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Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Thu 21 Feb 2019, 21:25:00
by Ibon
One of the worst case scenarios, and likely, is that collapse happens because of war and resource conflicts. In this case human agency through war will mask the environmental instabilities that are the underlying cause. If that happens we don't learn anything from moving through the consequences as it will all be framed mainly as a result of the human disruptions..... instead of driven by natural consequences and understood as such.

Such a scenario will be a wasted opportunity for cultural transition. No collective humility offered on the alter of our mother earth.

Damn, this is the most pessimistic and dreary paragraph I have written here on this site in 14 years!

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 04:46:22
by asg70
Ibon wrote:One of the worst case scenarios, and likely, is that collapse happens because of war and resource conflicts. In this case human agency through war will mask the environmental instabilities that are the underlying cause. If that happens we don't learn anything from moving through the consequences as it will all be framed mainly as a result of the human disruptions..... instead of driven by natural consequences and understood as such.


I agree with that. Those waiting for some global epiphany (and I know you're one of them) are likely to be disappointed.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 09:43:58
by GHung
Ibon wrote: ........

Damn, this is the most pessimistic and dreary paragraph I have written here on this site in 14 years!


Yeah, that happens when you stop viewing things through the eyes of comfort, privilege and reason. Desperate people have little to none of that, and generally don't react to things well.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 13:42:17
by KaiserJeep
OTOH, those with "comfort, privilege and reason" also have property laws, law enforcement agencies, and armed forces up to and including nuclear weapons. The USA and Russia are definately Plutocracies. If you do NOT think that the two "Big Weenie" Plutocrats Putin and Trump are acting in concert to manipulate NATO and the UN, please raise your hand.

I just don't see a worldwide collapse, ever. I definately DO think the "Long Emergency" began around the first OPEC oil embargo, and will continue to advance incrementally for another century at least. We all know those parts of the World which are already in collapse. In another century, that will include China, Russia, and the USA. The next major player to fall will be the EU, iMHO - and I think it will go within 30-40 years. Before then, both France and Germany will exit the EU, and those acts will invoke collapse in all the other countries in Europe. By then, Britain will be an armed island garrisoned with US and Canadian troops, to defend against refugees from the EU.

Although WW3 is possible, the USA and Russia will continue the long, slow dance of MAD, whose real purpose is to intimidate other countries.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 14:23:40
by KaiserJeep
I still dislike the term A.I., because what computers have that people do not have is not intelligence. The real problem is that lots of people have way too little intelligence themselves.

Nobody entering into this debate has anything to worry about. But one of the things that went along with the basic Christian system of thoughts and values was a work ethic, since lost in the decades-long sectarian slide.

I was reminded of this when one of my long-time friends went through a Leukemia scare with his kid. She made it, but years of chemo took their toll, she is no longer the bright and inquisitive youngster she once was. "Don't worry" her parents told her, "You can always get a job as a teacher."

That's the problem, not enough kids in STEM curricula. Yet even when they get lazy, and say "I'm no good at Math", they are also not willing to work at manual labor, an assembly line, or to apprentice in a trade. Without a work ethic, they think they can pursue some LAS curriculae, learning nothing whatsoever that anybody will pay them for, and then enjoy life with a paycheck.

Well, try telling an employer you don't "want to do" anything, and then act surprised when you find yourself on the street. They pay you to do things they need done, and not what you want to do. It is called "work" after all, and not called "play".

If you are not gonna get a STEM degree, and also not gonna apprentice in some blue collar job, then go live in your parents basement, just don't reproduce is all I ask.

Now those of you who still work, go to work, pay your taxes, and support those drones. When push comes to shove, we can put a bounty on their scalps, and have some sport. Those that pay taxes need not worry, you will get the hunting permits.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 15:09:02
by Newfie
I don’t know that it matters much exactly which of our horsemen reach us first, at this point it is a coordinated Calvary charge with each one assisting the other.

I see 5 horsemen, which I’ll repeat for clarity. (As if anyone really cares, makes me feel good). Order is not important.

1. Over extended global financial system, lacks trust.
2. Climate change
3. Resource depletion (oil, water, etc)
4. Anti-bacterial resistant drugs.
5. Over population

As I recall the Limits to Growth report said that the models/graphs could not be trusted once one of the major trend lines started to break bad. Ther would be too much interaction between the various factors, things become chaotic in the downside. I think that’s about correct.

And as with all things chaotic the down side slope may not be smooth but a jagged ride of ups and downs generally trailing down.

As Tanada said elsewhere, time for prevention is past, start worrying about adaption. Which really means survival, cause you can’t adapt if your dead.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 15:46:35
by Yonnipun
One more problem I would like to point out which could cause a collapse. The end of the traditional family. Not so long ago almost any man could have a family if he had a job and provided for the family but nowadays things have changed. Woman do not need a provider any more . In social meda an average male is not attractive even if he has a job. There is a massive amount of sexually frustrated men out there. They choose to LDAR(lay down and rot) because of it.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 18:01:47
by Ibon
Yonnipun wrote:. They choose to LDAR(lay down and rot) because of it.


