End Times ?

I wonder how much closer the inevitable ecologic collapse has been brought by pollution created by the manufacture of Minions merchandise

  On 9/8/2017 at 6:11 PM, Tricone RC said:

I wonder how much closer the inevitable ecologic collapse has been brought by pollution created by the manufacture of Minions merchandise

protonanobots

  On 9/8/2017 at 5:42 PM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 3:37 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

no. at every point in history people were convinced the world was ending and it didn't happen. we survived two world wars and several far more serious nuclear standoffs. i find this sort of pessimism silly. we're just in turbulent times.

This. Lack of perspective is prevalent, ironic considering historical knowledge is easier to find than ever.

 

That said I do think there is something to be said of social media and dependence on technology warping people mentally - older folks pin this concern on millennials and younger but they are just as culpable themselves. We are at a really, really weird time that I think we'll be seen as a messy transition from one major phase of social interaction to another. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to have to decide to be quasi-luddite versus totally committing to the potential changes ahead.

 

This election was fucking underpinned by misinformation, memes, and a complete detachment from any standard of morality, legality, or basic common sense. Cynical, desperate, and flat out angry folks voted from Trump but apathetic moderates and complacent liberals sealed the deal. Trump, Brexit, DPRK's rattle-shaking, etc. are scary things but not the most severe in and of themselves. It's the commentary and context surrounding this issues that is concerning.

 

I have a two year old and my concern isn't him playing outside and getting snatched up, it's him getting sucked into depression and a black hole of meaningless and lack of identity online. It's crazy as a 30+ year old to pine for the good old days of watching tv and playing video games as if those were ideal - it was still a waste of time in a sense but it seems so quaint and healthy compared to seeing elementary and middle school kids, their parents, and their grandparents even, all sucked into their fucking smartphones pissing away any sense of individuality, family connection, community, etc.

Yes totally. Also the feeling of the world ending I think is partially down to everyone being ubiquitously connected and constantly consuming microinformation that has been written with primary objective of driving clicks and shares and forming habits. So much news media now is emotive/sensational as it possibly can be, but too brief to actually be of any intellectual value, and it's by design for the social media shares.

It is incredibly shit that whales are dying with 4kg of plastic in their stomachs, but I bet whoever mentioned that wasn't intentionally looking up environmental news, or even any news. I bet it was presented to him or her when they were compelled to look at their smart phone without any reason to, and I bet it wasn't the first or last time it happened that day. We are letting so much more negativity into our mental lives and we're not even noticing

"The end of the world" is really just the end of humans innit?  This planet will continue on and some other species will rise to the top of the chain.  Nature continues to give zero fucks.

Not really all that sad in the broadest of spectrums, but I'm not interested in the propagation of the species anyway.... (DINK FTW)

**becomes a nanobot cloud forever roaming and learning of the universes beauty**

  On 9/8/2017 at 9:21 PM, Amen Warrior said:

 

It is incredibly shit that whales are dying with 4kg of plastic in their stomachs, but I bet whoever mentioned that wasn't intentionally looking up environmental news, or even any news. I bet it was presented to him or her when they were compelled to look at their smart phone without any reason to, and I bet it wasn't the first or last time it happened that day. We are letting so much more negativity into our mental lives and we're not even noticing

 

Well put. There really is this unconscious consumption of negativity and bad news. Even when it's positive stuff like music, art, culture there's this nagging "fear of missing out" feeling I get on occasion. I've almost shaken it off but it crops up on occasion. I'm trying to keep it at bay without completely going offline.

That said I feel a lot better positioned than a lot of people who seem wrapped up in excitement more about the fact that something is new or hyped rather than the content itself, or even discussion the discussion of hyped and new stuff. Sometimes I feel like being out of the loop on a lot of things is a mark of sanity at this point.

  On 9/8/2017 at 11:29 AM, Obel said:

I think given more time we'd figure out how to get our shit together and concentrate on more important issues like the climate, but at the moment you have a president in the states who actively doesn't believe in it, along with other big countries like China straight up not giving a fuck about it. I just think it'll get to the point where it's too late to revert the damage done, if not already.

 

Just wanted to chime in here and say that while there is plenty wrong with the Chinese leadership, they are actually putting a good deal of effort into renewables.

  On 9/8/2017 at 10:44 PM, chenGOD said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 11:29 AM, Obel said:

I think given more time we'd figure out how to get our shit together and concentrate on more important issues like the climate, but at the moment you have a president in the states who actively doesn't believe in it, along with other big countries like China straight up not giving a fuck about it. I just think it'll get to the point where it's too late to revert the damage done, if not already.

Just wanted to chime in here and say that while there is plenty wrong with the Chinese leadership, they are actually putting a good deal of effort into renewables.

ya i thought they had made a pretty big ruckus about it not that long ago which made trump pulling out of the paris accords look xxxtra stupid

  On 9/8/2017 at 2:41 PM, Rubin Farr said:

If we ever get a President with the first name David, then be worried.

now I'm no devout Christian, but on Trump as the antichrist:

  Quote

In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Book of Matthew)

  Quote

He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. (Book of Revelations)

  On 9/8/2017 at 10:53 PM, luke viia said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 2:41 PM, Rubin Farr said:

If we ever get a President with the first name David, then be worried.

now I'm no devout Christian, but on Trump as the antichrist:

  Quote

In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Book of Matthew)

  Quote

He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. (Book of Revelations)

ugh 42 months? just smite us all now

  On 9/8/2017 at 4:08 PM, Joyrex said:

The human race is a plague; a disease so virulent, even itself cannot not wipe it from reality.

