Grothendieck

This thread is like a poll, only without the prefabricated answers. I am interested in hearing your opinion on what problems are the greatest threat to humankind on a global scale. So as not to influence your answers, I will not post my opinion (yet).

To make sure everyone posts their own, uninfluenced opinion, I will ask you to follow these

RULES:
=====

1. Do *not* criticize others' opinions.
2. Try not to repeat opinions you have read in newspapers without thinking them over.
3. Support your opinion with facts, if you know of any.


Apart from these rules, you are free to post your opinion, be it, generally speaking, conservative or liberal, wide-spread or a minority view.

Maybe at a later point we can discuss solutions to the problems and threats you mention.

Phaenx

Humankind is the greatest threat to humankind! That, and a giant asteroid.

__________________
"I went shopping last night at like 1am. The place was empty and this old woman just making polite conversation said to me, 'where is everyone??' I replied, 'In bed, same place you and I should be!' Took me ten minutes to figure out why she gave me a dirty look." --Some guy

Anphernus

(Grammar tip: undermine means to lessen, destroy, diminish, or to remove the power of.)



Giant asteroids definately. Look how many movies they destroy us in!

Oh wait, no.


GIANT SPACE SPIDERS AND ANTS THAT FORM GIANT ANTHILLS/WEBS!

omfg they totally pwn us every time in movies. /sarcasm

Okay, to be honest we will prolly discover a power source so tappable that it can destroy us as we know it.


It's called fission. Splitting the atom.

Sure, we can make nukes, sure we can make NUCLEAR reactors.

But a fission reactor would make uranium seem like a tiny energy source. We might even blow up the earth trying to make fission reactors.

reconmike

Mankind is a disease, kind of like a cancer, it keeps growing wiping out a lot of non-renewable resources.

The best thing that could happen to mankind and earth would be a plague that was not treatable at first so it could kill a little over half the worlds population.

__________________
Where is Darwin when ya need him?

The_Dude

the fact that we're not taking care of the environment at all.

__________________
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

Easytiger

Our own stupidity is pretty much the biggest threat we face. And the fact that all we have to counter it is our own intelligence is not heartening.

Anphernus

Lady Antainette (cant spell, like 'wan-ette') said Let them eat cake when she heard her people were starving.



Lady Batherie (cant spell, but sounds correct) killed over 500 people and was known as a countess. (bathed in blood)


Combining these two people I can produce:

Let them eat eachother.



If every human ate one other human, not only would we temporarily stop famine, but we'd have such an abundance of food and minerals for the next several generations that solving world problems would be quite easy..


Yes, I'm part of the problem.

hiredgun

i'll go with the "our own stupidity" answer.

maximusveritas

evil geniuses, monsters, and mutants

ARTelevision

Our greatest threat has always been ourselves.
The supporting reference is called "Human History".

__________________
create evolution

Liquor Dealer

Ignorance is the greatest threat - Ignorance of the rights of others. Ignorance by ignoring actions that become a threat to others and ignorance of the abuse of others. The ignorance of blindly following religion - government and the beliefs of others.

__________________
Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it's more like a jar of Jalapenos --- what you say or do today might burn your ass tomorrow!!!

boatin

Yeah. What he said.

More specifically, I'll agree with the Dude. It's hard to believe another 50-75 years won't find us overcrowded and under resourced.

KillerYoda

I go with Art and Dealer. Us + Our Stupidity = Explosivo!

Edit - And that is "us" as in "everyone in the world" not U.S.

__________________
"So you're Chekov, huh? Well, this here's McCoy. Find a Spock, we got us an away team."

Quadraton

Our biggest problem is not enough good Boobie pictures. Thank God for the Titty Board. Saving the world, one breast at a time.

But seriously, as stupid as people are, I think they're smart enough to know what would happen if they brought about their own destruction. And who knows. Maybe in a couple hundred years, we'll have advanced to the point where we can leave this rock and find greener pastures elsewhere.

__________________
"A witty saying proves nothing"
- Voltaire

Kadath

Advertising. It is the most insidious evil mankind has ever unleashed.

__________________
it's quiet in here

TaLoN

aiding the weak. natural selection cannot occur if we fight it; the ones that cannot survive on their own should perish

Easytiger

Would you think that if you were weak, Talon?

Kadath

I suppose, TaLon, that depends on what your definition of weak is. If you are talking physically, then humanity will revert to a less technological era. Mentally and we shall be wiped out by squirrels. If you're proposing not correcting handicaps, I refer you to, obviously enough, Stephen Hawking. Do you want to abolish medicine? That's fighting natural selection. The point is that humanity thrives because we have a wide variety of environments selecting those best fit to succeed in them. I'm betting the farmer's crippled son doesn't take over the family business. He goes and does something else.

__________________
it's quiet in here

bundy

i think the greatest threat to humans is poor leadership.

__________________
Ohayo!!!

Dragonlich

I'd say that some big threats to mankind are:

1) conservatives (*real* ones!). They like the old, and don't want things to ever change. This leads to stagnation of scientific research, amongst other things, and a premature end to a potential to safe us all.
2) organized religion (including extremists). inherently conservative, because change might proof the holy books wrong. What's worse, these guys might fight to stop that change.
3) humans. we're typically a bunch of greedy bastards, out to further our own causes. That will prove deadly when all of us have to work together to safe our planet and race.

but the biggest threats to mankind are...

4) people who just want to do the right thing. "Hey, I might have accidentally set free a bunch of diseased killer mutant labrats that will kill all humans within a week, but I was just doing the right thing!"

oane

Greed. Ego. Anger.

__________________
Make me Mad.
Make me Sad.
Make me feel Alright.

SiN

agreed.

__________________

stan the man

the greatest threat to mankind would have to be not getting off this chunk of rock we call earth

if we dont get off and in to the universe before the sun burns up mankind will only have its radio waves floating the cosmos to prove it ever existed

__________________
long live the hud

Dilbert1234567

bush, he recklessly squnaderd any and all global suport after 9/11 with his crusade... and he wants to repeal enviromental laws that are desinged to protect the enviroment as well as us

__________________
Donate Blood!

"Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

drewg

Ignorance, Greed and evolusion

Easytiger

Do you mean "evolution"? And what exactly do you mean by that?

magic_hat

the dinasaurs were conducting this type of poll when they got bombed by the universe. doesnt seem likely today because of surrounding planets....thanks Jupiter. the end of humankind will be slow....hell its going on right now, just very slowly. I don't think there are any imediate threats to humandkind, just a long term threat...its the knowledge of a pattern, scientifically proven evidence that something else existed on the earth millions of years ago. Having that history, one can only imaging what will inhabit the earth in millions of years from now....if in fact the earth is still is spinning. apparently there is a study that shows promising evedence of a possible planet with stars rotating arount it...similiar to the earth. ok thats it. Its evolution baby!

crumbbum

Probably greed- for example there is more than enough food for everyone on the planet, yet people still starve. Same with the poverty gap. I am no marxist though- I don't think you can forcefully level out these kinds of things. But can you imagine if every person gave 10% of their income to charity? No kidding, but i bet the biblical practice of tithing could save the world. Oh, and let evil societies collapse and be forced to change, instead of supporting them (saudi arabia, for example).

__________________
Truth is peace. We are all souls in bodies.