4 ms·

>Our chances of survival as a species have improved as a result of technology. I was totally with you up until this point. Modern humans have achieved amazing

by rurp 7y ago

>Our chances of survival as a species have improved as a result of technology. I was totally with you up until this point. Modern humans have achieved amazing things, but have also invented whole new catagories of potential self inflicted catastrophies. We are one nuclear war or environmental collapse away from being a complete failure of a culture, and taking thousands of other species down with us. The biggest modern advances have only just happened, in historical terms, and we've already had some very close calls, with more on the way.

refurb 7y ago
I’ll take the risk of nuclear war now versus the risk back then of dying from a bacterial infection because I scratched my foot.
chrisco255 7y ago
Weirdly, the nuclear era has made a third world war less likely. Mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War to mostly proxy nations instead of an all out worldwide theater like occurred over the prior 300 years (going back to the Spanish vs. British vs. French in the colonial age). Meanwhile, I suppose a super volcano or a shift to ice age temps would be disastrous for the environment and crop yields, but technology would be our only recourse for dealing with it and adapting to it. I'll admit, there's trade-offs to modern tech. It's definitely a double-edged sword, and I'm not sure our physiological systems are well-tuned for modern society (i.e. hunting and gathering guaranteed an active lifestyle). But overall, I think it's a positive.
- yesenadam 7y ago
  > Mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War to mostly proxy nations instead of an all out worldwide theater I get the feeling you aren't familiar with Vasily Arkhipov or Stanislav Petrov. Sorry, you will probably feel depressed/sick. I do when I consider these events, and a weird sense of unreality and insanity. It wasn't government policy that prevented nuclear war, but people disobeying orders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov_(vice_admiral) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov_(vice_admiral) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

by rurp 7y ago

refurb 7y ago

I’ll take the risk of nuclear war now versus the risk back then of dying from a bacterial infection because I scratched my foot.

chrisco255 7y ago

Weirdly, the nuclear era has made a third world war less likely. Mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War to mostly proxy nations instead of an all out worldwide theater like occurred over the prior 300 years (going back to the Spanish vs. British vs. French in the colonial age). Meanwhile, I suppose a super volcano or a shift to ice age temps would be disastrous for the environment and crop yields, but technology would be our only recourse for dealing with it and adapting to it. I'll admit, there's trade-offs to modern tech. It's definitely a double-edged sword, and I'm not sure our physiological systems are well-tuned for modern society (i.e. hunting and gathering guaranteed an active lifestyle). But overall, I think it's a positive.

yesenadam 7y ago
> Mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War to mostly proxy nations instead of an all out worldwide theater I get the feeling you aren't familiar with Vasily Arkhipov or Stanislav Petrov. Sorry, you will probably feel depressed/sick. I do when I consider these events, and a weird sense of unreality and insanity. It wasn't government policy that prevented nuclear war, but people disobeying orders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov_(vice_admiral) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov_(vice_admiral) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov