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| | Greatest threat to mankind?Page 1 of 11 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) | I was doing a google earlier for another post and stumbled on an online vote for what people thought was the greatest threat to mankind. I was shocked at what people thought and am in disbelief of how little people know about the world around them.
Author "Sam Harris" thinks that the greatest threat to mankind would be the lack of reason. He says things get really scary when people make decisions and determination without reason being the number one factor. We all get emotionally attached to certain things we think are important. But how do we attach importance to things or ideas? Conversely to this would a society that only sees reason as its decision making be a good society to live in?
So i'm curious what people think the greatest threat to mankind is and what we can do about it, if anything... What would you be willing to give up or change for the survival of mankind if indeed we are in danger at all.
crazylilting  | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 4:33:34 AM | Projecting my own feelings, I think the greatest threat is man's eventual misanthropy. It comes from disillusionment. When young, forming that first impression of life, problems appear in stark contrast to imaginary solutions. You care and are frustrated, or shrug and focus on your own life ignroing the state and fate of the world. Those who shrug are incapable of tending to the state of the world, their actions being blindly self-serving, producing all kinds of toxic results, but it doesn't matter and they have a slogan or a religious afterlife making this one inconsequential, in terms of future prosperity for mankind. Those whose idealism motivates them to fight the good fight eventually realize the impossibility of dragging the apathetic along, and their humanism turns to resentment and misanthropy, or, if they are predisposed to love, they forgive and accept, shrugging gracefully and somewhat poignantly. I have to conclude that man is inherently incapable of thinking well enough to be wise enough to live well for the long run. We can invent past our ability to manage the results we create. By battling nature we seal our fate. I think the greatest threat to mankind is our ability to adapt our environment to our needs as we attempt survival. We over-do it, ruining the ecologies on which our life depends, making the battle against nature a mortal combat. Being that we are a part of nature, when we win, we lose.
What I would be willing to give up for the survival of mankind are all of the unnecessary victories in the battle against nature, so that we could have a tie, and keep the battle going indefinitely. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 5:04:59 AM | I think it is climate change (whether man-made or from a bizarre coincidence). If you sustain higher temperatures for a decade or two, the weather patterns will find a new equilibrium, and an optimized world economy collapses. I mean really collapses - food production halts, fighting will break out over water, trade and global food distribution collapses, no more chips from Asia, no more oil, hundreds of millions of refugees fleeing whole regions when they become permanently drier. I'm not saying climate change will definately occur - but I do believe that if it were the threat to civilization would be greater than people imagine.
But I agree with Harris insofar as I think the retreat from reason is the great enabler. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 6:09:04 AM | Insular thinking. Well, actually I sat here for a good ten minutes torn between arrogance, apathy, narrow-mindedness or insular thinking... but they were all headed in the same direction anyway. When we elevate mankind's needs ahead of all other considerations... we can so easily destroy the systems that support our very life. When we decide the mankind that lives on this geographical patch is of more importance than the mankind who happens to live on a different patch of dirt - is there any hope for mankind?
I acknowledge Sam Haris's concerns - for example, just look at how governments often support or create programs out of emotion/political expediancy. Still, I worry about a society that would base everything on reason alone. I'd liken it to the trouble you might find if you blindly followed the letter of the law without also considering the spirit or intent of it. As much as rational thought is important not considering emotions reduces us to something suggesting a cost-beneft analysis. Seems like there's not a lot of humanity in that. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 6:47:26 AM | The problem I have with Sam Harris is that he thinks religion is the only reason you could have for keeping drugs illegal, for keeping the death penalty on the books, and for opposing stem cell research. (And he's not the only atheist I've heard say that--Richard Dawkins is another.) I am not completely decided on any of those issues, but I can see plenty of reasonable justifications for those beliefs.
I think the world would be a better place if reason were more prevalent, but it's hardly the biggest problem. Personally, I'd say one of the biggest problems is our belief that we can control nature. We can't. We keep trying, and we keep making a bigger mess of this planet. At some point we need to start seeking harmony and stop making technological advances just because we can. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 6:48:59 AM | King Nosmo, would you please stop repeating everything I say before I have a chance to post it!  | |
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Hoop
| | Joined: 5/1/2006
Msg: 7 | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 7:48:29 AM | I think the greatest threat to mankind is mankind. I mean look at ourselves - every single day we make bigger and better ways to do one thing. Kill ourselves. We cant deny it, we are a self-destructing race.
