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When will civilisation end?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Hexagon, Mar 20, 2014.

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When will civilisation as we know it end?

  1. Within a year

    1 vote(s)
    3.1%
  2. 1-50 years time

    4 vote(s)
    12.5%
  3. 51-200 years time

    8 vote(s)
    25.0%
  4. 201-2000 years time

    5 vote(s)
    15.6%
  5. 2001-500000 years time

    6 vote(s)
    18.8%
  6. More than 500000 years, but less than 5 billion

    3 vote(s)
    9.4%
  7. More than 5 billion years, but it will end sometime

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. Never

    5 vote(s)
    15.6%
  1. Hexagon

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    When will it end, in your opinion. Bonus points, say why, and what caused it. And whether you think human life survives beyond it or not. Will a new civilisation be build? Will it be the same or different than today.

    Because I'm bored.
     
  2. FireSmoke

    FireSmoke Guest

    I think within 100-200 years time with an ice age. But I don't know if earth could survive like the other times in the past.
     
  3. Nikky DoUrden

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    I voted 51-200, because I see two options for the future:
    1) Nuclear will be banned, no wars will be allowed, we'll help needing countries with food and education, harness the power of the sun and expand beyond earth
    2) Wars, terror and greed will win, we'll destroy each other with nuclear power, poverty, and diseases made by overuse of antibiotics, that will produce a micro-organism that we won't be able to cure (this has to be with greed!)
     
  4. Simple Thoughts

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    I voted 1-51 years. My votes on we're all pretty close to self-destruction.

    The United States is making things pretty tense around the world right now, things between Iran and Israel are one wrong move away from devolving into war, and Russia...just Russia...oh and China....yeah China >.>

    If we manage to survive all these borderline wars without actually moving into a state of warfare again than we might live long enough to shift past war and move towards peace...even if we do we'll probably get killed by global warming. So I mean...yeah Earth's pretty screwed.
     
  5. AlamoCity

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    I think humans are too spread out around to globe to be immediately susceptible to a civilization-collapsing event. So, I suspect that, barring a catastrophic disaster, we will always have pockets and vestiges of civilization everywhere on earth. That said, it may not be at the same level as we are accustomed to, but it will satisfy the criteria of "civilization" from an anthropological perspective (e.g. system of writing, division of labor, cultural center, etc.).

    Having fun, we might see civilization end and humanity on the brink if extinction if we were to have a supervolcano like Yellowstone or Lake Toba erupt in the near future. Now that would be interesting. Or an asteroid hits us without warning. Or I take over Monsanto and happen to order our geneticist to mess with next year's crops so they fail; that wouldn't kill all humans, but maybe enough to form little geopolitical conflicts over food that maybe spill and snowball :lol:.
     
  6. Hexagon

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    51-200. I'd guess about sixty, really. Less if nukes get misused, but I think it's far more likely we'll abuse the earth's resources until there is nothing left, and amidst nature's retaliation, civilisation will collapse under it's own weight. Capitalism can't survive without exploitation and growth, and there will be nothing left to exploit.

    Frankly, I don't think I'll miss it.

    I suspect eventually we'll end up in smaller communities that live off the land. Here, I think there is hope. It's really the only thing that is sustainable anyway, but beyond that, there is potential for social change here. No one really cares about each other these days, and that might change.

    My fear is that people will eventually forget the destruction this species has caused, and try again, with the same result.
     
  7. sam the man

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    I vote 51-200 years. If we eliminate scarcity in things such as energy and food which could possibly be achieved in 200 years or less then civilisation would certainly change. There'd be far less need for conflict or even nations, so geopolitics would be a lot different, and we could probably have more liberal societies as well. Plus we could expand into space and get more resources that way. I don't think civilisation will end in that time (since by nature we form civilisations, however basic), but it could definitely change radically. Plus with general globalisation and the internet people are in general coming to be more multicultural and less patriotic, so I think national divides will erode, although very slowly. Probably longer than 200 years for that.

