Where will humanity be in 10,000 years?
- Thread starter Diode-Man
- Start date
To be fair, there are several stories:
"Ceaser did it when he burned his ships in Alexandria - which set fire to the docks and spread into the city." (EG Plutarch).
"Aurelian did it suppressing a revolt by Queen Zenobia of Palmyra." The library at the Serapeum may or may not have still been in existence at the time.
"Theodosius did it when he made orthodox nicene christianity the state religion (of the roman empire) and outlawed paganism." This is clearly the story that River is championing, in response to this edict, Patriach Theophilus of Alexandria closed all the temples in Alexandria - including the Serapeum.
"Caliph Omar did it when Alexandria was captured by the muslim army of 'Amr ibn al-'As." Bar-Hebraeus quotes Omar as saying to Yaḥyā al-Naḥwī "If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them." Which, obviously, is much the same attitude expressed by ISIL in this day and age.
And, of course, there are questions and debates over each of these stories but eh...
That's one aspect he seems to be ignoring - that the destruction was done a number of times.
Notably, the passage by Socrates makes no clear reference to a library or its contents, only to religious objects.
But it's more interesting that River himself can't be bothered to endeavour to support his claims.
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
Indeed. It was Muslims, not Christians, who burned down the "pagan" library at Alexandria. However, the Christians did indeed burn the Aztec/Maya libraries. Fortunately enough documents escaped destruction that we've been able to decipher their writing system.
The Inca had not developed a written language, but that didn't stop the Christian marauders from melting down the gold statues they regarded as "heathen" and shipping it all back to Spain as bullion.
Rather inauspicious first post.
IIIIIIIIII
Registered Senior Member
Silly question... The human species will be extinct in 92 years. And there is absolutely no doubt about it as there is no doubt that I'm an Engineer...
Generally I'm the pessimist around here and even I don't think humans will be extinct in 92 years. Maybe you could provide some evidence that your prediction is based on?
That's a bit narcissistic of you. I never knew you were that way.
IIIIIIIIII
Registered Senior Member
I could yes,
but it would take a bit long as that kind of questions need research-level answers (paper with ground basis, estimations and repeatable results). Although, if one wants to have some leads in the question :
- over-population,
- increasing pollution (even CFC),
- quick paced deforestation,
- mid to long terms nuclear wastes problems and the obvious insecure level of existing short-life centrals,
- old and new army nuclear arsenals,
- large chemical wastes,
- bad industrialization of the food market (very vulnerable large mono-cultures),
- fungicides that helped the fungic during the last 100 years to adapt and become near unkillable for large and strategic cultures,
- the bad transgenic strategy applied to bees and some cultures which aims at allowing the insect to survive just long enough to the insecticide in order to pollenize one time, knowing that if all the bees (by chance obv.) disappear humans would disappear in only 4 years.
- the near end of antibiotics (only one last class remain then we will be sent back to where we were 100 years ago) and then we will die from the first passing bacteria... which will be like 100 times more virulent.
- The increasing promiscuity and easy international travels, that emphasis pandemics and epidemics (ever imagined what would do the Spanish Flue nowadays ?
- Maybe green-house effect and the obv needed exodes, the end of glaciers and rivers but this is only forecasted for 100 to 150+ years which is the least of our wories...
- oh... and war maybe with mass genocides
And I obviously could go on longer on the subject. But by generalizing, one may also add that the inner instincts of most humans (but not all, only the neurotypicals) are exclusively based on Eros and Thanatos (in that order) which means that whatever they do or use it will be for destruction in some ways just after fast paced reproduction. It's written in their brain. We all know here that most Humans are predictable.
As said Freud "I have not the courage to rise up before my fellow-men as a prophet, and I bow to their reproach that I can offer them no consolation".
On my side I would just keep it simple but not stupid by saying it as an engineer : Give a big tool to something good and you'll get something hugely good.
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IIIIIIIIII, those are all valid points and I could also add more. But a population crash is not necessarily an extinction level event, but merely a very bad time for the humans that survive it. But there goes any chance we have of getting off planet, which does mean our extinction is almost guaranteed at some future date.
IIIIIIIIII
Registered Senior Member
Absolutely, but if we rise to 10Billions and then go back suddently to 1Billion it will still be considered as what you know... did you think about your current position for the 50 upcoming years ?
Depending on how the dice will roll :
It's the Anthropocene make no mistake.
Don't blame me, I go enjoy myself and my friends as the Epicurean I am in the meantime... I may have a nap if I have the time.
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At the age of 67, I won't likely have 50 years left. My dad lived to 93, but he was never a party animal like I used to be. If I get 20 more years, I'll consider myself lucky. Anyway the current climate change probably won't affect me much in the next 20 years. But the noose around the worlds throat is getting tighter by the year. When we start losing our coastal cities to the rising oceans is when all holey hell will hit home hard, and thankfully I won't be here to experience it.
You've misspelled "impressionable".
And so are those who are older.
IIIIIIIIII
Registered Senior Member
Sad for you that you haven't found anything worth protecting in this world so far... TBH, I have never been fond of Hedonism. I consider myself lucky.
Would it make any difference if I did have anyone worth protecting? My feelings about anything aren't going to make one tiny bit of difference to what's going to happen to the humans on this planet. What I think is sad, is all the positive young people that are going to be vary rudely surprised when the shit starts hitting the fan.