End of the world

[Orion]

There's lots of talk about the end of the world, like 2012, economic collapse, nuclear war, etc.

I am just curious to see what the proportions are for what people believe on DP.

I divided the poll into "younger generation" and "older generation" because for the younger generation (I would define this as 25 or under), this phenomenon may be new to them; for older people, they might have seen a lot of 'end of the world' scares before now but nothing happened. For instance, in my life I saw the Y2K phenomenon and everything was fine.

EDIT: And by end of the world, it could be literal, as in there will be huge catastrophe that kills most humans; or figurative, we will suffer a huge collapse or paradigm shift to some new way of living. In either case, how our collective society operates now will be fundamentally changed.

EDIT II: My time frame is not 2012, that was just an example.

 

[1069]

I'm gonna vote "no" on the world ending in 2012.
I do think it's highly likely that the human race will become extinct sometime within the next thousand years, and there's a high probability that we'll take many of Earth's other creatures with us, because that's just our nature.
But we probably won't manage to destroy all life on the planet, and eventually, after we're gone, it will come back. At least, something will.

I also believe our current standard of living here in the Western World is unsustainable even for another century; I believe massive changes will occur quite soon, but I don't consider that catastrophic, necessarily.

 

[digsbe]

I'm under 25, and I voted "other." I don't think we can know or say for certain if we are truly in the "end times" as in "the last of the generations of humanity."

 

[Dittohead not!]

What is meant by the end of the Earth? Is it the end of human life, the end of civilization as we know it, or the actual destruction of this planet? Either way, I don't believe things are going to come to an end any time soon. There are some challenges facing humanity, to be sure, but we're an adaptable species, and likely to be able to survive.

Anthropologists believe that the human race was down to about 600 individuals around 70,000 years ago, and look at us now. We've increased our population by a factor of ten million in that short time, and have developed technology that our ancestors just a few hundred years ago would have believed to be magic.

Even if some unimaginable disaster were to wipe out 99.9% of the human race, there would still be six million of us left, more than most species on Earth. We'd rebuild.

 

[tacomancer]

Other: I have no idea

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

The lifestyles and economic structure of the industrialized world are unsustainable and will soon come to an end, one way or another.

 

[Thorgasm]

The Sun won't consume the Earth for a very long time.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

I voted YES. In 2012 ima develop laser eyes and make all yer heads asplode!

 

[mac]

The only way we'll know is that if it is caused by something we created, and therefore can prevent. The end of the world will most likely be caused by something completely outside of our control. We'll likely not see it comming, at least not long enough ahead of time to prevent it.

 

[spud_meister]

i don't think it'll end any time soon, unless someone decides to start a nuclear war.

 

[Gibberish]

Short of a natural disaster that we have no control over we will be fine. Though our government and society will evolve as it has done for centuries.

 

[Gibberish]

i don't think it'll end any time soon, unless someone decides to start a nuclear war.

Even then I wouldn't expect more then tens of millions of people dieing. Terrible terrible tragedy but not close to "end of times".

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

There's lots of talk about the end of the world, like 2012, economic collapse, nuclear war, etc.

I am just curious to see what the proportions are for what people believe on DP.

I divided the poll into "younger generation" and "older generation" because for the younger generation (I would define this as 25 or under), this phenomenon may be new to them; for older people, they might have seen a lot of 'end of the world' scares before now but nothing happened. For instance, in my life I saw the Y2K phenomenon and everything was fine.

EDIT: And by end of the world, it could be literal, as in there will be huge catastrophe that kills most humans; or figurative, we will suffer a huge collapse or paradigm shift to some new way of living. In either case, how our collective society operates now will be fundamentally changed.

EDIT II: My time frame is not 2012, that was just an example.

First, I'm 26 about to be 27.
I am not a part of the "older" generation. :2mad:

End of the world, probably not.
Societal upheaval, I think that is almost a definite.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

I ain't worried. I already have my "exit strategy" planned.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

I ain't worried. I already have my "exit strategy" planned.

What are we going to do my Captain?

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

What are we going to do my Captain?

WE? What do you mean "we" paleface?

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

WE? What do you mean "we" paleface?

What would you do without your prize kazoo player?

Paleface?
My great, great grandmother was a full on Cherokee.
I'm practically Sitting Bull.

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

What would you do without your prize kazoo player?

Find another kazoo player?

Paleface?
My great, great grandmother was a full on Cherokee.
I'm practically Sitting Bull.

You've got to do better that THAT if you want a ticket.

 

[VanceMack]

Dont know...dont care. Life goes on. I have a 25 year plan in place...not anticipating cutting it short any time soon...

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Find another kazoo player?

You've got to do better that THAT if you want a ticket.

I've got it.
I'll be your goon/master kazoo player. :mrgreen:

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

I've got it.
I'll be your goon/master kazoo player. :mrgreen:

Make that my lackey/master kazoo player and you get the ticket. :mrgreen:

 

[Orion]

I ain't worried. I already have my "exit strategy" planned.

I can't remember, are you a psychologist or a psychiatrist?

If the latter, is your plan to prescribe yourself copious amounts of psychedelic medications?

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

I can't remember, are you a psychologist or a psychiatrist?

If the latter, is your plan to prescribe yourself copious amounts of psychedelic medications?

Therapist, so no medication for me. I've discussed my "exit strategy" on other threads concerning this issue. It has to do with a turbo-charged late model space-ship, a map of a small planet orbiting Sirus B, lots of good Hendrix music and "Three Stooges" episodes for the trip, and now, seemingly, a lackey/master kazoo player.

To be serious, how do we know that our existance is not just a figment of someone's... perhaps MY imagination? Oh... sorry... I'll try again.

Seriously. Not something I worry about. I believe the world is going to be around for a long, LONG time.

 

[spud_meister]

Seriously. Not something I worry about. I believe the world is going to be around for a long, LONG time.

only about 300000000 years, then the sun will run out of hydrogen and go supernova, wiping out all the planets this side of the asteroid belt.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

only about 300000000 years, then the sun will run out of hydrogen and go supernova, wiping out all the planets this side of the asteroid belt.

Better go to the hardware store and get some plastic sheeting then. :2razz: