6 ms·

Why is it so in vogue to be a doomer? Malthus, the original doomer, was wrong on just about all of his predictions. Most likely, we're wrong too. I mean, the pl

by dvt 4y ago

Why is it so in vogue to be a doomer? Malthus, the original doomer, was wrong on just about all of his predictions. Most likely, we're wrong too. I mean, the planet survived like half a dozen mass extinction events, what makes you think it won't survive another one? I just don't understand the "woe is me" nihilistic narrative so many intelligent people are deeply fond of. Recycle, turn off the lights, vote with your conscience. Get a wife, make some kids, live a happy life, try to make a positive difference in the world. It's not hard.

matsemann 4y ago
kube-system 4y ago
The “doomers” who were right are what we call “modern health and safety regulation”. All that stuff is written in blood.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  It wasn’t doomsayers spreading that, it was people shining the light on “this is how it is and it’s disgusting”. More Kitchen Nightmares less “The end is near!”
  - kube-system 4y ago
    At the time, many of the people who brought legitimate concerns to light were dismissed as alarmist. History is full of instances of people not taking concerns seriously because “I’ve done things this way for years and I’m not dead yet”, only to find out a 30 years later, that in fact, it was something that causes a chronic disease.
    - colechristensen 4y ago
      Some alarmists being right in the past does not validate all future alarmists.
      - kube-system 4y ago
        I agree. Likewise, some alarmists being wrong in the past does not invalidate all future “alarmists”.
- Zamicol 4y ago
  The "safety regulators" required spraying furniture and other products with PFAS in the name of flame retardants. If anything, it was the regulators that helped cause this mess.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    I'm not blaming anyone. Just pointing out that we don't know something is bad until we know it's bad.
colechristensen 4y ago
Yup, the truth is that there are a host of things that are going to make all of our lives slightly shorter. Our doom is that we’re not living absolutely optimum length or quality lives… but the real doom is that some people spend their long lives terrified of losing the last few percent and spread the fear instead of focusing on what makes life worth living. There is an amount of attention appropriate to give risks, but many people really overdo it and turn it into a kind of religion and obsession.
cheschire 4y ago
It's not hard to look at everything we have and do and see how fragile it all is. It feels harder and harder to acquire the "things" necessary to feel successful, and once you get them, and see how easy it is to lose, it's not weird to think people might feel extremely vulnerable. It also doesn't help that most popular cinematic futurism is post-apocalyptic now. I remember RedLetterMedia pointing to the success of Independence Day as the turning point and I can see some validity in that.
throwaway675309 4y ago
Because for people who don't have their heads buried in the sand it can be very difficult to fully enjoy one's privileged position in the world without failing to recognize the vast socioeconomic disparity that got them there in the first place, and thusly be deeply frustrated when one's impact on the problem seems so inconsequential.
bonzini 4y ago
"The planet will be fine. The people are fucked!" said a wise man.
- teddyh 4y ago
  (It was George Carlin.)
rwnspace 4y ago
The only thing I've done in line with the absolute pessimism of my beliefs about the future is stop paying into my pension (for now). I still plan to have kids, gods willing. It's one thing to worry about the planet and the animals, and people dying directly due to climate events (floods and storms, heatwaves and drought) etc. I am far, far more worried about what we will do to each other when the 3 billion of us who are vulnerable to climate change want to move somewhere else.
mlyle 4y ago
> Why is it so in vogue to be a doomer? Let's not be "doomers", but let's not ignore emerging risks of catastrophic outcomes, either. Playing Russian Roulette a few times and getting away with it doesn't make it safe. And plenty of stuff that would have been really bad has been stopped by diligent response by people and governments considering those risks. If we keep making the same mistakes and exposing consumers to toxic things, and lacing the entire environment with them... maybe there's some processes that need to improve instead of just shrugging and saying "well, that's how we do it 'round here!"

by dvt 4y ago

matsemann 4y ago

kube-system 4y ago

The “doomers” who were right are what we call “modern health and safety regulation”. All that stuff is written in blood.

colechristensen 4y ago
It wasn’t doomsayers spreading that, it was people shining the light on “this is how it is and it’s disgusting”. More Kitchen Nightmares less “The end is near!”
- kube-system 4y ago
  At the time, many of the people who brought legitimate concerns to light were dismissed as alarmist. History is full of instances of people not taking concerns seriously because “I’ve done things this way for years and I’m not dead yet”, only to find out a 30 years later, that in fact, it was something that causes a chronic disease.
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    Some alarmists being right in the past does not validate all future alarmists.
    - kube-system 4y ago
      I agree. Likewise, some alarmists being wrong in the past does not invalidate all future “alarmists”.
Zamicol 4y ago
The "safety regulators" required spraying furniture and other products with PFAS in the name of flame retardants. If anything, it was the regulators that helped cause this mess.
- kube-system 4y ago
  I'm not blaming anyone. Just pointing out that we don't know something is bad until we know it's bad.

colechristensen 4y ago

Yup, the truth is that there are a host of things that are going to make all of our lives slightly shorter. Our doom is that we’re not living absolutely optimum length or quality lives… but the real doom is that some people spend their long lives terrified of losing the last few percent and spread the fear instead of focusing on what makes life worth living. There is an amount of attention appropriate to give risks, but many people really overdo it and turn it into a kind of religion and obsession.

cheschire 4y ago

It's not hard to look at everything we have and do and see how fragile it all is. It feels harder and harder to acquire the "things" necessary to feel successful, and once you get them, and see how easy it is to lose, it's not weird to think people might feel extremely vulnerable. It also doesn't help that most popular cinematic futurism is post-apocalyptic now. I remember RedLetterMedia pointing to the success of Independence Day as the turning point and I can see some validity in that.

throwaway675309 4y ago

Because for people who don't have their heads buried in the sand it can be very difficult to fully enjoy one's privileged position in the world without failing to recognize the vast socioeconomic disparity that got them there in the first place, and thusly be deeply frustrated when one's impact on the problem seems so inconsequential.

bonzini 4y ago

"The planet will be fine. The people are fucked!" said a wise man.

teddyh 4y ago
(It was George Carlin.)

rwnspace 4y ago

The only thing I've done in line with the absolute pessimism of my beliefs about the future is stop paying into my pension (for now). I still plan to have kids, gods willing. It's one thing to worry about the planet and the animals, and people dying directly due to climate events (floods and storms, heatwaves and drought) etc. I am far, far more worried about what we will do to each other when the 3 billion of us who are vulnerable to climate change want to move somewhere else.

mlyle 4y ago

> Why is it so in vogue to be a doomer? Let's not be "doomers", but let's not ignore emerging risks of catastrophic outcomes, either. Playing Russian Roulette a few times and getting away with it doesn't make it safe. And plenty of stuff that would have been really bad has been stopped by diligent response by people and governments considering those risks. If we keep making the same mistakes and exposing consumers to toxic things, and lacing the entire environment with them... maybe there's some processes that need to improve instead of just shrugging and saying "well, that's how we do it 'round here!"