved the twentieth century seem to have imperiled the twenty–‐first, because the automobile and electric streetcar carried their own negative externalities. The carbon emissions spat out over the past century by more than 1 billion cars and thousands of coal–‐burning power plants seem to have warmed the earth's atmosphere. Just as equine activity once threatened to stomp out civilization, there is now a fear that human activity will do the same. Martin Weitzman, an environmental economist at Harvard, argues there is a roughly 5 percent chance that global temperatures will rise enough to 'effectively destroy planet Earth as we know it.' In some quarters,the media, for instance, which never met a potential apocalypse it didn't like,the fatalism runs even stronger.
This is perhaps not very surprising. When the solution to a given problem doesn't lay right before our eyes, it is easy to assume that no solution exists. But history has shown again and again that such assumptions are wrong.
This is not to say the world is perfect. Nor that all progress is always good. Even widespread societal gains inevitably produce losses for some people. That's why the economist Joseph Schumpeter referred to capitalism as 'creative destruction.'
But humankind has a great capacity for finding technological solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and this will likely be the case for global warming. It isn't that the problem isn't potentially large. It's just that human ingenuity,when given proper incentives,is bound to be larger. Even more encouraging, technological fixes are often far simpler, and therefore cheaper, than the doomsayers could have imagined. Indeed, in the final chapter of this book we'll meet a band of renegade engineers who have developed not one but three global–‐warming fixes, any of which could be bought for less than the annual sales tally of all the Thoroughbred horses at Keeneland auction house in Kentucky.
The value of horse manure, incidentally, has rebounded, so much so that the owners of one Massachusetts farm recently called the police to stop a neighbor from hauling it away. The neighbor claimed there was a misunderstanding, that he'd been given permission by the farm's previous owner. But the current owner wouldn't back down, demanding $600 for the manure.
Who was this manure–‐loving neighbor? None other than Martin Weitzman, the economist with the grave global–‐ warming prediction.
'Congratulations,' one colleague wrote to Weitzman when the story hit the papers. 'Most economists I know are net exporters of horseshit. And you are, it seems, a net importer.'
— , Stephen J.
–Dubner, Stephen J. & Levitt, Steven D., "Superfreakonomics"
We (people who have the necessary resources to read this message) are actually very privileged because we have a choice, and I choose hope.
I agree that according to the current trends the world is likely to be destroyed by a series of shit storms because unfortunately idiots do not die fast enough by drowning in their own ignorance and sense of entitlement. However, simply giving up is just too boring. Why not try the hardcore mode? In other words, it is ok to spend a few minutes every day enjoying a code bath of depression; but for the rest of the day one could choose to live like the courage wolf by eating a bit more healthily, consuming a bit less, and contributing a bit more than one did yesterday. There are smart geeks and nerds out there doing science so advanced that it is undistinguishable from hacks. Give them the support they need and maybe one day science will save the world.
We are an intelligent species. This means that while other species inadvertently drive themselves to extinction for us it is within walking distance. j/k.
Now I'll be serious.
Yes, we are intelligent, and yes it is our main advantage. We see the trouble coming and we actually do something about it. There are serious studies of alternative energies (Solar, Geothermic, fusion etc) that will replace the CO2 polluting methods, once they reach the efficiency level to be economically cheaper. We are pretty close to that point already.
As for evolution and extinction we are getting closer to the point where we can recover lost species if we save their DNA in time, and luckily we do this already.
What we lack is a proper understanding of global ecology systems and there are lots of nature loving people willing to forgo big salaries in high-tech to pursue scientific ecological careers. So not all is black, even today. It's just that listening to politics brings everybody down.
I think politics is one of the disadvantages of intelligence we have to bear with for the good stuff, like hentai :-)
PS
Thank you for this wonderful site.
….wow your actually a lot less pessimistic then I am. See if we start struggling for resources we will do what all species do, compete for resources. So we will probably nuke each other looooonnnngg before we slowly starve.
As for the other fear of toxins and such, i don't think it posses as big a threat due to the fact that humanity is at its greatest when it is at its most desperate. Example the moon landing, thought it was impossible and ridiculously expensive but put the fear of any enemy destroying you all of a sudden in a couple of years you have made the impossible reality. Same with the nuke when they thought the germans were making one. Simply put enough fear of being wiped out and we can make it happen.
In the end humanity's biggest threat is humanity.
of course this is all assuming a space rock doesn't flatten us like the insects we are…..
play "little inferno" it made me feel kinda better about this whole thing.
Well, of course you're right, but I think, there's more than just this problem.
At some point in time (probably in 10-50 years or so), there will be too many people on the world than the planet can handle. At least if they demand a 'proper life', i.e. having a heated house, having clothes to wear, food rich in variety to eat, etc.
Other than animals, we humans don't have a natural enemy which kills us. The only causes to reduce humans in numbers, i.e. deadly diseases, accidents, etc., are being reduced by us everyday (which, from a single human's point of view, is great).
There will be a time where the number of people will be just too much and will have to be decreased forcefully. Maybe through mass killing? War? Inhuman laws?
Well, if the eco-system changes as you described, then that would cause a decrease in humans too.
That would be actually beneficial to humans.
So I'm not sure if there's actually anything we can really do to prevent shit to happen.
Shit will happen. In one or other form.
Even if all mankind cared more for the environment and stuff, it wouldn't change that still, people will have to die in masses, in one way or other.
I don't think there is a (humane) solution.