    That's quite optimistic, so I'll say if we fail to address scarcity and overpopulation occurs (which isn't looking as likely as it was) then there'll be far more resource wars, with power blocs like China, America and maybe a united Europe competing for water, fertile land and such like (that's mainly if we can't control climate change). You could also have lots of regional wars in the near future, though I don't think they'll realistically be vicious enough to wipe out civilisation as we know it. I'm more concerned about fundamentalist groups grabbing nukes than rogue states misusing them tbh. Again, civilisation would probably change and take a more tribal form, but not end entirely.
     
  8. Kasey

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    We are approaching the "great barrier" right now where technology and knowledge of the universe is expanding rapidly and we know the potential that the human race may have but will we live as long as necessary to accomplish interstellar travel?

    If we say survive as a civilized species for the next hundred years I do imagine we will be exploring our solar system beyond mars even. However even if it is not our own doing there are extra global catastrophes like massive solar storms, asteroids and gamma ray bursts that may threaten civilization as we know it.

    Humanity lives in a precarious situation and perhaps we may be the species that does escape our solar system at some point. Maybe there is another species across the milky way in a similar evolutionary point as us?

    I like to think we won't kill ourselves off.
     
  9. White Knight

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    As it is unlikely for me to live up to 100 years I pick 1-50.

    When I die it will be the end of everything for me or I'd care less about civilisation in more correct wording.
     
  10. Simple Thoughts

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    You might...we don't know what advances will happen in medicine. You may very well live well beyond 100yrs ^^
     
  11. Jwis

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    I don't think we are going any where any time soon. I believe that soon we will be able to colonize other planets / moons, harness fusion or antimater / mater reactions for energy. Humans have survived countless hardships in the past. I don't see what we are going through today as any different.

    I think the end of the Homo sapiens will be when they evolve into the next species. What will that entail? I have no idea...

    This is baring any catastrophic event such as a meteorite impact, gamma ray burst, whatever.
     
  12. Harve

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    Globalisation/free trade has kinda made total war to not be in another country's best interests tho. I'm not so convinced.

    Global warming is simply making certain parts of the Earth more hazardous to live in, I'm not sure if it will actually wipe out humanity or cause a Malthusian catastrophe.

    (but to be honest, I've got no idea what I'm talking about)
     
  13. Simple Thoughts

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    You'd think so, but it hasn't stopped Russia and the Ukraine. It hasn't stopped the United States and the random assortment of third world countries it's been fighting. ect...

    Personally, I hope we figure out a way to get away from the war mentality. I just worry it won't happen.

    As for Climate Change/Global Warming....if it isn't dealt with it will pretty much kill us all :frowning2:
     
  14. Foxface

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    I went 201-2000...in the manner of using every resource up and not spending enough time trying to advance our civilisation
     
  15. Kasey

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    Climate change or global warming happens anyways... we are just accelerating it.
     
  16. Paisley

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    Is anyone else absolutely fascinated by it though. Like just how life would be after the fall of civilization? Seeing nature thrive where it once did not. Seeing any new ecosystems we've created by moving animals and foliage around the globe. And of course the impact it would have on people.
     
  17. Tarok

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    We'll have enough time to begin colonizing other planets before The Earth dies.
     
  18. Simple Thoughts

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    We'll probably start going around to other planets taking all their resources then ditching the hollowed out shell of the planet. We'd basically be 90% of badguys in space travel shows xD
     
  19. Yosia

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    51-200 years and it will be because of big metor strike ^.^
     
  20. Jinkies

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    As we know it today? It won't last. We live in an ever-changing world, and there's really no denying that. Fred Phelps was alive yesterday. He's dead today. Tomorrow the news will move onto a different topic. And all too quickly. We're living in an age where we get everyone's opinion at once. We didn't have that 20 years ago. It wasn't as well-developed as it is today 10 or even 5 years ago. And it'll be even more insane in the next decade. Every month, several huge advancements are made in science that lead to the next ones before we know it. And within a decade, we'll live in a completely different world, even if it may look remotely the same.