The ultimate destiny of humans. (Given a couple assumptions)

[officerripley]

Some of the visions of the future that people have had have been wonderful but it seems like they keep forgetting about the insatiable lust for power that most humans suffer from and how it affects (ruins) things.

 

[bobcat]

Are humans that special to defy the inevitable? Or do we just think we are? We've had a good run, not near as long as some of the hominids that came before us, but we've done well. But all species go extinct. That's just part of evolution.

Well, Crocodiles are extremely resilient. They have been around for 200 million years.
I guess even asteroids can't kill them.

 

[JustDave]

Well, Crocodiles are extremely resilient. They have been around for 200 million years.
I guess even asteroids can't kill them.

Turtles have done quite well too, although there may be a few species of turtle that didn't make it. I read somewhere that something like 99% of all species that have ever lived on Earth have gone extinct, most of which have never left anything in the fossil record. So I don't know who or how they arrived at that percent since we would be unfamiliar with almost all the life that ever lived on the planet, and not have things we can count. I suppose they extrapolated that figure from something.

But I think we can make a good guess that the prognosis for all species is not favorable. Of course new species come on the scene too, but the future of all life will eventually be a complete oblivion as the sun becomes a red dwarf and burns up the Earth.

 

[bobcat]

Turtles have done quite well too, although there may be a few species of turtle that didn't make it. I read somewhere that something like 99% of all species that have ever lived on Earth have gone extinct, most of which have never left anything in the fossil record. So I don't know who or how they arrived at that percent since we would be unfamiliar with almost all the life that ever lived on the planet, and not have things we can count. I suppose they extrapolated that figure from something.

But I think we can make a good guess that the prognosis for all species is not favorable. Of course new species come on the scene too, but the future of all life will eventually be a complete oblivion as the sun becomes a red dwarf and burns up the Earth.

Yeah, odds are certainly against us, however, we are the only species I know of that can adapt to live in inhospitable places that would likely kill any others because we can use technology, machines, and inventiveness. We do have our limitations, but they are slowly shrinking as the years pass.

I wouldn't bet against the possibility that we may be able to terraform another planet (Mars), or something even farther out as the sun expands and warms those worlds, assuming we, as a species are still alive. I believe that some catastrophe or another will befall the human race, and reduce the population significantly, but the knowledge and technology will remain, and recovery would likely be quicker than the learning we had to go through to get there.

I'm probably wrong, but one thing I know about humans is that we are relentless inventors and survivors.

 

[papa tiger]

Most were tiny sea creatures but not all were tiny. Some have been refound alive too.

You know back when Man was reduced to 1200 mating pairs in south Africa by Volcanic activity.
Of course it will repeat itself eventually. One can count on Killer Earth stuff.

 

[papa tiger]

Yeah, odds are certainly against us, however, we are the only species I know of that can adapt to live in inhospitable places that would likely kill any others because we can use technology, machines, and inventiveness. We do have our limitations, but they are slowly shrinking as the years pass.

I wouldn't bet against the possibility that we may be able to terraform another planet (Mars), or something even farther out as the sun expands and warms those worlds, assuming we, as a species are still alive. I believe that some catastrophe or another will befall the human race, and reduce the population significantly, but the knowledge and technology will remain, and recovery would likely be quicker than the learning we had to go through to get there.

I'm probably wrong, but one thing I know about humans is that we are relentless inventors and survivors.

Most likely much more cost effective to build domed cities or more likely domed caverns here on Earth to start the salvation of the humans.

Mars, so cold, inhospitable, radiation kills ya. Maybe a moon on Saturn or Jupiter but thas just
a Jolly gas guess. Even super motors to get there in 1/5 the time sounds like people in wind ships
400 years ago fighting the elements too.
Wind ships not so good in the N. Atlantic this past week.

 

[bobcat]

Most likely much more cost effective to build domed cities or more likely domed caverns here on Earth to start the salvation of the humans.

Mars, so cold, inhospitable, radiation kills ya. Maybe a moon on Saturn or Jupiter but thas just
a Jolly gas guess. Even super motors to get there in 1/5 the time sounds like people in wind ships
400 years ago fighting the elements too.
Wind ships not so good in the N. Atlantic this past week.

Again, I think the underlying purpose it to eventually establish a colony or colonies somewhere other than earth in case some calamity were to destroy earth or it's inhabitants. Eventually earth will perish or become unlivable due to the sun's eventual expansion. You can't wait till that happens to come up with a plan to salvage this miracle.

 

[David777]

Again, I think the underlying purpose it to eventually establish a colony or colonies somewhere other than earth in case some calamity were to destroy earth or it's inhabitants. Eventually earth will perish or become unlivable due to the sun's eventual expansion. You can't wait till that happens to come up with a plan to salvage this miracle.

@bobcat , our planet's solar demise is too immensely far in the future for us to ever bother with planning, even with your million years.

