Re:1966 children about the future [video]
by dredmorbius on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @08:04PM
(#21132209)
In 1900, the existential threats were the same they'd long been throughout (and before) human history: famine, pestilence, disease, war. The Four Horsemen.
There were risks of which people would not have been aware, or would have been only loosely aware: asteroid impacts, gamma ray bursts, supervolcanoes.
The main difference today is that our major existential threats are now endogenous rather than exogenous. We've made them ourselves.
This more so than even epidemic disease, a consequence of dense urbanisation, poor hygiene, lack of a theory of disease, and widespread and distant commerce. Ancient civilisations, from Rome onward (and before) co-evolved with their major epidemics. I cannot recommend Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome highly enough in this regard.
There were risks of which people would not have been aware, or would have been only loosely aware: asteroid impacts, gamma ray bursts, supervolcanoes.
The main difference today is that our major existential threats are now endogenous rather than exogenous. We've made them ourselves.
This more so than even epidemic disease, a consequence of dense urbanisation, poor hygiene, lack of a theory of disease, and widespread and distant commerce. Ancient civilisations, from Rome onward (and before) co-evolved with their major epidemics. I cannot recommend Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome highly enough in this regard.