19 ms·

Yeah, that's the mechanism I'm describing. Droughts, storms and volcanoes are on a totally different scale than nuclear war, climate change, or topsoil erosion

• NoOneNew 6y ago
  Not in control, we just aren't fully at their whim like we used to. We have advanced warning systems for storms. Systems that weren't even a fantasy prior to 1920. Now we have evacuation infrastructure, shelters, preparedness plans on huge scales. Perfect? By our standards, no. But perfect compared to folks who lived in the 1800s. I get you think the world is fading away and there are problems left to solve. You are doing a great disservice to the giant's shoulders you stand on that have put in the effort and sacrifice that allow you to worry about this set of problems. They had far harsher problems with less tools than we have today.
  • i_haz_rabies 6y ago
    I don't think that's true. They had relatively small-scale problems with huge, but narrowly distributed consequences. We have global-scale problems with huge, widely distributed consequences. It's great that we can predict storms and mitigate droughts... but that will not help if someone sets off an accidental nuclear exchange. That peasant from the 1800s and I are exactly equal in our ability to deal with that sort of problem.