What Will We Live to Experience?
My 64th birthday tomorrow sets my mind in motion as to what I’m going to experience in the remainder of my life, and what I’ll miss. Several items in particular threaten our sustainability:
• Climate change and its mitigation. We just experienced the hottest June in recorded history. What will temperatures be like when I check out of here? What effects will this cause? What technologies will be brought to bear to keep all this in check?
• World fascism. It’s possible that the authoritarian governments that are springing up all over the world are simply a swing of the pendulum, and that our civilization is about to head back in the other direction. Having said that, once a free press is beaten into submission, democracy is difficult to restore. Can we deal with this before it’s too late?
• Runaway artificial intelligence. As explained by the brilliant Sam Harris presents here, this is something that is both terrible and inevitable. Can this be managed?
• Loss of biodiversity. One million (out of a total of 8 million) plant and animal species are under threat of extinction. Will I see the end of primates?
• Ocean acidification. Rising levels of CO2 has caused the pH of the oceans to fall from 8.2 to 8.1. Will I be here when it hits 7.9, and the only animal in our seas is jellyfish?
• Nuclear war. As we are experiencing currently, we can survive short periods of time with criminally insane people installed as leaders. And, since 1945, we’ve shown that we can survive the existence of nuclear arsenals. But can we survive criminally insane leaders with nuclear arsenals, especially in the absence of mutually assured destruction?
Ah, getting old.
On a far lighter note, let me close with an extremely clever song on aging from the Cache Valley Drifter. They’ve been harmonizing since the 1970s, so they know a thing or two about the subject.
Craig,
Happy birthday! Sixty four isn’t very old these days.
When a fifteen year old Paul McCartney first composed the song “When I’m Sixty Four” in 1957, it was an observation of his experience of people of that age.
How times have changed ! The now, 77 year old Sir Paul McCartney, marvels at the miraculous change the last six decades have wrought in aging and longevity.
As an 11 year old school boy in 1957, the world was a lot more scary place than today. The after math of the savage era of de-colonization was beginning, a process which saw a era of unprecedented death and disruption with ferocious civil wars in Africa and Asia.
Nearly all South and Central American nation were corrupt but brutal dictatorships, while the world was still appalled by the brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian uprising and the shootings of East Germans fleeing the “German Democratic Republic”.
The constant threat of Nuclear war, the fierce and increasing violence of the US civil rights movement, McCarthyism, even the UK was rocked by the Notting Hill riots.
By today’s standards medicines was still relatively primitive and general living standards, although improving, were very low in comparison with today.
In 2019, it’s a great time to be alive! (It’s an even better time to young)The human species will always face problems and difficulties (mostly of our own making) but we survive, adapt and overcome, constantly improving our lot.
Cheer up! It’s the fate of every generation to get old and cranky. Every generation will one day shake it’s collective head and declare “The world is going to Hades in a handcart”!
Your fear of “World fascism” is a delusion ! There are no “authoritarian governments springing up all over the world”. In 1957 the majority of nations were totalitarian or “peoples republics”.(aka grim communist dictatorships).
In 2019, the majority of the World’s nations are some form of liberal democracy.
Besides, why should you worry ? As a supporter of the ‘Antifa’ most virulently active,violently repressive political movement of masked street thugs seeking to ” beat a free press into submission”, your only real concern should be if your approved brand of fascists prevail.
But they won’t ! In reality, Antifa and other extremists will cause trouble until enough people grow weary tolerating such behaviour and the movement will recede back to irrelevance.
So enjoy your birthday! Celebrate the new challenges of a brave new world and bright future. Step out of your comfort zone and preconceived ideas and obsessions. Life at 64 is just the beginning of a great new adventure…… 🙂