And also, as long there are humans, no matter how 'good' they are, there's always the chance of having some individuals who think different and destroy everything. That's just how our biological structure works, changing all the time randomly.
So, extinction of mankind, is actually a good thing.
So therefore, live following your ideals and belief, try to have a nice and enjoying life, have fun reading lots of hentai, until time has come to die for us all.
Well, that's what I think.
Feel free to discuss about it, since I know I could be wrong.
"at’s because porn is pure goodness, a blessed time during which I can cast away all the depressing real life worries, and bask in this hentai I love so much. I’m the kind of guy infuriated to be part of a problem I just can’t begin to solve, against which I feel can’t do anything. My dear Hentairules.net is the best form of moral support I could find, thank you everyone "
oh my!!!
this is what i feel everyday!!!!
especially being depress in life, Hentairules is my savior, my way of making me alive in this world.
you may not know, but i really thank you Oliver for this site.
ever since college, it's getting harder and harder for me to enjoy life.
already getting my associates this May 31, the next 2 years will be hell for me.
so yes this is my "drug" for this madness.
oh and i doubt anyone of us(even the baby's being born right now) will live to see that end.
i'll enjoy every second i visit that site, and will continue to do so till the day i die(heck if there's a way to access this site after dying then count me in!)
so don't worry Oliver, just continue what your doing!!!
Well what can I say. Go wach Life of Brian. ^_^ Remember we come from nothing aka a Supernova.B) I know, that we 6,5 billion of us all will die of something.
Choking, thirst, starvation, exposure, ect.
Either way we must all fight too survive, and we got the brainpower to do it.
A lot of people are looking for answers, and soner or later there will be a global solution for all of us or just those, who can pay for it. :'( Private enterprice will only do it for money, and lots of it. =/ Goverments aka Politicians will only do it, if they can look good in the puplics eyes, and get reelected. o.0
So we the people must force both sides to act in our intrest, and reinvent the industrial revolution in a more enviromental way. :p
Either way we are paying for it anyway through our taxes and comsumtion. xD
PS. Keep looking on the bright side. We shall overcome. :$
"Go wach Life of Brian."
Haha! Really man, thank you very much for remembering me of this!
….. you do realize the universe is spreading farther and farther away from itself. One day there will be distances greater then galaxies between atoms…. there is no bright side in the long run, we are but candles in the wind.
You may think we are destroying the earth but you are kidding youself the earth will be fine with time we are just killing ourselves
omg, serious talk instead "all i have is porn on my mind" in hentairules.net
im more afraid of that than of the world freezing over ;D, good read nontheless
Mankind is the supreme specie on Earth because we're able to adapt to changes.
Many things will change, but that fact won't.
I think of it like this: Mankind is a species. Thats is. Nothing special. And although we think that because we die out, it will somehow change the course of the Earth, it won't mean a thing. Even if we take the rest of life with us, the Earth will contine to turn like it always has. Its hard for us to imagine the only world we know, looking completly different, or have deadly(to us) substances in the air or the water being a different color. However, we are just witnesses to the tiniest sliver of the Earths history. Be glad you were even born to witness this era during a time that your species, no matter how it acts, gets to live and be able to even think about its long term destruction, rather than surviving day by day.
As a longtime lurker, I appreciate everything that you've done Oliver. I can understand your sentiment. Sometimes you just need to get lost in something to be able to find your ability to keep going. Hope you can figure out everything that is on your plate, we're pulling for ya.
I agree that it is sad beyond compare that humanity has been caught in a grip of insatiable greed after energy in all it’s shapes and forms.
However, we do change. Especially as new generations are born and the old assholes die. Right now it seems like most of them are from the US and China, like they’re caught in some harms race. But then that’s probably because I’m European. At one time we were the know-it-all assholes.
New technology change our options, while old issues are dealt with. What we know today, is so much greater than what we knew a generation or two ago – and so very many more are aware of it, know that we can’t keep on living like this and do something about it!
But of course it will require that we change the system we live under. Break corporatism, stop this insane belief in constant growth, step away from our worship of money and wealth.
Remember how afraid humanity was that nuclear conflagration would wipe us all out? Well it didn’t… Even an autocratic system like the Soviet, didn’t want to destroy everybody just to prove a point.
So I’m not afraid. Life finds a way. We will solve this! All I am afraid of, is how much will have to be destroyed before we do enough.
Sad!!
To quote something from something (yeah i don't know where its from anymore or even if i'm quoting it correctly): "Everything that has a beginning, must have an end" or something like that
So just like the dinosaurs began and ended so must the our species end… at some point or another
Good to know I'm not the only one thinking this.
At this point I've accepted two possible outcomes:
1. We all die, a new form of sentient life that can adapt to the changes takes over. So in the future species, tentacle hentai will simply be hentai.
2. A group of our brightest, ambitious, empathetic, compassionate, and progressive; start building arks to send humanity to other places and/or establish a secret underground/underwater bases for the purpose of terraforming.
The second part I'm envisioning small nuclear/solar factories that have self replicating machines that slowly terraform the planet over the course of thousands of years. In other words, we start building artificial trees/plants that start scrubbing the atmosphere and storing energy.
Of course the second part is probably pure fantasy, but you never really know what's going on in secret out there.
In closing, I do have some hope for the future. Years of objective observation have let me to one conclusion to my hypothesis about pessimism:
Things are not as bad as they seem; or as good as they could (we'd like them to) be.