Re:The Future is Vast: Long-term perspective on humanitys pa...
by echelon on Friday March 18, 2022 @03:06PM
(#30726218)
Only in the bad sense, as we're still subject to the dangers of nuclear annihilation, cosmic disaster, vulnerable world hypothesis, etc. at pretty much every moment.
We could have already exhausted all of the easy to obtain energy and resources, and that would make growth very hard to sustain at a level where we can expend extra effort on space exploration.
Imagine an alien civilization that didn't have a Carboniferous period where energy was just left sitting around and accumulating for future use.
Now imagine us exhausting it before we expand beyond our planet. That's the worry. