The human race is doomed (thank goodness!)

Hello to you, you  beautiful person. And yes, I meet many many wonderful people like you as I go about my days. Due to my autism, I’m drawn more to talk to people I’m only ever likely to talk to that once. I also love to simply walk around this earth, enjoying it, and calling into coffee shops. And on my journey, I talk to a lot of people who blow my mind away, in all sorts of ways. Their courage, strength, love and compassion. I find many of these good qualities, in abundance, in many people, but you’re right, they’re rarely found in the media or on Facebook or twitter. These are my people. The ones who are simply going about their lives, simply and quietly, enjoying all the gifts they were given, free of charge, at birth and sharing them freely, with anybody who takes the time to stop, and say hello, how are you? I learn far more than I did at school! 

Hi wonderful person .  I am not an aspergers but yes sadly the world is insane but  thankfully their are beautiful good people in the world who still may not be in the media but have morals and value people.  Granted it maybe so hard for many people to judge who those people  are but believe me I am one of them.  I am not perfect but greed sadly will always be there.  Bill gates look him up.  Diana princess of Wales.  Nelson Mandela all wonderful people all different political views but on the side of Man Kind. 

out_of_step said:

So yes we are doomed. 

I'm not sure we are doomed.  Due for a realignment with reality - very certainly, but doomed?  Not necessarily in my opinion.  Nor do I think it likely that we will "destroy the planet".  We might make the planet effectively uninhabitable by our species, and many others, but destroying it, like blowing it to smithereens or something, could well be beyond our current abilities.

It's more likely that we'll be reined in by our very behaviour.  What happens when we can no longer sustain our current civilisation?  It will likely collapse, there'll be widescale deaths etc. and things will revert back to an earlier stage where our race is no longer quite the existential threat to the current eco-system that it is now.  Possibly the eco-system will change and evolve.  That might still allow our species a chance of life, or it might not.  It may be that we cease to be the top predator and become prey again.

Think in terms of the fall of Roman empire and the subsequent "dark ages".  We did better than the Romans this time around, but maybe we're reaching the limits of what can be sustained with our "current paradigm/civilisation structure".  Or maybe we'll come up appropriate fixes before we reach the point of no-return.  Who knows?...

Im debating with myself whether to have children or not. One of the reasons against is how the world is currently shaping up. To quote Nathan Barley "the idiots are winning".

Some thoughts reflecting on the comments above as well as my own. ....We have destroyed the planet because of capitalism. Everything worked in sync until the Industrial Revolution paved the way for needless commodities and extra income to spend on non-necessities as well as the climate changing pollution.  Technology is fantastic but scares me how it will develop in the future and that children are brought up not knowing life before smart phones. The I want it all now culture. 

I hope for best case scenario in that AI will relieve human kind of work and our meaning on earth will become one of enjoyment. However we need to act responsibly and not destroy the earth further.

I think graphene will change the world in a way we cant yet comprehend.

I find it ridiculous we are considering colonising Mars. Its just typical of the culture we live in. Instead of repairing what we have here we are looking at where else we can destroy.

I get comfort reading about the Universe and how insignificant we are or looking at the Pale Blue Dot picture. (My avatar). Look at it. See. Theres nowhere else for humans to go. 

Someone mentioned dolphins. Intelligent creatures with self-awareness. But we are measuring this based on a human world-view like we do with everything thinking we are superior beings.

We will obliterate ourselves before any alien invasion happens. Aliens wouldnt touch us with a barge pole. Theyll just watch from the sidelines as we slowly kill the thing that keeps us alive in the name of capitalism.

There are too many humans on this planet for us to be sble to sustain in the current way. So yes we are doomed. 

I think this quote from Douglas Adams has relevance here:

"On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was much more intelligent than dolphins, because he had achieved so much more- the wheel, New York, wars and so on, whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.

But conversely, the dolphins always believed they were far more intelligent than man, for precisely the same reasons."

