DXBtoDOH

Humanity wouldn't exist anymore by that point.

Or perhaps man's creativity supported by money can lead us to solutions? Technological innovations has lead to tremendous crop outputs from even fewer acreages, for example. There are certainly challenges but I don't play doomsayer games. It's just as bad as someone randomly shouting NAZIS in the middle of a discussion.

littlejimmy

Would be nice to think we could do that, but there needs to be a collective will. But I'm a little bipolar...sometimes optimistic, sometimes very pessimistic.

DXBtoDOH

Have you ever seen those neoclassical paintings from the early 19th century showing the sack of ancient Rome, with barbarian hordes sweeping through the once civilised city and looting and ravishing women and grand temples and palaces in flames and children massacred and blood running in the streets, and the handful of survivors limping out an undetected side gate?

One of my fascinations are why doomsday scenarios are so appealing? Post-apocalyptic fears are nothing new and they date back to antiquity. Does it fulfil an inner fear in the uncertainty of the future? In a way it's easier to expect doom and gloom. One sees this today, with people predicting the utter crash of the UK following Brexit (despite that even the IMF accepted that it'd only lead to a slower rate of growth, not a catastrophic crash?). And of course we've had a slew of sci-fic apocalyptic fiction and movies in recent years. Perhaps it has to do with that it's easier to imagine them than to face the work required to change the way we live and address the serious challenges you outlined . I suppose some would read this post as being sanctimonious and that was not my intention, apologies.

I do already see the world, at least the western world, moving towards addressing those challenges with much greater emphasis on incorporating renewals and green energy solutions and technologies that reduce our carbon footprint. Cars are undergoing a huge revolution at the moment that will see us far less dependent on petrol, for example. It won't be a smooth road but life is never such.

littlejimmy

Dunno about that. I always saw it as an imagination thing, a morbid fascination with how the world would look if a major event happened. A lot of the doomsday/apocalypse scenarios entail things out of our control, like comets hitting the Earth or alien invasion. HG Wells dreamt up The War of The Worlds after a walk around Woking where he mused on the peaceful, leafy suburbs suddenly being in the middle of a war.

Miss Ann Thrope

Jeez you two, get a room....

littlejimmy

I don't think I'm his type.