The end of the world

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How long do you think we have? And how do you think it will happen? I don't necessarily mean the end of the actually planet, just the human race.

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Homo sapiens, right? A couple hundred thousand years or so.

Maybe less if another, more evolved species comes around and extincts us from the universe, and I think earth is due for one.

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A couple thousand years works for me. I'll be long dead already.

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A thousand years from now, humans will still be contemplating this very subject...if we don't nuke ourselves first.

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cavfancier wrote:

A couple thousand years works for me. I'll be long dead already.

Agree.

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50 to 200 years.
Possible knock-out punches:

1) VIRUS
A virus or super-resistant bacteria will take out just over half our population. That's enough to make our heavy infrastructure collapse. Chaos followed by disease and starvation.

Genetic engineering will be plenty advanced in a few decades, such that any graduate student can design whatever virus they want and produce it at home, straight from their computerized blueprint. No missile-defense shield, smart bomb, or robotic tank can fight a war against that.

Because our industries are so inter-dependent on each other, it's like depending on a mono-culture: one thing fails and the whole house of cards gets wiped out. 6-10 billion people cannot be supported without heavily automated industy.

2) GLOBAL WINTER
A few nukes go off (Pakistan? N.Korea? China?) It wouldn't take much.
Heck, if the super-volcano under Yellowstone goes off, that'd be enough.
If somebody put a nuke down inside Old Faithful, what would it do?

3) ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE.
Thousands of interdependent species suddenly go extinct because key resources
have gradually been lost. As a result, oxygen and CO2 levels get wacked, weather systems change,
and entire ecosystems start failing. Humans can still farm and produce
what they need, but it's like AIDS in the ecosystem.
With natural balances lost, it's easy for blight and plague to run rampant
and wipe out the few food sources that humans depend on.

http://www.courier-journal.com/foryourinfo/051903/051903.html

Quote:

According to NOAA, nearly 27 percent of coral reefs are gone, and two-thirds more will be gone within 30 years if things don't change. Some marine biologists fear coral will become extinct in a few decades.

4) WEIRD SCIENCE
Some place like the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), now operational at Long Island, New York, creates a black hole, strangelets, or a Quantum Vacuum Collapse.
http://armageddononline.tripod.com/science.htm

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If the Eagles dont win the NFC and then the SUperbowl, all life in Philadelphia will be extinguished late this evening.
How would anyone know? you may ask.
Well dont be impertinent and go back to your bangers and overcooked eggs and cold toast.

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...and I feel fine...

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at the exact moment my cd is finished and after chasing the brass ring for 40 years I put my signature on the big record deal the rapture will come, followed quickly by Armegeddon.....

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So, we don't have to worry then BpB... no hurry?

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According to one of the many lunatics on West Midlands public transport, 2014. They're a source in which I put my trust.

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SealPoet wrote:

So, we don't have to worry then BpB... no hurry?

This year SP...this year...

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Some time after I'm dead. Yes, that's what I would like to think. Yes, some time after I'm dead, indeed.

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Uh, NNY? Is that some kind of zen koan or sumthin'?

If the end of the world kills you,
then yes, the world will end a few seconds after you.

-----
Time is running out, so let's unwrap the present.

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A quick announcement. All life as we know it has officially ceased to exist in Philadelphia. Sorry, Farmer, I was pulling for 'em too.

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Me three!

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Quote:

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.

And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.

We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,
And the party will be "come as you are."

Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.

And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry Hottenhot and ev'ry Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.

Tom Lehrer wrote this in the late 50's - early 60's. There was a time that the words to this song were relevant. I am happy to say, we can still sing this song in 2004, and I would expect that our grandchildren will be singing it too!

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WHOA. what a lousy game. I have to admit that, even with the low score, philly was not a contestant.

oh well, Philly , like CXhicago, is only there to atone for our sins.

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Farmerman

Last weeks games were among the best, most exciting games I've ever watched.

Both of yesterday's games were bummers.

I hope the Super Bowl doesn't turn out to be a snoozer also.

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9 out of 10 are snoozers, if you watch to see the new commercials instead of the game, there is less disappointment.

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The end of the world

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