So long and thanks for all the fish, indeed.

It's not so much the phones that you have to worry about, so much as the masts. They emit vibrations of a certain frequency that lowers the vibration of humans, which includes the feelings of fear, hate, unforgiveness, unacceptance, anger, vengeance, jealousy, envy, retaliation etc etc.

What?

Why not, I do :)

At the moment a lot of the short-termism comes from our economic and political systems.  There are plenty of people doing long-term stuff (e.g. climate researchers) but they tend to drowned out by the short-termers.

Yeah, all jobs are different, which is a good thing, seeing as we are all different. Lots of jobs have a short shelf life though, not just jobs in the public eye. 

I’m not that interested in people who have jobs in the public eye though to be honest, they’re not my speciality, so I don’t pay much attention to them. I don’t watch tv or read newspapers or magazines or listen to the radio or modern music or use social media, so I wouldn’t have a clue most of the time if somebody was discussing somebody whose in the public eye. 

I’m not sure how much ‘luck’ plays in how successful a person is. Not beyond the luck they create, that is. And most people who do what they love wouldn’t take the foot of the gass unless they really had to. I know I never want to retire, I intend to be working until I die. I hope I never take the foot of the gas. I don’t know if I can anyway, with the ADHD! 

I’m not at all surprised by how many self entitled people think that just because somebody is wealthy, they should pay for everything for everyone ~ that’s a terrible shame for them. I’m rarely surprised by people, but maybe that’s because I’ve met a lot of them and they are my special interest ;) And of course, there are lots of people who experience that most terrible of emotions, jealousy (I have and it’s truly horrible) and I think we can all safely say that we have all been and continue to be idiots in one way or another, even if it’s only from time to time. I was an idiot the other week. I cut a wire because it seemed the easiest and quickest way to get it from trailing on the floor. But it turns out it was my phone wire and I will now have to pay £50 to get it repaired if I want to get WiFi! What an idiot! Lol! Never mind! 

Lots of people in the public's eye have a very short shelf-life. They need to make as much as they can, as quickly as they can before they are yesterday's news. They have to work very hard because they don't know when it will all suddenly end.

They have to agree to do everything they can to promote their brand - or they will be forgotten tomorrow.

The lucky ones make a career out of it and can take their foot off the gas eventually.

They don’t ‘have’ to make money, they make money because they do what they love doing so they’re good  at it and in return, they get richly rewarded and they enjoy a certain type of life. Each to their own, I say. I’m not sure I’d find the world and it’s people quite so fascinating if everybody did the same things and lived in the same way. 

I don’t see any magazine photo spreads because I don’t read magazines and no, it’s not a holiday working to tight schedules, flying here there and everywhere, getting the make up done and the shoots etc, it’s their job. They work hard and get paid well and those who do it are clearly prepared to put the work in because they either love what they do or they like the rewards they get from it. It doesn’t look at all glamorous to me. It looks like hell. Nothing like fun. But that’s why I don’t do it. I prefer to take life at a much slower pace but it wouldn’t do for everyone to take life at my pace ~ we’d still be in the Stone Age! Lol! 

These people are very well known - and you'd be surprised at how many self-entitled 'people' think that just because they are wealthy, they should pay for everything for everyone.

There's always some jealous grubbing idiot who gives them hassle.

The scouts group was brilliant - the kids are great but, again, on past experience, there's always someone who spoils it. Word gets out.

Oh dear, it seems like it’s time for your friends to do something different with their lives because what they’re currently doing, doesn’t seem to be working out for them. 

My very wealthy friends are the complete opposite to your friends, so it’s nothing to do with the amount of money they have. 

Why cant they go to the pub and play darts? Are they barred from the pub or just barred from playing darts? 

It sounds like the scouts group you mention isn’t a very nice place anyway, if the kids there aren’t interested in building true friendships. I would keep my kids away from places like that. But if the kids parents are lonely and depressed, maybe that’s rubbing off on the kids and that’s making them vulnerable to be taken advantage of. 

You seem to be ignoring the fact they have to make money to keep their lifestyle going - it costs a LOT of money to play at their level.

You see the Hello Magazine photo spreads but it's no holiday on a tight schedule to fly somewhere, do all the makeup, do all the photo shoots and get back in time to do a tv interview plugging whatever. It looks glamourous but it's not much fun.

Martian Tom said:

Fighting and killing each other over differences

We evolved as a tribal species.  People (as a whole) like being in tribes, and they are often more than happy to be led down the path of "we must destroy the tribe over there who are <insert reason here> for the prosperity and longevity of our tribe."  Sad but true.  Don't expect to sign me up for that sort of thing though!

Martian Tom said:

6 men owning more wealth between them than the 4,000,000,000 poorest people on earth.

Well, is it real wealth though?  How much of that is really just bit patterns in computer memories, and how much of that is actually down to tangible assets/commodities of intrinsic value?

Martian Tom said:

Countries starving whilst rich individuals send a sports car into space, or spend £5,000,000 on a wedding party, or £100,000,000 on another yacht.

Again, that seems to be an "as a whole" people thing - if they have perceived wealth, they like to show off about it.  Again, beyond a certain point, don't expect me to doing that sort of thing.  Even if I did have that sort of wealth (I don't) all you'd see is the tip of the iceberg.  The rest would be being used to do things I perceive to be generally useful, most of it anonymously.

Martian Tom said:

Obsessions with trivia, nonsense, junk

And you don't collect or value certain things - tangible or otherwise?

PINARELLO F8 said:

They have almost destroyed the planet

Not true.  I think you'll find the planet will quite likely still be around long after the human race is done and dusted.  Especially if we keep going down the path we currently are.

PINARELLO F8 said:

most of the animal species mainly for financial gain or pleasure

I don't know about most, but certainly many.  But it's not just animal species.  Also other types of life are at risk, plus there's the profligate use of natural resources without thinking about how those things are going to be conserved, recycled and what the impacts of using them necessarily are.

Plastic said:

Just because people have lots of money, doesn't mean they are free. Most 'rich' people are forced to live in guilded cages where they cannot venture out into the real world.

Yes - this.

Plastic said:

I would suggest there are millions of complely happy, satisfied people living in freedom with very little money.

And this.

There are also lots of very rich people who are completely happy and satisfied and live in freedom and have lots of very good friends.  

Victoria Beckham isn’t forced to do anything. She chooses to make sure she looks good when she’s in public as it’s part of her job. For me, it would be like a living hell to be wearing all that make up and wearing those uncomfortable looking clothes etc, and that’s why I never chose to do that for my work. I doubt very much that she feels deprived because she can’t go to the local shops to get a pint of milk whilst wearing a onesie. And if she does, I’m sure she would agree that its a small price to pay for achieving your life goals and enjoying a fabulous life, doing what she wants. I wouldn’t go to the local shops if you paid me but I bet Victoria wouldn’t have to struggle to much to find someone to go for her. I on the other hand, have to simply do without what I wanted from the shops if the local shops were my only choice. 

I know some 'extremely wealthy' people and they have no freedom. They have a whole load of expectations on them from shareholders and governments. They have no real friends (except me as I don't 'need' anything from them and I've known them for years).

Their acquantances are shallow 'takers' all with their hand out. They know that EVERYONE is trying stitch them up.

They have nice cars and nice houses but can't go down the pub and play darts. They can't be seen to make mistakes. Their kids cannot do scouts without someone getting their kids to artificially make friends with them - looking to make money somehow.

Then there's the burglary and mugging risks.

They are depressed & lonely people.

This is true, I don't care about money. It's not even a real thing. Just a promiss. I don't Victoria is as misserable as she looks. I think she might just have resting *** face.