Quote from: K-Dog on Mar 07, 2024, 10:58 PMIt all makes me think we are doomed.

And so we are.  What isn't clear is where that doom will take us, to extinction rapidly or more slowly, or to population knockdown and stabilization at some level, and then possible rebound, taking a few cycles before ending in extinction in an unknown number of cycles and years.  It could happen as fast maybe 10 years with Global Thermonuclear War or it could take 10,000 years as per the prophesy of Zager & Evans.  Theoretically it could take as much as 500 million years, when the Hydrogen on the Sun has been exhausted, it begins to expand into a Red Giant and the radiation level at the surface of the earth becomes inhospitable to any higher life forms, proceeding until a few of the hardiest forms of life like Tardigrades and other extremophiles that can survive around sulfur vents at the bottom of the ocean are the only living organisms remaining.  Once the sun expands enough and the oceans boil off, even the tardigrades won't be alive, but they can revive after being frozen in space when dropped back into a suitable environment.



The longer scenarios to extinction become unlikely because at some point the additional hazards of super volcanoes and asteroid impacts kick in, rare events but they do happen at regular intervals.  Yellowstone is overdue for another one, I think Toba is also.  I doubt we'll get that far though.

So, like having cancer from smoking, we have a terminal disease that is accelerating the timeline to death, but we don't know if it's a straight shot or if the cancer will go into remission yet.  In any case, life with cancer is much more unpleasant than when you were healthy, and some people would rather not live with cancer and prefer euthanasia as a choice.  Many smokers with cancer are told, "if you stop, you'll live longer", but they go right on smoking, because they are addicted and don't really want to keep living if they can't smoke.  That apparently describes the condition of our society, at this point any one with half a brain knows if we keep going on this road it's gonna kill us, but keep on anyhow because they're addicted to Happy Motoring and dishwashers and Hawaiian Vacations and don't want to give up the creature comforts they're used to.  So the society keeps gong until it drops dead.

We are Doomed, but for those of us who watch it progress, what is interesting is how the society does or does not react to the impending doom.  It's interesting also to observe each new manifestation of collapse as it reveals itself.  Some things evident now were not apparent in 2012 when I opened the original Doomsted Diner to offer the Daily Special dish of doom, like the falling birthrate and depopulation.  Then, the main worry was overpopulation.  Problems with EVs like low resale value were not forseen.  The list goes on and on.

The frustrating part for the activist who would like to see the progress toward doom slowed or even halted is like the doctor who can't get the smoker to quit.  "You're killing yourself, you fucking idiot!" he screams, to no avail.  I'm not a doctor.  I'm a researcher investigating how the cancer progresses.  Sadly of course, there will be nobody around to read the research when it's finished, and few read it now anyhow.  So it goes.

RE