If the Hardiest Species Are Boiled Alive, What Happens to Humans?

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/billions-victims-heat-dome/619604/

by aliasEli • 5 years ago

28 6 5 years ago

AnonC• 5 years ago

What happens to humans is that we "tech" our way out of this just like we've solved all other problems so far. /s

I personally don't think there is any sort of redemption here. Governments aren't acting enough. In the absence of that, individuals aren't taking actions that could help (or reduce harm) either.

P.S.: In case it wasn't clear or known, the /s after the first sentence is sarcasm (I've noticed that some people aren't aware of this).

polotics• 5 years ago

The illusion that we did "tech" ourselves out of anything and so can keep on "sustainably growing", aka. the Rifkinian trap, is pervasive though. The fact we used a cheap windfall of fusion energy stored through photosynthesis and sloooow underground cooking to fancy ourselves masters of the universe is lost on most, having a car that dissipates more of this very precious energy is still considered a sign of social status in many parts.

finolex1• 5 years ago

I don't think the sarcasm is needed. Human ingenuity coupled with desperation when conditions truly worsen can be a powerful motivator.

ainiriand• 5 years ago

Politicians won't do that as long as there is any sort of political cost for them. They will just react, slowly, to what the society as a whole accepts as good.

minikites• 5 years ago

In the absence of that, individuals aren't taking actions that could help (or reduce harm) either.

There is no way for individual action to solve climate change, that's just a way for business to place the blame and guilt on us. Solving climate change is necessarily a collective action problem, which is why I believe we aren't going to solve it. We're too selfish and unwilling to take the drastic steps we need to take and it's only going to get more difficult to solve the problem. We're all trapped in a car that's starting to smoke and make unsettling noises, yet we're cheerily driving along hoping that it will be cheaper to fix later if we ignore it now. The car is going to break down soon enough and we're all going to be stranded in the desert until we expire.

romesmoke• 5 years ago

Imagine what an "ecosystem" inhabited by mankind's collective soul would look like. Imagine heat waves of negative affect blazing over the ethics coastline. Imagine dead meadows of yesterday's creativity, bustling with parasitic wildlife representing the trend of the Remake.

This is what happens to humans. And the planet would weep if she could see it. To be honest, I hope she can.

If the Hardiest Species Are Boiled Alive, What Happens to Humans?

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