Nakena wrote:Grenartia wrote:The fact that we're on the precipice of multiple extinction-level catastrophes (mostly climate, but others as well, such as peak phosphorus), the bastard offspring of the dystopias of
Brave New World and
1984, the rise of fake news and deep fake technology, and our seeming unwillingness to even consider a rapid enough change in the course of our society to avoid those pitfalls.
I do not believe the climate change is endangering the existence and future of our species, despite it might lead to various problems and unpleasentlessness. Humans in general are extremly resilient even under harsh conditions and will survive and manage. As for the technological changes, they are huge, but I believe the new generation will as well adapt to it the same way our ancestors adapted to the introduction of similar game changer technologies such as Nuclear Energy or the Printing Press.
Yes, humans ourselves are pretty resilient, climatologically speaking. But most of the plants and animals we rely on for food, and the plants and animals comprising the ecosystems that support the ones we rely on for food, are not so resilient. And even if they were, there will still be "unpleasantness", which will motivate the expansion of the current dystopias on the planet, and the the creation and expansion of new dystopias, all embracing one form of ecofascism or another. And this is still ignoring the fact that peak phosphorus is a thing, which means that once we hit that peak, short of almost unrealistic leaps in technology (like going from horse and buggy to moon landing in 30 years) that would allow currently non-economical rocks to have their phosphorous extracted, food prices will go up drastically. This is independent of whatever effects climate change has on agricultural production, and independent of whether or not the entire global population goes vegan over night, because the element is a critical building block of the most essential biochemical compounds (including DNA itself) found in life on earth.
And even if those currently non-economical sources of phosphorus become economical through new technological means, that still requires large-scale mining efforts that will harm local environments. At least with the current rock mining efforts, the rocks are so loaded with P that it punches above its weight in terms of ecological impact vs mass of P produced.
Deep fakes isn't just something that can be 'adapted to' like the Printing Press. It becomes an arms race, between the people developing the technology, and the people developing ways of making sure they can be easily identified as fakes. And with the rise of dystopian societies, you can bet governments will use deep fake tech for their own nefarious ends.
Grenartia wrote:Like, yes, by a lot of metrics, this is also the best possible time to be alive, but in no other era of human history have we had so many ways to wipe ourselves off the face of the planet in the comparative blink of an eye, and neither has state control over individual affairs been so fucking easy to achieve.
The corresponding technology to destroy ourself exists since at since World War Two
I'm well aware. However, we now have new ways of destroying ourselves (and at least one way predating the Manhattan Project that has only been acknowledged over the last few decades, i.e., climate change).
and even before there have been horrific calamities such as World War One, which saw in a number of nations the first time the massive intervention of the total state. Of course technology marches on, and the new digital technologies now passed into the hands of various nasty entities from superpowers such as the PRC down to tinpot regimes in South America or elsewhere is a concerning, yet inevitable development. And yet, again, Man will as in all times find ways to slip away and around the excessive control and survive even under a social credit system with near orwellian dimensions.
Its not just the Orwellian social credit system, though that is a part of my concern. But the idea isn't to "survive" under them, but to fucking not let them happen in the first fucking place.
Grenartia wrote:IDK, is this what it felt like to come of age during the height of the Cold War? Sometimes I used to imagine having the ability to travel back in time, say to the late 50s, and just talk about the current state of affairs and how the whole "nuclear war" thing will become a non-concern within their own lifetime. And now I find myself hoping someone from the future would do that for me. But I also simultaneously dread hearing about the existential threats facing their society. Shit that isn't even on our fucking radar right now.
The World was somewhat more stable in the second half of the 20th century in a number of ways. However fear of Nuclear War was a thing, there was no internet, and a number of other technologies that make our lifes easier and handier today didn weren't around yet. At least not for the average citizen. Nonetheless, I can relate to your feeling, for the Cold War era is in retrospect one of the nicer ones, and also a defining one despite its - along with its icons and norms - slowly beginning to fade into history. I am sure in far future it might be looked back upon as Golden Age, where the technological and political state of Earth allowed such a period in a number of locations to blossom for a few decades.
Something tells me when the worst comes to happen, it
will be remembered as a Golden Age. When you have apocalyptic wars over resource shortages, 10 hurricanes on the scale of death and destruction as Katrina and Maria every year (and those hurricanes being the only source of rainfall in an otherwise forever drought), food becoming worth its weight in gold due to a mixture of supply and production hindrances, the collapse of large scale societies and a reversion to primitive tribalism a la Mad Max and Fallout, I'm sure that seeing the stability and standard of living in the 1st and 2nd world during the Cold War and the 2 decades immediately after will look like a Golden Age. Maybe there will be a Silver Age considered for the next decade or two (or maybe we're already in the middle of what will be seen as that Silver Age), until the final, unescapable consequences of what we've done as a species sets in.
On the other hand, I'm not sure the Cold War isn't already being looked at as a Golden Age, at least by certain factions in the US (I'm looking at you, MAGA crowd).
The only way I can think of to avert this nightmare is to utterly abandon the capitalist system in favor of some form of libertarian socialism, and to fully nuclearize the power grid, and invest in carbon capture/removal/sequestration, environmental restoration, space mining (of phosphorous and rare earth metals), terraforming and space colonization, etc.
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 9:42 pm
