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As someone who's been through several cycles of climate related depression this year, I just want to reach out to fellow HNers and say it's not the end of the w

As someone who's been through several cycles of climate related depression this year, I just want to reach out to fellow HNers and say it's not the end of the world. Our society, and our civilisation is going to change, in massive ways in the coming century, one way or another. And all of us are going to live in less luxury than we do now - simply because such luxury is unsustainable. But it doesn't mean or children are all going to starve or drown. We don't know what the future holds. Go back to the boundless optimism of the fifties, where everyone thought we'd live on the moon by now, drive spaceships to work and have robot butlers. I feel like today some of us are at the other end of the spectrum, in boundless pesimism. Do all you can to pollute less, and encourage those around you to do the same. Drive less. Don't fly. Buy second hand. Replace your oil boiler. Grow veg. Write to your representatives But don't give up on your children's future. Just because the world of their twenties won't resemble yours, doesn't mean they won't find happiness. In 30 years the world could be ugly by todays standards but you and i and our kids will probably all still be in it. And for your own mental health, don't let HN comments drag you down. I've seen people on here literally advocating suicide over this issue. We as tech heads are typically of a personality which is susceptible to these negative feedback loops, and reading posts on here can break a person. I'm breaking my own rule today even being here but I'm feeling good for once and wanted to spread it. Be well, have fun with your daughters, watch them grow up.

AstralStorm 8y ago
How do you know at least some of our children are not going to starve, or worse, be forced into warfare over crucial resources? I'd like that crystal ball you have. Blind optimism is still blind. Facts are not on our side. 50s optimism and status quo dropped us into most of the current problems. (combined with population boom which has now ended) The trends as they are now are not reassuring and there seems to be no political will to touch anything meaningful. It is all fixable but the upheaval is likely going to be massive. We have no idea which form.
- roryisok 8y ago
  > How do you know at least some of our children are not going to starve, or worse, be forced into warfare over crucial resources? Of course I can't know that, I have no crystal ball. I'm saying that assuming that we're all doomed is as bad as assuming everything is fine and denying the problem. > 50s optimism and status quo dropped us into most of the current problems. I wasn't advocating 50s optimism but rather saying it's an extreme and we've swung to the other extreme, at least on HN. I'm not optimistic about the future but I'm not fatally pessimistic about it either, at least not anymore. Reading comments here is a good way to trigger that fatal pessimism, make you want to quit your job, buy a gun and go live up a mountain. > It is all fixable but the upheaval is likely going to be massive. We have no idea which form. Exactly my point. There will be upheaval. We have no idea. And it won't be a magical fun time. But it might not be a hellish nightmare apocalypse either. Just bear that in mind, comment readers. Don't fall into despair about the future.
- smolder 8y ago
  Don't be optimistic that we'll overcome resource depletion without suffering, be optimistic that our efforts can reduce that suffering. There isn't time to dodge the blow, but we can lessen the severity, and everyone who is capable and willing to support that goal is needed. Seek solutions, teach, enable others to do the same.
LifeLiverTransp 8y ago
Somewhere between some layers of bedrock, is a old dinosaur and a young dinosaur: "Dont you worry, young one, its not so bad. Look up there- a shooting star, now make a wish, while it lasts-" "I want life to never change-"
- roryisok 8y ago
  Should mummy dinosaur have immediately drowned him in tar just in case?
moosey 8y ago
I read the book 'World War Z', and at the risk of ruining the book for someone, there was a statement near the end that really stuck with me. Some guy was reflecting on how they'd won, and he said 'Tell that to the whales', paraphrasing. I cannot deal with the guilt of the loss of megafauna. I just can't. If justice only includes humanity, then it isn't justice. I feel as if I've reached this place using sound ethical logic, and I'm culpable for what we are doing to this planet. We are bacteria in a petri dish.
- roryisok 8y ago
  > I'm culpable for what we are doing to this planet You didn't ask to be born, and you're doing your best to avoid harming the planet. You can't hold yourself responsible for the extinction of another species. Humans are of course responsible. Without us, earth would be a verdant paradise full of wild animals eating each other. But to blame yourself for centuries of humans consuming, burning, polluting, building, paving and getting rich off the misery of others is morally flawed. You're no more responsible for that than the child of a murderer is for his father's crime. And by being vegan, driving less, espousing green values to those around you (as I'm sure you do) you're having a net positive effect, even while you consume the resources you need to survive. Earth might be better off without humans around, but humans are better off with you around.

AstralStorm 8y ago

How do you know at least some of our children are not going to starve, or worse, be forced into warfare over crucial resources? I'd like that crystal ball you have. Blind optimism is still blind. Facts are not on our side. 50s optimism and status quo dropped us into most of the current problems. (combined with population boom which has now ended) The trends as they are now are not reassuring and there seems to be no political will to touch anything meaningful. It is all fixable but the upheaval is likely going to be massive. We have no idea which form.

roryisok 8y ago
> How do you know at least some of our children are not going to starve, or worse, be forced into warfare over crucial resources? Of course I can't know that, I have no crystal ball. I'm saying that assuming that we're all doomed is as bad as assuming everything is fine and denying the problem. > 50s optimism and status quo dropped us into most of the current problems. I wasn't advocating 50s optimism but rather saying it's an extreme and we've swung to the other extreme, at least on HN. I'm not optimistic about the future but I'm not fatally pessimistic about it either, at least not anymore. Reading comments here is a good way to trigger that fatal pessimism, make you want to quit your job, buy a gun and go live up a mountain. > It is all fixable but the upheaval is likely going to be massive. We have no idea which form. Exactly my point. There will be upheaval. We have no idea. And it won't be a magical fun time. But it might not be a hellish nightmare apocalypse either. Just bear that in mind, comment readers. Don't fall into despair about the future.
smolder 8y ago
Don't be optimistic that we'll overcome resource depletion without suffering, be optimistic that our efforts can reduce that suffering. There isn't time to dodge the blow, but we can lessen the severity, and everyone who is capable and willing to support that goal is needed. Seek solutions, teach, enable others to do the same.

LifeLiverTransp 8y ago

Somewhere between some layers of bedrock, is a old dinosaur and a young dinosaur: "Dont you worry, young one, its not so bad. Look up there- a shooting star, now make a wish, while it lasts-" "I want life to never change-"

roryisok 8y ago
Should mummy dinosaur have immediately drowned him in tar just in case?

moosey 8y ago

I read the book 'World War Z', and at the risk of ruining the book for someone, there was a statement near the end that really stuck with me. Some guy was reflecting on how they'd won, and he said 'Tell that to the whales', paraphrasing. I cannot deal with the guilt of the loss of megafauna. I just can't. If justice only includes humanity, then it isn't justice. I feel as if I've reached this place using sound ethical logic, and I'm culpable for what we are doing to this planet. We are bacteria in a petri dish.

roryisok 8y ago
> I'm culpable for what we are doing to this planet You didn't ask to be born, and you're doing your best to avoid harming the planet. You can't hold yourself responsible for the extinction of another species. Humans are of course responsible. Without us, earth would be a verdant paradise full of wild animals eating each other. But to blame yourself for centuries of humans consuming, burning, polluting, building, paving and getting rich off the misery of others is morally flawed. You're no more responsible for that than the child of a murderer is for his father's crime. And by being vegan, driving less, espousing green values to those around you (as I'm sure you do) you're having a net positive effect, even while you consume the resources you need to survive. Earth might be better off without humans around, but humans are better off with you around.