We humans will soon realize what scientists are already saying about the unlikelihood we organic creatures will ever be able to leave our planet due to gravity effects or how billions of bacteria and trillions of virus are within each of our biome bodies. We are literally walking zoos of microbes, many of which medical science is just now finding out how dependent we are with symbiotic types for healthy existence.

 

[Grampa Don]

Yeah, odds are certainly against us, however, we are the only species I know of that can adapt to live in inhospitable places that would likely kill any others because we can use technology, machines, and inventiveness. We do have our limitations, but they are slowly shrinking as the years pass.

I wouldn't bet against the possibility that we may be able to terraform another planet (Mars), or something even farther out as the sun expands and warms those worlds, assuming we, as a species are still alive. I believe that some catastrophe or another will befall the human race, and reduce the population significantly, but the knowledge and technology will remain, and recovery would likely be quicker than the learning we had to go through to get there.

I'm probably wrong, but one thing I know about humans is that we are relentless inventors and survivors.

Mars lacks Earth's magnetic field. There is nothing to keep the solar wind from blowing its atmosphere away. That's why it's dry now. No technology is going to change that. Further out are mostly gas giants and frozen moons. Terraforming is unlikely.

Much of our knowledge now is digital. If technology crashed for some reason much of it would be gone. The more complicated it gets, the more fragile it becomes.

We are creatures of the Earth. If we take care of it we could have a long run of tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of years. Nothing lasts forever.

 

[dilettante]

"We can't climb down from these trees. Predators will get us. We won't have these crunchy bugs or the juicy grubs from rotted limbs to eat."

 

[papa tiger]

The Suns Expansion is like Billions of years in the future. High water means grinding stone and hauling soil to raise lowlands.
When they build warehousing now it near water and they dig large holes that become lakes to lift the cement floor above flood levels,
pack it, spray it and pour concrete for huge warehouses safely above the flood stages lines of water height.

Then there are dikes and gates etc. to hold back floods. You know wet lands usually are not safe from wet seasons.
This has all become like a Dutch dike scare. We can move mountains in the future. I see tall cliffs being torn down all
the time to build Landfill mountains. I have to drive for many miles to get past / around the Land fill mountains now.
Can't see anything but trash mountains in those river valleys.

Look to the $$$ Trillions spent on world domination military stuff. Sure, everyone needs
to get on the High-water mark agreement but you know many will have to drown first.

Sure a world together building safe countries to live is a joke never going to happen. Islands flooded first.
Maybe they use their mountains too.

I'm fairly certain a lot of stuff digitally stored and thought of as knowledge is missing hard drive data. The world
has had Computers coming online for the public for 40 years and the world has just become more screwed up.
Everyday I see more Scientific Sci Fi crap. You know a black hole swallows up the earth, what cha gonna do junk.

 

[papa tiger]

Here's the thing, all ya hear is doom and gloom, Rising water and higher temps. Human
population by 2050 - 9,000,000,000.
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Kids do just the opposite. no more then 2 child's for a breeding couple drops the population
to 4 billion. Why would the young want tons of kids, costs and loss of property & future life.
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Sure its easy to hold the family down to 1 or 2 and they want that. Many don't marry. Maybe
1/3 are I'm with him or her!
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The young lovers do not need lots of kids to do the work. No
future with that. This is going world wide with planning. There
is no future working slave force. Only Sun goddess enjoyments.
As they live their lives, not seeing the neighbors they never wanted
to see again, they will think wow I don't miss them at all!

 

[bobcat]

@bobcat , our planet's solar demise is too immensely far in the future for us to ever bother with planning, even with your million years.

We humans will soon realize what scientists are already saying about the unlikelihood we organic creatures will ever be able to leave our planet due to gravity effects or how billions of bacteria and trillions of virus are within each of our biome bodies. We are literally walking zoos of microbes, many of which medical science is just now finding out how dependent we are with symbiotic types for healthy existence.

Sorry, this wasn't meant to be a planning thread for space travel. It was just letting the imagination off it's leash for a bit.
As for leaving the planet (Assuming you mean for a lengthy period), there are a lot of biological uncertainties surrounding what is possible. All they can do is study short term effects and extrapolate best guesses. Since a couple astronauts have spent more than a year in space, at least they have some idea of the problems that may be faced.

Since Mars has a lesser gravity, perhaps weighted suits may need to be worn to help with muscle or bone loss. The circulatory system is another matter. I have no idea if any solutions are being worked on for that. Perhaps if human bodies do eventually adapt to Mars, they may have considerable problems if they want to return to earth. Anyway, Nasa must be optimistic that they will come up with solutions, or they would abandon the idea I would think.

 

[David777]

Regardless of apparent issues of putting humans beyond planet Earth out into space beyond temporary experiments, science currently doesn't understand enough about those limitations, so ought continue to research effects and strategies to eliminate them as well as creating off world bases, especially on our Moon. That will be a first step towards understanding if leaving will ever be possible. In the mean time, humanity must work to protect our precious earth environments that includes greatly reducing global population and endless growth and development for unsustainable economic reasons regardless of how that may affect current dominant wealth seekers.