Also, global warming was never caused by us, all we are seeing right now is the earth repairing itself. We may have accelerated the process, but we never started it. The temperture of the atmosphere will rise, and all the ice caps will melt. This in turn will release much, much more O2 and CO2 into the atmosphere. Over the period of about 200,000 years there will be huge changes, life will flourish and become larger, new species will pop up and evolution will accelerate. With new fauna will come a huge increase of CO2 in the atmosphere which will lead to our flora flourishing. Soon enough, flora will cover more than 70% of the earth - we will be long gone by then, either through total destruction or a complete evolutionary change, as humans cannot survive in high oxygen atmospheres. Our cities will deteriorate, and will be buried for all time. This will take around 4-5 million years. Then there will be a major climate shift and the earth will fall into an ice age, slowly freezing over the period of several hundred thousand years (the most recent ice age was a natural aberration**). After another many hundreds of thousands of years, the ice age will end and the ice will melt away, leaving a totally new and pristine earth.
** - http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/volcano-may-not-have-blown-it/2007/07/22/1185042950461.html
Thanks for reading :)
Doza | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 9:36:35 AM | | Greatest Threats To Mankind: George W. Bush, Asteroid Impact, Destruction and Poisoning of the Environment.......and not in that order. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 10:30:46 AM | | I was going to point out that we elect politicians, and we tell the media what we're willing to watch. Then I realized: what it all boils down to is that man is his own worst enemy. The problem is that our intellect evolved faster than our ability to overcome our primitive desires. Power and selfishness are never a good combination. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 2:35:20 PM | The greatest threat to mankind (and everything else) is mankind. Our greed and lust make us destroy everything we touch.  | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 3:34:05 PM | Great question, crazylilting.
I would have to say that competition is our greatest threat.
The greatest military, economic, social and sexual adage is:
United we stand, and divided we fall. You only have to look at the difference between civilisation and anarchy. Anarchy is a group of individuals, all doing their own thing. Civilisation is a group of people, all working together to achieve common causes.
Take the ant. By itself, it is easily destroyed, and will find be extremely unlikely to find food, shelter or water, to survive. But have a group of ants, and you have a force that can wipe out all before it.
Not all of us are street-smart, not all book-smart, not all strong, not all quick, not all adaptable. But if we work together, we can be like the human body, composed of trillions of cells, that could not survive in the real world by themselves, but acting as a unit, each doing the tasks allotted to it, it becomes fully functional, self-healing from many injuries, able to find its own food and water, to survive for long periods w/out food or water, able to build its own shelter, make irrigation systems, even to make complex communication systems, like mobile phones and hospitals. Science only advanced once scientists shared information, each building on the knowledge of another, adding brick by brick, until we have the ability to reach into space.
Competition is our downfall, and co-operation and listening to each other is our greatest strength. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 3:35:55 PM | How about nuclear weapons?
Here in Canada, you don't hear about them in the news much anymore, since the Cold War is 'over'... but that doesn't mean the weapons themselves have gone away.
I think they're worth considering in this thread because the danger from them is concrete, immediate, and wide-reaching. Of course there are many human traits which could generically lead to some sort of catastrophe, but the threat posed by existing nuclear weapons and infrastructures is frighteningly different, in several regards.
First, the potential for a few individuals (or even a single one) to initiate a catastrophe is unusually high. Second, the probability of runaway escalation is almost certain. Thirdly, the speed of escalation is astonishing, leaving us scant hours from initiation to widespread destruction. Finally, the consequences are more dire than for almost any other factor imaginable (biotech catastrophes and dinosaur-killing-asteriods might be on the same scale); nuclear explosions are unique in their ability to leave lasting effects in our world.
To reiterate: all those nukes that prompted the terror and worldwide protest a few decades ago? They're not gone, despite the fact that you don't hear news reports about them anymore--they're all still there, countless thousands of them. They're still pointed at us and they're still on hair-trigger alert--but now their safety and warning systems are decades old and arguably in danger of failing. According to some sources, we've several times in recent years been a hair's breadth from a planetwide nuclear disaster.
All this despite the fact that there is no threat, in practice or in principle, to which nuclear weapons are the appropriate response.
How soundly should we sleep at night?
Some links:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1690247
http://www.icanw.org
http://www.helencaldicott.com/ | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 4:41:30 PM | I think the greatest threat to mankind are bacteria and viruses - those teeny tiny one-celled organisms that have been around longer than we have.
Take MRSA, for an example.(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) Staph is a very common bacterium which can cause simple little infections like pimples or more serious ones like pneumonia. Methicillin is an antibiotic that is commonly used to treat staph infections. But the little buggers have evolved and are now resisting methicillin, which means that those staph infections can not be easily be treated and the bacteria will no doubt develop resistance to those few antibiotics that do work. MRSA used to be found only in hospital patients but has recently cropped up in healthy individuals who haven't been in hospital.
Bird flu is still a huge threat, capable of wiping out millions upon millions of people in a very short period of time. Every once in a while, it makes the news. But right now, more people seem to be paying attention to climate change. I suppose we can only deal with one imminent catastrophy at a time. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 5:12:45 PM | | The greatest threat to mankind is man's refusal to acknowlegde his limitations. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 8:27:06 PM | Well back in the day the Greatest threat to Mankind was Stone cold Steve austin ...... but then they became buddys for awhile, o Mr.Socko   | |
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rune3
| | Joined: 7/13/2006
Msg: 20 | |
| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/20/2007 11:01:08 PM | I agree most of all with itsMargo so far. The danger is in the illusion that we are all separate, leading to the failure to recognise and take responsibility for all the consequences of our actions. I think this is responsible for much of the damage we have done. Some of it is sheer ignorance but a lot of it is simply selfishness and lack of consideration and responsibility.
I think there is a lot of hope, but I don't think it comes from reason. Reason alone does not usually motivate one person to care about his impact on the world around them. Reason alone does not motivate humans to reach helping hands across the world or to plan for a future beyond the end of their lives. It just gives a clearer view of cause and effect.
The greatest hopes, I think are compassion or love and also information. Th internet connects the world and makes it smaller. It becomes harder to sustain the damaging position of an ecological or sociological ostrich when the damaging effects of your actions are more and more widely published. People do like to do what is right and positive, I believe that almost everyone, at heart, would prefer to have the most positive and the least negative impact that they can on the world. Emotionally and economically, people are not free to make those choices, but I think they are becoming more free and the few people in the world who do great things are more widely published to inspire those many people who lead more hidden lives to do good things.
I think that most are willing, in their hearts, to make all the positive choices -- I like to believe that anyway. However, we are all limited, bound by conditioning and emotional attachments and by our beliefs. Our instincts may point towards fine actions but we are too weak to do very much. I think that in many cases it would be that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I could do so much more than I do and at times get very sad about how little I seem to be capable of, but sometimes even being human and weak is good because that gives strength to others who are also kicking themselves for being so very far from perfect.
Disconnectedness seems like the greatest threat but I think the cause of disconnectedness is fear -- fear that we cannot do better, selfishness because we are afraid that is we don't care for ourselves first, no-one else will care at all. Connectedness is the opposite of disconnectedness and so is the best hope and love is what drives out fear so I believe love is our best hope. Mother Teresa put it better than I can:
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."
"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
I believe that fear is the danger and love is the solution. Knowledge, wisdom, experience, creativity and reason are simply tools that help us to love more and to make better choices, motivated by love. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/21/2007 12:31:10 AM | Mankind....plan and simple. We are walking timebombs and we all know it. If you look at mankind through the eyes of science..we would be classified as a virus on the face of this planet.
Not all people are bad...but bad things do exsist in all people. Some are better to control it better is all.
How to save us? Controlled breeding...Population Control...A set of World Enviromental Standards for all forms of industry. I know most of you dont like those ideas...but sometimes free will and free choice...is also a death sentence to a good idea.  | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/21/2007 8:04:30 AM | I would suggest if you feel mankind is his own greatest threat and/or a permanent threat to his environment, your own personal path as one of these people should be clear to you. It has been clear to many apocolyptic cults before you who ultimately bring about their own prophesy.
For the rest of us who feel we are either the pinnacle of the natural evolution of life so far or those who see mankind as the divinely appointed stewards of our planet, let us continue our quest to be better than we are now.
I would suggest the greatest threat to manind is something we have not anticipated. Those things we anticipate, we can plan for and adapt. Nature (or some diety) has made us the most adaptable living being on this planet. Eventually, we may spred life to other planets. Lets strive to leave behind all the negative baggage we have made and accumulated. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/21/2007 10:28:13 AM |
if you feel mankind is his own greatest threat and/or a permanent threat to his environment, your own personal path as one of these people should be clear to you.
That makes no sense. That's like saying that everyone is going to die anyway, so why don't we all just commit suicide and be done with it? I don't clean my house because it will stay clean; I clean it because I don't like living in filth. By the same token, I don't live because I think mankind will never perish; I live because this is the only chance I have to do that. Just because it may end in futility doesn't mean it isn't worth doing. | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/21/2007 12:59:35 PM | If you have concluded you are nothing but bad for mankind, life and the planet, why continue building on to your negative legacy?
On the other hand, if one can only blow on that tiny spark of hope and light a fire of optimism......
So is the real threat a sense of hoplessness and resignation? | |
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| Greatest threat to mankind?
Posted: 8/21/2007 1:07:45 PM |
So is the real threat a sense of hoplessness and resignation?
No, I think the real threat is human nature. It's not me, it's not you, it's not anyone--it's everyone...which is why saying I should kill myself is utter nonsense. Offing myself won't change the fact that all humans are filled with the same negative traits that work against our survival as a species. In fact, I'd say I have a purpose to live in trying to get people to see that these negative traits are killing us. I think the optimists who say everything will be fine--they're the ones we have to worry about because they can't see what a difficult road we have ahead of us. They will leave us woefully unprepared for what we must face. But the pessimists--nay, the realists--are warning us.
And forewarned is forearmed. | |
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