If your identity as a male is to be the provider and think that is sufficient in a relationship well you might as well just lay down and rot. Women rightfully demand some emotional sophistication out of their partner....

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 23:23:53
by jedrider
Ibon wrote:
Yonnipun wrote:. They choose to LDAR(lay down and rot) because of it.


If your identity as a male is to be the provider and think that is sufficient in a relationship well you might as well just lay down and rot. Women rightfully demand some emotional sophistication out of their partner....



This brings a whole new level to our discussions: What women want?

I still don't know. I hope the women know, because someone has to know.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Fri 22 Feb 2019, 23:27:08
by Outcast_Searcher
Yonnipun wrote:One more problem I would like to point out which could cause a collapse. The end of the traditional family. Not so long ago almost any man could have a family if he had a job and provided for the family but nowadays things have changed. Woman do not need a provider any more . In social meda an average male is not attractive even if he has a job. There is a massive amount of sexually frustrated men out there. They choose to LDAR(lay down and rot) because of it.

Yes, of course. Just like every geek who had trouble impressing women just always lies down and dies. You find them all over college campuses in the technical labs, for example. :roll:

Funny, it happened to me every year from age 6 to 18, until I met my long term girlfriend. Finding my corpse every year REALLY confused the authorities. :P

Why not learn something productive or get a life instead of regaling this site with such nonsense?

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 03:30:29
by asg70
Ibon wrote:Women rightfully demand some emotional sophistication out of their partner....


Um, yeah. You've been away from the US for too long.

Image

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 03:47:15
by Ibon
asg70 wrote:
Ibon wrote:Women rightfully demand some emotional sophistication out of their partner....


Um, yeah. You've been away from the US for too long.



Looking out of the lens of always seeing the least common denominator is an orientation that will yield weariness and sadness.

I came down to town to do a supply run and we are staying a hotel. First TV is a couple of months. I lasted about 5 minutes surfing through the channels and turned it off.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 04:20:59
by Yonnipun
Why not learn something productive or get a life instead of regaling this site with such nonsense?


It is not a nonsense. Getting sex is the most important thing for a male there could be. Haven t you heard about guys who shoot up schools? Most of them had no luck with girls and where bullied. There number of those males is constantly rising. 40% under 40 years old in germany are single. Why is that? Because woman make so much money on their own they do not want to settle down for a beta male. Also haven t you heard about the divorce rate which is over 50% and men get ablsolutely robbed. They lose half of their assets and have to pay alimony.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 06:06:22
by Cog
Generally speaking, women are more motivated to have and enjoy sex within a emotional relationship, whether it's a real relationship or imagined one. If you are a guy who wants to "have game" with women, you need to understand that.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 13:39:23
by evilgenius
There's a lot of talk surrounding jobs of the future. Some people are saying that machines can't take over everything. They'll just take over the mundane. Except that machines are pretty good at most things sophisticated as well. Even the most inventive new human niche, the online click rated personality (where I think many people will seek refuge), can be done pretty well by machines. It is being said that certain highly specialized tasks will probably continue to be done by people. It's a sucker's game to get into most things, though. People will still work, but many fewer of them will.

I think the answer to the rise of artificial intelligence is to change the way ownership of large corporations is divided. I believe that classes of stocks should be set up to compete with each other. It should be rock, paper, scissors. No winner ever wins outright. Each class of stock simply has more say over a certain set of things pertaining to the welfare of a corporation. Those classes of stocks ought to represent the natural interests of those most likely to buy them, via what you can expect from the risk/return ration that underlies them, and they should affect other interests with their collective decisions. It's the right way to divide up the money that won't be paid to employees anymore.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 13:47:00
by asg70
evilgenius wrote:I think the answer...


The answer has to start with fixing the political process. I don't get the sense that politicians are at all interested in calmly coming up with rational policy responses to the world's problems. The political process tends to reward those who are thinking solely about selfish short-term interests or are on the dole from big-business. I also don't think the general public has the mental skills or civic-mindedness to come up with solutions either. They merely move from outrage to outrage which tends to result in demagoguery.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 14:08:07
by evilgenius
asg70 wrote:
evilgenius wrote:I think the answer...


The answer has to start with fixing the political process. I don't get the sense that politicians are at all interested in calmly coming up with rational policy responses to the world's problems. The political process tends to reward those who are thinking solely about selfish short-term interests or are on the dole from big-business. I also don't think the general public has the mental skills or civic-mindedness to come up with solutions either. They merely move from outrage to outrage which tends to result in demagoguery.


At least America is not a homogeneous society. A lot of people would dispute that, saying that American society was built by and for white men, but I think that's wrong. The freedom that Americans have enjoyed has always segmented society into groups which compete with one another. Innovation is the most defining characteristic of this competition, not racial dominance. Americans have rewarded innovation above privilege. American classes are mostly monetary in nature. Privilege does play some role, but the best it has ever been able to achieve is to install perfunctory players who dominate only as well as civil servants within an economy. Their role changes with economic and social development, and is economically vulnerable to machines. The best result is a symbiosis, not a top down dominance by those who've been the best innovators. That's always been best because no matter what the winners have done to make innovativeness heritable, it has still come mostly out of nowhere.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 18:14:39
by Newfie
asg70 wrote:
evilgenius wrote:I think the answer...


