4 ms·

> I have two children, and knowing what I know now, I carry a certain level of guilt for bringing them into this world. could you elaborate on this a bit more?

> I have two children, and knowing what I know now, I carry a certain level of guilt for bringing them into this world. could you elaborate on this a bit more? what do you know now that causes you to feel guilt for perpetuating your genetic lineage—which is the most natural, low-level thing that living organisms could have an inclination to do? and if you don't mind my asking, how old is your eldest child, so as to establish the time period in which your views were changed and your feelings of guilt began?

donohoe 3y ago
By 2050, if we are very lucky we will have kept temperature rise no higher than 2 degree average - though that will be uneven in its application. That world will see a shift in weather patterns which will affect water, agriculture, and habitability. Some place worse than others. That will lead to political instability income countries, wars, mass migration. Even in wealthy countries that will be less crippled than that, the migration alone is often seen as a rise of nationalism and xenophobia. Right-wing governments don't typically leans towards women's rights, tolerance, cooperation, secularism, or environmentally friendly policy. This is already happening but at a smaller scale. Even the extreme changes in weather is the US are very appearances; from hurricanes, tornados, to wildfires. Look to the roots of the Syrian civil war and some of the contributing factors - you will see crop failure from climate change as one major factor (not the only one of course). Look at the huge numbers of immigrants crossing over the Mediterranean, and the tension that is rising mount some EU nations (see Italy, Greece, Turkey). Look to the southern US border getting worse, and who is using that for political capital? We are already seeing the spiral of many major ecosystems that have kept the Earth somewhat stable, from the Amazon, barrier-reefs, arctic regions... This is just the start. We are in the very early days of something that has only begun. Perhaps it isa failure of imagination, but I think people do not understand or appreciate the various things that are affected and intertwined with climate change. My eldest is 15.
- adamrezich 3y ago
  how is it possible to believe that modern man has the capability of understanding such massively chaotic systems as the entire planet's climate and the sum of all total contemporary human anthropology, let alone chaos and game theory—so as to be able to make such bold claims about the specific certainty of specific future social injustices? even if man did have this capability, how would it be remotely possible that only negative outcomes are possible, and that no positive outcomes are possible, to the point of reaching what seems to be abject nihilism, elevated to the level overriding one's innately primal biological drive to perpetuate one's genetic lineage, not just as a precondition to procreation, but, in your case, to the point of causing an overwhelming sense of regret in having procreated as many as fifteen years ago? I can understand the perspective that anthropogenic climate change is a significant factor in various things in our complex systems, but I have trouble making the logical leap from there to what, again, seems to be abject nihilism caused by complete certainty of an imminent doomsday scenario, leaving no possibility any other outcome—which, no offense—is something usually reserved for cults. (religions usually at least proffer the possibility of salvation in such scenarios!) it may be useful to introspect and examine what led you to such beliefs, as this specific sort of paralyzing terror is often something that one reaches through overexposure to fear-mongering mass media in a 24/7 online news cycle, and promise-making(-and-never-fulfilling) politicians looking for reelection.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    I live in South Texas and 2 days ago we set an all time record high heat index and today we passed it by 2 degrees. You talk about modesty in the face of overwhelming complexity of climate systems, well then we really should have stopped fucking with them before I was even born. I don't see nihilism in fearing the unknown feedback effects that we may have already set into motion; I see it in doing that and saying something like, "maybe it will all just work out anyway" or "hopefully some kid born today will innovate a way out of it". Hope isn't a plan.

donohoe 3y ago

By 2050, if we are very lucky we will have kept temperature rise no higher than 2 degree average - though that will be uneven in its application. That world will see a shift in weather patterns which will affect water, agriculture, and habitability. Some place worse than others. That will lead to political instability income countries, wars, mass migration. Even in wealthy countries that will be less crippled than that, the migration alone is often seen as a rise of nationalism and xenophobia. Right-wing governments don't typically leans towards women's rights, tolerance, cooperation, secularism, or environmentally friendly policy. This is already happening but at a smaller scale. Even the extreme changes in weather is the US are very appearances; from hurricanes, tornados, to wildfires. Look to the roots of the Syrian civil war and some of the contributing factors - you will see crop failure from climate change as one major factor (not the only one of course). Look at the huge numbers of immigrants crossing over the Mediterranean, and the tension that is rising mount some EU nations (see Italy, Greece, Turkey). Look to the southern US border getting worse, and who is using that for political capital? We are already seeing the spiral of many major ecosystems that have kept the Earth somewhat stable, from the Amazon, barrier-reefs, arctic regions... This is just the start. We are in the very early days of something that has only begun. Perhaps it isa failure of imagination, but I think people do not understand or appreciate the various things that are affected and intertwined with climate change. My eldest is 15.

adamrezich 3y ago
how is it possible to believe that modern man has the capability of understanding such massively chaotic systems as the entire planet's climate and the sum of all total contemporary human anthropology, let alone chaos and game theory—so as to be able to make such bold claims about the specific certainty of specific future social injustices? even if man did have this capability, how would it be remotely possible that only negative outcomes are possible, and that no positive outcomes are possible, to the point of reaching what seems to be abject nihilism, elevated to the level overriding one's innately primal biological drive to perpetuate one's genetic lineage, not just as a precondition to procreation, but, in your case, to the point of causing an overwhelming sense of regret in having procreated as many as fifteen years ago? I can understand the perspective that anthropogenic climate change is a significant factor in various things in our complex systems, but I have trouble making the logical leap from there to what, again, seems to be abject nihilism caused by complete certainty of an imminent doomsday scenario, leaving no possibility any other outcome—which, no offense—is something usually reserved for cults. (religions usually at least proffer the possibility of salvation in such scenarios!) it may be useful to introspect and examine what led you to such beliefs, as this specific sort of paralyzing terror is often something that one reaches through overexposure to fear-mongering mass media in a 24/7 online news cycle, and promise-making(-and-never-fulfilling) politicians looking for reelection.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I live in South Texas and 2 days ago we set an all time record high heat index and today we passed it by 2 degrees. You talk about modesty in the face of overwhelming complexity of climate systems, well then we really should have stopped fucking with them before I was even born. I don't see nihilism in fearing the unknown feedback effects that we may have already set into motion; I see it in doing that and saying something like, "maybe it will all just work out anyway" or "hopefully some kid born today will innovate a way out of it". Hope isn't a plan.