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News Briefs 14-03-2011

By Gregon

Apropos of the current terrible news coming out of Japan, we start with a sunken city…

Quote of the Day:

The really amazing thing is not that life on Earth is balanced on a knife-edge, but that the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural ‘constants’ were off even slightly… even if you dismiss man as a chance happening, the fact remains that the universe seems unreasonably suited to the existence of life — almost contrived — you might say a ‘put-up job’.

Professor Paul Davies

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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9 Comments

  2. Where no man has gone… or is likely to go
    The case for humans on interstellar journeys pretty much speaks for itself, especially considering our current conundrum here at home.

    Short of some manmade or natural depopulation event, the planet isn’t going to survive for much longer in a state that is conducive to the free-roaming life form. And even if you insert said depopulation event, either as an act of nature or by the hand of man, what remains will be – almost unquestionably – a far less meaningful existence.

    Nature itself draws our map to survival through demonstration. Ant colonies, once they reach a certain size, spin off new queens and a group of dedicated followers to strike out and establish a new colony. Bees behave in much the same way.

    Overpopulation leads to either colonization or depopulation.

    Unfortunately, humanity has long since divorced itself from the natural order of things… that aren’t forced upon it.

    1. been there
      This has been said before, hasn’t it:
      [quote]
      Short of some manmade or natural depopulation event, the planet isn’t going to survive for much longer in a state that is conducive to the free-roaming life form. And even if you insert said depopulation event, either as an act of nature or by the hand of man, what remains will be – almost unquestionably – a far less meaningful existence.
      [/quote]
      In particular, this has been said by the old North Americans before the Europeans took over the place, and became the new North Americans. A few hundred years later, these new North Americans went to the moon.

      I’m sorry, all this The-End-Is-Near talk is as old as agriculture. Perhaps as old as humanity.

      The pessimists should get a new speech.

      1. Pessimists in paradise?
        Do you suggest that there is a built-in pessimism gene that rears its ugly head every so often via the opinions of the common earthling?

        Hey, I’ll take gladly the rap for being a devout cynic. Guilty as charged. But even when I apply it to myself or others who think the same… as in casting a pessimistic eye upon the cynic, I find that in most cases, it is the positive-negative that wins.

        In other words, the pessimists/cynics are right.

        Of course, the world hasn’t ended and I don’t think it’s going to vacuum up into some anti-bubblegum wad of gooey destruction. But there is a limit to everything. This is a finite planet in a finite universe that is being milked at a rate that (naturally) increases with human population.

        Even the happiest optimist would have to admit that at some point, the teat is gonna run dry… or that there will just be wayyyy more suckers than there are nipples to feed from.

        Anyway, that’s my speech and I’m sticking to it.

        Have a wonderful day 🙂

        1. projection
          I’m just saying that this stuff is old, and has always been wrong so far.

          What has sometimes (but not usually) been right is that a particular group came to the end of its dominance. Or a particular lifestyle became unsustainable.

          And what has usually been right was that many people did not see a future for themselves, and then extrapolate that to mean all of humanity.

          Certainly there is a limit to anything. But we are not even close. That doesn’t mean that life will continue as it is now – it won’t. But continue it will.

          1. A thousand years to unscrew ourselves

            “Certainly there is a limit to anything. But we are not even close. That doesn’t mean that life will continue as it is now – it won’t. But continue it will.”

            This is where we will part company… but no more so than any of those you refer to that came before. Just as you say, this is an old subject.

            That there is a bottom to the barrel, there is no doubt. The question is in where it finally lies. The optimist sees it nowhere near while the pessimist sees it ever closer. The end product is not in question; not if – but – just when.

            Personally, I hope you are right and the planet Earth can sustain mankind for another millennia before the tap runs dry. From here, it looks like we will need at least that sum of time to unscrew ourselves from the oil rig and plug-in to something a little less 19th century.

            My cynical guess sort-of agrees with your take: it is that we will self destruct before we get to the stars. Not entirely, mind you… but there will be a throw-back to perhaps the age of coal and steam until we can regenerate our technology.

            I am often thankful to live in this time because we will be witness to many things.

            There may be a future to wish for… or not.

            PS – Please don’t judge me too much by my cynicism or expanded opinions. After a fashion, I ain’t no different than the next guy.

            I really wish I could have the whole membership here over some afternoon for beer and ribs…

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