 

lol, do you have kids?

there are literally diseases that create more suffering than most of the human race put together

our problem is that we are not in control of our behavior,we dont choose our genes/parents/enviroment,the odds of you being born a greedy psychopath are as good as being born the most ethical being in the universe 

we know for a fact that animals are conscious and can suffer, we should've stopped eating meat the moment we learnt that fact but look at us, a mcdonalds in every corner,and the only thing thats driving this madness is our past as weird chimp-like animal 

  On 9/9/2017 at 12:20 AM, Lada Laika said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 10:53 PM, luke viia said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 2:41 PM, Rubin Farr said:

If we ever get a President with the first name David, then be worried.

now I'm no devout Christian, but on Trump as the antichrist:

  Quote

In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Book of Matthew)

  Quote

He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. (Book of Daniel)

  Quote

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. (Book of Revelations)

ugh 42 months? just smite us all now

 

least it means he won't make it through his full term (bc we'll all be dead.)

"end times?"

yes.

  On 9/9/2017 at 1:11 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 4:49 PM, sweepstakes said:

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 3:37 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

no. at every point in history people were convinced the world was ending and it didn't happen. we survived two world wars and several far more serious nuclear standoffs. i find this sort of pessimism silly. we're just in turbulent times. even in the friggin 90s people were convinced it was the end of days lol.

Yes but...

 

  On 9/8/2017 at 3:44 PM, beerwolf said:

But there is part of me when I read stories about whales dying with 4 kg of plastic in their stomachs that makes me worry that a huge fucking payload of karma is not very far around the corner

 

I just don't believe we can be so selfish towards our planet and just merrily get away with it

This right here.

tbh when i read this post i had a bit of a chuckle and thought "really? that was the straw that broke the camel's back here? this thing that has been happening since plastic was invented is surely a sign of the end because trump is in power or something i guess"

  On 9/9/2017 at 4:00 AM, sweepstakes said:

 

Because capitalism depends on infinite growth but our planet has finite resources. 

Can't help but think of that Mr. Oizo track from last year, this thread.

Anyway, I don't think Earth will "end" within the next few years. Its end is realistically thousands if not millions of years away. But I have little doubt that this could be a very different planet by then, given current trends.

I don't have much more to add that hasn't already been pointed out. But maybe we as a species can still do something to make the planet as we know it today a little more hospitable in the coming decades. And I think imposing stricter environmental regulations worldwide and prevent future despots from coming to power might be a good start...

Hey man, bad shit happens all over the planet all the time. It always has. Think about the black plague, think about the holocaust, native americans being wiped out, being a slave, etc etc... Earthquakes and Hurricanes are phenomena that will happen regardless of what some upright mammal is thinking about.

It sucks. Suffering sucks. And humans want to figure out why and they say things like "end of times" -- but really it's just what happens on this planet.

EDIT I'm no climate change denier. Greed got us here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4SyiCzGJY

  On 9/9/2017 at 5:57 AM, clarktrent said:

 

The giant, dressed as a girl, has been here all day

Capitalism does not depend on infinite growth. Imagine a completely sustainable society and ask whether or not capitalism is still possible within such society. I'm sure it is. People can still have capital in a sustainable society. Why not?

Sustainability depends on technology and attitudes. Not on whether or not people can own capital.

To add on to what goDel said, one of the fundamental aspects of capitalism is its adaptability.

I'm not saying that corporate greed isn't a huge problem, or wealth inequality; I'm simply saying it's too easy to say "ugh, capitalism".

The CIA and other intelligence agencies have done surprisingly little to undermine the North Korean regime. What does work is increased exposure to the outside world. Shutting countries off from international trade does nothing except harm the average person and allow those in power to accumulate more power and wealth. Sanctions also play terribly from a propaganda point of view. The only dangerous factor in the NK issue now is the Trump admin. Those guys are in way the fuck over their heads and the dismantling of the "deep state" (i.e. mostly competent people who know how to run a government) further compounds the problem.

yeah, the scary thing is they're trying to reduce capacity doing diplomacy at the point in time where it ironically is most important. and the reasoning seems to be that you only one brilliant dealmaking president. if true, that should be an impeachable thing in and of itself. that's a dangerous kind of narcissism putting the peace process in jeopardy

edit: the NK thing.

Trump could be making at least some dreams on the Korean Peninsula come true:

http://www.38north.org/2017/09/aabrahamian090717/

  On 9/8/2017 at 4:08 PM, Kavinsky said:

actually we  live in the most prosper & peacefull time in human history

Not fake news people! Good point. 

Your aphex vinyls have never been worth so much. 

  On 9/9/2017 at 8:40 AM, goDel said:

Capitalism does not depend on infinite growth. Imagine a completely sustainable society and ask whether or not capitalism is still possible within such society. 

nope

Good solid argument. Trump would be proud of you troon