4 ms·

For all we know, we're the brightest light of consciousness in the universe. (Hopefully not, feel free to prove me wrong). Expanding this consciousness seems a

For all we know, we're the brightest light of consciousness in the universe. (Hopefully not, feel free to prove me wrong). Expanding this consciousness seems a worthy goal. In terms of "killing" the Earth. It's not really possible for us to do (yet). We could surely kill humanity but we cannot possibly eliminate complex life from Earth. More interestingly, I think we have a burden placed upon us by our own development. It's quite likely that any complex society of our state required easily exploitable energy in the form of gas and coal. Now the reserves accessible by primitive technology are all but gone. These reserves take tens if not hundreds of millions of years to form. If humanity dies out, another intelligent species may not even have the potential to rise for a long time if ever again.

guerrilla 7y ago
> We could surely kill humanity but we cannot possibly eliminate complex life from Earth. Why do you think nuclear war can't do that?
- dumbfoundded 7y ago
  The Chicxulub impactor (an asteroid that killed the dinosaurs), had impact energy roughly equivalent to 100 million TSAR Bombas (50MT nuke) and the largest nuclear weapon ever denotated. The currently nuclear stockpile is about 1000x short, with some very friendly assumptions about our capabilities. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater
  - guerrilla 7y ago
    Nuclear bombs aren't simply bombs releasing their energy, they would also fill the atmosphere with radioactive material. It would contaminate the entire planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout
    - dumbfoundded 7y ago
      The radioactivity still wouldn't kill all multicellular life (or even complex life). Some predict that an all-out nuclear war wouldn't even make humans go extinct. A few sources: - https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/medical/20-life-forms-that-would-survive-a-nuclear-war/ss-AAlrclJ https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/medical/20-life-forms-that-... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust - https://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p912.htm https://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p912.htm

guerrilla 7y ago

> We could surely kill humanity but we cannot possibly eliminate complex life from Earth. Why do you think nuclear war can't do that?

dumbfoundded 7y ago
The Chicxulub impactor (an asteroid that killed the dinosaurs), had impact energy roughly equivalent to 100 million TSAR Bombas (50MT nuke) and the largest nuclear weapon ever denotated. The currently nuclear stockpile is about 1000x short, with some very friendly assumptions about our capabilities. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater
- guerrilla 7y ago
  Nuclear bombs aren't simply bombs releasing their energy, they would also fill the atmosphere with radioactive material. It would contaminate the entire planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout
  - dumbfoundded 7y ago
    The radioactivity still wouldn't kill all multicellular life (or even complex life). Some predict that an all-out nuclear war wouldn't even make humans go extinct. A few sources: - https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/medical/20-life-forms-that-would-survive-a-nuclear-war/ss-AAlrclJ https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/medical/20-life-forms-that-... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_holocaust - https://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p912.htm https://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p912.htm