Life in 1 million A.D.

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by Magical Realist, Aug 30, 2013.

  1. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    What do you think human life will be like a million years from now? Will humans even be around? If they are, do you project continuous technological and scientific advancement up to that time? Or might we reach a certain stage and then burn out, devolving into roaming clans of postapocalyptic barbarians? How will the humans then view the time we are now living in? Will consciousness evolve into higher forms? Will terrestrial societies extend over interplanetary domains? Will we have made "contact" with aliens/outsiders by then?

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  3. Boo88 Registered Member

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    I just assume we'll be extinct by then. But then again, I'm not the most positive person. We haven't been around nearly that long yet, and look how often we came to wiping ourselves out in the last century alone. With so much between now and then, I just imagine we'll get that far without destroying ourselves somehow.
     
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  5. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    What do you think will take us out? I can imagine new strains of viruses, emf-caused cancer epidemics, and even a natural degradation of the human body due to the elimination of natural selection caused by our advanced medical system. Imagine for example a society increasingly tolerant of mutations to the point that eventually the mutants outnumber the healthy humans. Ironically science's only recourse toward solving THAT problem would be a kind of mandatory genetic/social engineering in which only the healthiest would be allowed to procreate.
     
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  7. Boo88 Registered Member

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    Any of those things could do it, or we just wipe ourselves out with conflict. Or some kind of extraterrestrial event occurs. Or even natural disaster/environmental collapse. It's such an enormous amount of time (for us at least), that the list of threats is almost endless. If somehow we make it to that point, whatever we look like on the other side, we better be thankful

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    Very H G Wells!
     
  8. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    How fast is techs moving every year, let alone a million.

    I still think the human race has been done over and over, and we have some sort of masters guiding us. How that works, and how it will work out in the future, who knows.

    People assume it will all be linear, but i doubt that.
     
  9. dumbest man on earth Real Eyes Realize Real Lies Valued Senior Member

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    There are people who believe that "ELE"'s (Extinction Level Event"s) have repeatedly occurred to humankind, on this planet in the past.
    They posit that the few remaining survivors "started over", hence the similar "myths/ancient tales/beliefs across multiple cultures/civilizations, like "Worldwide Floods - Major Cataclysms - Wrath of God/Gods".

    A million years is a long time - and there are those that would argue that current human existence has only been going on for around 4,000 to 5.000 years - so if they, are indeed correct...one could fit 200 of those "cycles of existence' into 1,000,000 years!

    BTW - I, dmoe, am NOT one of "those people" - just to be perfectly clear!
     
  10. Boo88 Registered Member

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    It's an interesting idea. For a sci-fi. Not a plausible history of our species.

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  11. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    I would suggest that alot of stuff is hidden from us. So i doubt the idea that we have been done over and over is sci fi, but factual.

    The public are lied to alot.

    But like i said above, i am not sure if we will make it to a million years as i reckon we are a group that have been done over and over.
     
  12. dumbest man on earth Real Eyes Realize Real Lies Valued Senior Member

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    What you or I may find "implausible" or even "impossible" - there are others who actually "Believe"!
     
  13. Great Old One Registered Member

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    If mankind reaches 1 million AD and I am not currently experiencing life replayed as a simulation for historical study...

    I will be both disappointed in mankind and my eventual achievements.

    I think it is more realistic to expect that mankind becomes extinct before reaching any sort of posthuman phase.
     
  14. dumbest man on earth Real Eyes Realize Real Lies Valued Senior Member

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    "I think it is more realistic to expect that mankind becomes extinct before reaching any sort of posthuman phase."

    I, dmoe, can honestly state that I have never looked at it in exactly that way!
     
  15. Balerion Banned Banned

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    No idea what the odds are of us making it that far, but even if we were to live to see that date, there's no way we could possibly fathom what such an existence might look like.
     
  16. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    Here's an artist's rendition of what we might look like 100,000 years from now. Note the enlarged heads and eyes. We'll all look like lemur fetuses! Projecting this trend to a million years, I suspect something along the line of alien greys. Ugh..

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/06/07/how-the-human-face-might-look-in-100000-years/

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    Here's some other ways we may physically evolve/devolve. There seems to be some debate over head size since that is limited by the birth canal. Enter: Caesarian sections!

    http://listverse.com/2012/11/26/top-10-possible-next-steps-in-human-evolution/
     
  17. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    I think what we will see is an integration of man and machine. Human consciousness will reside inside machines. Our ability to exist as biological creatures will become optional. And since we will be able to create bodies and manipulate genes at will, our biological bodies will be whatever we want them to be and we could have more than one. It will be a bizarre new world… a world beyond imagination for many. We will have to rethink essentially everything about our existence and how we live together…of what is a machine and what is life and what it is to be a sentient being. The future will be as bizarre to us as our current world would be to a caveman…perhaps even more so. At least we still look like early modern humans. That won’t be the same for humans of the future.
     
  18. Mazulu Banned Banned

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    I think it depends upon whether or not it's possible to build a hyper-drive or not. If it's possible, then we will be able to sustain our demand for resources. If not, then our large population is not sustainable. Assuming it's not, in a million years there will probably be a human population of a few hundred thousand living with 18th century technology, and barbarians and warlords at the gates.
     
  19. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    1 million B.C. people supposedly did not exist. 1 million A.D. people supposedly will not exist either.
    I feel that there will be cycles of life and death of civilizations on planets unknown to us, seeded by our own civilization in the future, and long since extinct at its main branch. I feel that these 1 million years have passed and we are the seeds of such previous civilizations in the past.
     
  20. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    There are obviously a lot of variables. We could be wiped out by disease or some unforeseen cataclysmic event or a series of cataclysmic events. Assuming we get through all of that, our future is dependent on our ability to peacefully live and work together and our ability to attain use energy more effectively. With current levels methods of energy generation and efficiency, you may be correct. But nuclear fusion could be a game changer. Last I heard nuclear fusion could be a reality within the next 20 to 40 years.
     
  21. Mazulu Banned Banned

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    I'm assuming that human beings will be able to survive cataclysmic events. But my gut instinct is that to survive a million years, we'll probably have to abandon most of out technology and go back to being hunters and gatherers. I think that technology blocks our deepest survival instincts.
     
  22. Mazulu Banned Banned

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    If the rumors (or hopes) are true of some new age intergalactic federation or peace loving aliens, then humanity we'll pursue that. If it's not true, then humanity will probably devolve into killing and enslaving one another. Stone age religion will make a comeback, and the advancement of civilization will probably have to start over.
     
  23. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    I am sure alien groups far more advanced than us if they exist have many problems. The universe is made of laws and they would still have to obey them.
     

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