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You are assuming we know all the problems we might encounter. We don't, in fact there are many ways the human species can go extinct that are not fault of our o

You are assuming we know all the problems we might encounter. We don't, in fact there are many ways the human species can go extinct that are not fault of our own. The best we can do is to create general knowledge which allow us to better combat future challenges. Climate change is a potential problem but not existential and not something we can't handle with our current technological understanding. The idea that humans can somehow survive or progress without an impact is IMO missing the entire premise for human survival if that is in fact what you want.

shkkmo 5y ago
> Climate change is a potential problem but not existential While I agree climate change is not "existential" (at least not for humans, possibly for many other species and societal structures) it is definitely more than a "potential" problem. > and not something we can't handle with our current technological understanding. I think the degree to which our current technology is able to "handle" the amount of warming we have locked in is highly debatable and depends entirely on what you consider acceptable costs/loses in handling it.
- ThomPete 5y ago
  99.999% of all species ever existed was wiped out by the climate way before we arrived. That's always a danger as nature doesn't care about us. The way we combat that is not to minimize our impact on the planet but maximize it by creating general knowledge which can be used to come up with even better solutions that we have today. We have never been as safe from the climate as we are right now. The number of climate related deaths have plummeted the last 100% years. This is done through the use of energy and technology which is responsible for saving many more lives than killing them. In fact most people wouldn't be around here today if it wasn't for our use of energy and impact on the planet. So we could ask the same question back. How many current lives are those who want to stop our current impact on the planet ready to let die in return for speculative issues in the future where we would be much richer and have even better technologies to handle any issue. I think far too many people haven't actually sat down and thought this through but are mostly caught in short term thinking while telling themselves they are telling long term.
spideymans 5y ago
> Climate change is a potential problem but not existential and not something we can't handle with our current technological understanding. Climate change is not existential to humanity, but it is existential to human civilization as we know it.
- ThomPete 5y ago
  The climate has wiped out 99.999% of all other species. We are the first who have a chance to avoid being part of that statistic. Not by minimizing our impact on the planet but by maximizing it through climate mastery. Human civilization has never been as robust as it is now and we have never been as safe from the climate as we are now.

shkkmo 5y ago

> Climate change is a potential problem but not existential While I agree climate change is not "existential" (at least not for humans, possibly for many other species and societal structures) it is definitely more than a "potential" problem. > and not something we can't handle with our current technological understanding. I think the degree to which our current technology is able to "handle" the amount of warming we have locked in is highly debatable and depends entirely on what you consider acceptable costs/loses in handling it.

ThomPete 5y ago
99.999% of all species ever existed was wiped out by the climate way before we arrived. That's always a danger as nature doesn't care about us. The way we combat that is not to minimize our impact on the planet but maximize it by creating general knowledge which can be used to come up with even better solutions that we have today. We have never been as safe from the climate as we are right now. The number of climate related deaths have plummeted the last 100% years. This is done through the use of energy and technology which is responsible for saving many more lives than killing them. In fact most people wouldn't be around here today if it wasn't for our use of energy and impact on the planet. So we could ask the same question back. How many current lives are those who want to stop our current impact on the planet ready to let die in return for speculative issues in the future where we would be much richer and have even better technologies to handle any issue. I think far too many people haven't actually sat down and thought this through but are mostly caught in short term thinking while telling themselves they are telling long term.

spideymans 5y ago

> Climate change is a potential problem but not existential and not something we can't handle with our current technological understanding. Climate change is not existential to humanity, but it is existential to human civilization as we know it.

ThomPete 5y ago
The climate has wiped out 99.999% of all other species. We are the first who have a chance to avoid being part of that statistic. Not by minimizing our impact on the planet but by maximizing it through climate mastery. Human civilization has never been as robust as it is now and we have never been as safe from the climate as we are now.