The answer has to start with fixing the political process. I don't get the sense that politicians are at all interested in calmly coming up with rational policy responses to the world's problems. The political process tends to reward those who are thinking solely about selfish short-term interests or are on the dole from big-business. I also don't think the general public has the mental skills or civic-mindedness to come up with solutions either. They merely move from outrage to outrage which tends to result in demagoguery.


So what do you propose? What is one to do?

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 18:17:18
by Yonnipun
Christian system of thoughts and values was a work ethic


And so was a traditional family. Being a provider is not sufficient for having a family anymore. The amount of young males who have no girfriend is rising day by day. What could possibly motivate those guys to work their butts off? Certainly not a lecture by a white collar who has never done a physical work in his life.

they are also not willing to work at manual labor, an assembly line


Why should anyone today in 2019 be working on some s..t job that takes a toll on your health when machines could do the job better. Is not it a programming question nowadays? Young people today are concerned about their health and will not sacrifice it for a penny breathing in toxic fumes and dust and dying too young from cancer or smth.

I still dislike the term A.I., because what computers have that people do not have is not intelligence. The real problem is that lots of people have way too little intelligence themselves.


One thing about smart people I dislike is...

I
f you are not gonna get a STEM degree, and also not gonna apprentice in some blue collar job, then go live in your parents basement, just don't reproduce is all I ask.


They would go full hitler if they got a chance. If I were Iq 120+ then I would go also but unfortunately I am not.
Also if a guy manages to reproduce living in the parents basement then he must be a genius in some way and he has a right to reproduce. After all women are those who decide who have a right to reproduce or not and in today s society we can say they are better in it than hitler ever was.

If your identity as a male is to be the provider and think that is sufficient in a relationship well you might as well just lay down and rot. Women rightfully demand some emotional sophistication out of their partner....


You my friend are so bluepilled... Most men in relationships are providers. If a better provider comes then by-by. Divorce rate is over 50%. Women will leave with half the money and men have to pay alimony for decades. Marriage is a business project for women nowadays. Many of those guys end up homeless in the street. That is also a reason why many men are choosing to go on their own way ( MGTOW ). Always remember - she is not yours, it is just your turn. Many men unfortunately think that there is such thing as love and they go crazy when the woman leaves for a better one. Many get even suicidial. The thing is - women are pragmatics pretending to be romantics, men are romantics pretending to be pragmatics.

This brings a whole new level to our discussions: What women want?

I still don't know. I hope the women know, because someone has to know.


When they are young and choosing a mate they want absolutely top genetics. When they hit a wall they will settle down. But they will never love their husband. They do it for the money just like monkeys do change food for sex.

Generally speaking, women are more motivated to have and enjoy sex within a emotional relationship, whether it's a real relationship or imagined one. If you are a guy who wants to "have game" with women, you need to understand that.


It is much simpler. Whether you are attractive or not. I am a male and from my perspective I find almost any woman attractive. M(f)ake up makes wonders. But from woman s perspective only very small percent of males are attractive. Tall , muscular, full head of hair , robust bone stucture etc etc. I would not blame them for that. If I were a woman I would do that also. Men who are not attractive get woman too by providing but as I said the woman can not love the man.When it comes to emotions then actually I would say never show your emotions to your woman. Never say you love her etc. It makes you weak in her eyes and no woman wants a weak man. They want to feel protected.

Except that machines are pretty good at most things sophisticated as well.


Yep , it should be a simple programming question. There is a massive amount of civil cervants who are not neto tax payers whose jobs should be automized. Teachers, doctors etc who are simple pen pushers should be automized.

Re: Are we on the road to civilisation collapse?

Unread postPosted: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 19:40:10
by onlooker
I totally disagree with Kaiser, most certainly a full scale Civilization Collapse will occur. It is looking more and more likely with each passing day. Remember it is converging catastrophes and discontinuities we are looking at. Unlike past times, we have overshot the carrying capacity of the ENTIRE earth. Physics and immutable laws inform us that a finite planet cannot continue to support an ever expanding mass of humans and their commensurate impact on the planet. The Environment is being severely degraded and depleted with regard to sustaining current human population levels. We are also stuck with a Socio-political/economic system that seems unresponsive to the level of threat we face. We have a misinformed and underinformed populace partly due to ignorance but also propaganda. Civilization cannot remain viable when the environment and its life giving functions begins to seriously falter. Certainly not a Civilization with so many people and so complex. Die offs, resource scarcity and subsequent conflict, Pandemics all will severely strain the viability and cohesion of human ecosystems and societies. It is also ironic that while this is a peak oil site, it is appearing more and more that the tipping point will be environmental as people succumb directly to environmental catastrophe or indirectly as Economics and prices reflect an environment that can no longer sustain so many humans. And finally to this appeal to technology is pure hubris. In societies reeling from all kinds of problems of varying intensity, how can one expect that the resources like money, time, expertise, manpower, energy and cooperation be marshalled under these circumstances. Highly unlikey.