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I think 2015 was the peak of human civilization, and it's been going downhill ever since. It seems like with climate change and loss of biodiversity the next 3

I think 2015 was the peak of human civilization, and it's been going downhill ever since. It seems like with climate change and loss of biodiversity the next 3 decades will see a steep decline in world wide stability.

realityking 6y ago
Why specifically 2015 and not, say, 2000?
- nullsense 6y ago
  Brexit / Trump marked a turning point for me.
  - dane-pgp 6y ago
    In 2001, AQ found a "hack" that turned a commonly used benign technology into a weapon that took down two towers. I think we should have been less narrowly focused on winning a "War on Terror" and put some effort into preventing other such "hacks" that nation states could employ against the West.
tasuki 6y ago
The peak of what aspect of human civilization? And why 2015? [Edit: I find it highly unlikely the peak of human civilization, whatever it means, should happen during my lifetime. Surely the Romans in 100BC might have thought the same as you do? Why do you think there won't be people in 2222 who think the same?]
- nullsense 6y ago
  I personally felt that Brexit / Trump marked a turning point where the foundations of the Western world were fundamentally called into question. Things have felt a lot less stable to me since then. Geopolitics is one thing, but climate and environment are another. I remember in the 90s growing up as a kid hearing all this talk about the environment and if we act now we can turn it around etc. That turn around never came. Global weather events seem to be getting more extreme / frequent. The number of animal species we've wiped out is pretty mind boggling. It feels like the combined trajectory of geopolitics, the climate, and biodiversity are heading in a direction that won't support life as we lived it in the 20th century. Id be happy to be dead wrong about that. But it seems to me we've definitely wrecked the planet and that'll have huge consequences that'll change the nature of life on earth. It also seems to be the case that when a society collapses and another emerges the default seems to be an authoritarian regime with democracy being somewhat of an anomaly.
  - tasuki 6y ago
    Thank you for elaborating.

realityking 6y ago

Why specifically 2015 and not, say, 2000?

nullsense 6y ago
Brexit / Trump marked a turning point for me.
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  In 2001, AQ found a "hack" that turned a commonly used benign technology into a weapon that took down two towers. I think we should have been less narrowly focused on winning a "War on Terror" and put some effort into preventing other such "hacks" that nation states could employ against the West.

tasuki 6y ago

The peak of what aspect of human civilization? And why 2015? [Edit: I find it highly unlikely the peak of human civilization, whatever it means, should happen during my lifetime. Surely the Romans in 100BC might have thought the same as you do? Why do you think there won't be people in 2222 who think the same?]

nullsense 6y ago
I personally felt that Brexit / Trump marked a turning point where the foundations of the Western world were fundamentally called into question. Things have felt a lot less stable to me since then. Geopolitics is one thing, but climate and environment are another. I remember in the 90s growing up as a kid hearing all this talk about the environment and if we act now we can turn it around etc. That turn around never came. Global weather events seem to be getting more extreme / frequent. The number of animal species we've wiped out is pretty mind boggling. It feels like the combined trajectory of geopolitics, the climate, and biodiversity are heading in a direction that won't support life as we lived it in the 20th century. Id be happy to be dead wrong about that. But it seems to me we've definitely wrecked the planet and that'll have huge consequences that'll change the nature of life on earth. It also seems to be the case that when a society collapses and another emerges the default seems to be an authoritarian regime with democracy being somewhat of an anomaly.
- tasuki 6y ago
  Thank you for elaborating.