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The planet might be ok after us, but still might not be able to birth another potentially space faring civilization, dooming earth life to extinction. Look at
by erispoe 6y ago
The planet might be ok after us, but still might not be able to birth another potentially space faring civilization, dooming earth life to extinction.
Look at how:
- no other earth based space faring civilization has evolved before us.
- other intelligent species do not seem well equipped to do so, as it's hard to evolve tools without hands / prehensile organs (cetaceans), or when your lifespan is short or you're not social (octopuses & squids).
- we used up pretty much all easily accessible fossil fuels for our industrial revolution and they may take hundreds of millions of years to reconstitute, and it's unclear if anyone could evolve an industrial civilization without that kickstart of easy energy.
It's far from certain that if we disappear earth will get another good shot at evolving a space faring civilization before it's too late.
- bregma 6y agoConsidering the industrial revolution had been in full swing for a century before the use of fossil fuels became widespread I think you make a poor argument. Just because we were the first doesn't mean we'll be the last. A billion years is a very very very long time, and there are multiple billions of years in the Earth's future.
- kuschku 6y agoThe industrial revolution's beginning is defined by coal mining and the steam engine. I don't understand what you mean about it having been in full swing for a century before that.
- matthewdgreen 6y agoThe riverfront up and down the Jones Falls in Baltimore is littered with "mills" or factories, which are located there because they needed water power. My understanding is that real industrialization got started with things like the Arkwright water frame, and then the steam engine allowed factories to spread to more convenient locations.
- bregma 6y agoIronically, one of the first uses of coal-powered steam engines was to pump the water in ship canal locks so goods could be moved to and from water-powered factories.
- unloco 6y ago> no other earth based space faring civilization has evolved before us. needs citation
- Nekhrimah 6y agoAnything placed at geosynchronous orbit will stay up there effectively forever. There was nothing up there until Humans placed things there. Therefore, there was no previous Earth based space faring civilisation.