If necessary by future centuries, we will explore beyond Earth using our AI robotic machines just as I suspect we are now being secretly visited by.

 

[Nathan]

Assuming some humans are still alive a million years from now, and we haven't destroyed ourselves and the planet.
Assuming any deity hasn't interceded.
Assuming some giant asteroid hasn't come to crash the party.

Some pretty tall assumptions, I think the odds of escaping our 'destiny' is pretty slim. WE are the most intelligent species ever, also the most destructive and reckless. There are just too many apocalyptic events converging, even if one did not believe the collective stories in the Bible, the Book of Revelation would have to be an eye opener.

 

[papa tiger]

Of course, the Quantum Bomb is in the Works.
-----------------
NASA has to get closed up. A better project planner devised.
Too many bungling $$$600 of Billion blown there. 3.5% of the Money.
It's a wild cash cow on steroids.
----------
Space exploration is for Ai.
------------------
It can design, build and fly much smaller and less expensive Quantum craft.
Interstellar space is for electrons / quantum stuff not physical beings.
Galaxy space exploration is for quantum designed spying nonphysical types.
------------------
These past 10 years have been the wrong direction foul ups stuff.
Rover can keep track of his whirly copters easy. Better wheel designs too.
----------------
Man has basically filled / surround Earth / Near Earth with junk. ... ...

The next series of Heinlein Books. "Sci-Fi on in-tangled relationships." ...
The next, "All roads are pot-holes"
The next Series, "All old cities have fallen down" --- "Decrepit Bridges down old roads" --- "Turn Keys, Tiny Home, Shack investments"
"No fixits in site" --- "The world on internet disruptions" --- "Lost entertainment, no refunds!" ---
_____________
"Moving back into the Oceans → → ↓" === " Useful Gill transplants"

 

[bobcat]

Some pretty tall assumptions, I think the odds of escaping our 'destiny' is pretty slim. WE are the most intelligent species ever, also the most destructive and reckless. There are just too many apocalyptic events converging, even if one did not believe the collective stories in the Bible, the Book of Revelation would have to be an eye opener.

Well, I do think the human race will face some dismal times in the future, but I also think at least some segment of humanity will survive. We have resources and new developments are coming down the pike at a rapid pace. I'm not ready to bet against human ingenuity and resourcefulness.

 

[VaughanJB]

Bladerunner.

 

[David777]

Potentially if surviving destruction, if our human population can be reduced to under say 1 billion with infrastructure sustainability, social stability, modern technology, and science, our planet and our human existence could be a relative idyllic paradise within the universe. Humans could work little, and given abundance, would not need to pursue wealth and materials, and instead enjoy our magnificent blue water and life planet, leisure pursuits, play and have fun, and understand future technology, science, and our universe.

 

[bobcat]

Potentially if surviving destruction, if our human population can be reduced to under say 1 billion with infrastructure sustainability, social stability, modern technology, and science, our planet and our human existence could be a relative idyllic paradise within the universe. Humans could work little, and given abundance, would not need to pursue wealth and materials, and instead enjoy our magnificent blue water and life planet, leisure pursuits, play and have fun, and understand future technology, science, and our universe.

I think it would be wonderful if humans could get along in that way, play by the rules, and be happy, but you would somehow have to remove greed, selfishness, and laziness from the equation. Ages ago when there was a tiny fraction of today's population there was tribal warfare.

It would be interesting to see a controlled experiment where you put maybe 100 people on a sufficiently sized Island, gave them everything they need to enjoy life, and just see what happens.

 

[Michael Z]

Given the second assumption (which I don’t accept), it would seem pretty hopeless given the way things are going now.

 

[bobcat]

The world as we know it on planet earth will end between 2033 and 2043. Then comes the next phase. 100 years ago we barely had anything self-powered on four wheels. Now we can destroy the world.

Like Oppenheimer said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" which is a Hindu scripture passage. He said that after witnessing the first atomic bomb explosion."

I don't think we can destroy the world. In a nuclear exchange, a vast number of people would die, but still many would survive. There are a lot of variables to consider that have never been tested, so there are a number of outcomes that may or may not happen, but even in the worst case, I still think some of humanity would survive. JMO

 

[smiley]

haven't seen it mentioned so far? - but doesn't God have a plan for us all? - well read lots and lots of other far-fetched ideas so far?

 

[Buckeye]

All of the science fiction/fairy tales are nice, but I'm just trying to make it til next Tuesday.

 

[dilettante]

I think the social and economic trends are already beginning a reset. Many lines will die out due to prioritization of self-indulgence, but in those cases the cake is already baked anyway. Any serious disaster, natural or man-made, will likely only accelerate the return to normal. The 20th Century was an anomaly in many ways.