ennui2 wrote:The reason to encourage people to depart with dignity would be, presumably, so that they don't go nuts and attack you like in Children of Men.
Tanada wrote:McPherson for whatever internalized reason he has, concluded humanity is about to become extinct in the very near term. That conclusion colors everything he writes or says, always emphasizing the most gloom doom extreme scenario's as being the foregone conclusion.
I have wondered on occasion if Cid_Yama and Guy McPherson are friends in real life, they use many of the same talking points and project the same hopelessness, but are not quite in sync on the nuances of how and why.
I will watch this in a little while when I have time, but having seen 7 McPherson lectures I doubt this one will have anything new in it. I agree our civilization is going to change profoundly due to peak oil, but I don't for a moment buy into the we are all extinct in a few years mantra. The average species on this planet lasts around a million and a half years before it evolves into a different species or goes extinct. I don't believe a species as highly adaptable and as wide spread as Homo Sapiens Sapiens will be any different. BTW I think there is a chance of just the opposite, we know there are species that have persisted for very very long times, some kinds of fish and reptiles are virtually identical today to what they were 100,000,000 years ago. Life has no guarantees, either on the positive or the negative. If you are conceived then eventually you will die, maybe before birth or maybe 116 years later like those old folks they love to put on the news. Species are no different, if you change enough to be considered a distinct species and you exist long enough eventually the gradual changes will be enough to make you into a different species.
Tanada wrote:McPherson for whatever internalized reason he has, concluded humanity is about to become extinct in the very near term. That conclusion colors everything he writes or says, always emphasizing the most gloom doom extreme scenario's as being the foregone conclusion.
I have wondered on occasion if Cid_Yama and Guy McPherson are friends in real life, they use many of the same talking points and project the same hopelessness, but are not quite in sync on the nuances of how and why.
I will watch this in a little while when I have time, but having seen 7 McPherson lectures I doubt this one will have anything new in it. I agree our civilization is going to change profoundly due to peak oil, but I don't for a moment buy into the we are all extinct in a few years mantra. The average species on this planet lasts around a million and a half years before it evolves into a different species or goes extinct. I don't believe a species as highly adaptable and as wide spread as Homo Sapiens Sapiens will be any different. BTW I think there is a chance of just the opposite, we know there are species that have persisted for very very long times, some kinds of fish and reptiles are virtually identical today to what they were 100,000,000 years ago. Life has no guarantees, either on the positive or the negative. If you are conceived then eventually you will die, maybe before birth or maybe 116 years later like those old folks they love to put on the news. Species are no different, if you change enough to be considered a distinct species and you exist long enough eventually the gradual changes will be enough to make you into a different species.
onlooker wrote:Fascinating conversation between Paul Ehrlich and Guy Mcpherson
Revi wrote:I think a lot of people are going to die before the end of the century.
Revi wrote: I don't think it will result in extinction, but I could be wrong. A world at 4 degrees C above the baseline is pretty frightening.
onlooker wrote:Revi, from the book 6 degrees by Mark Lynas, makes it pretty clear from the available science that 4C would mean pretty much 6C and that WOULD spell extinction for humanity. In fact one can make the case from the book that at around 2C, feedbacks are activated that will inevitably lead to 6C or above.
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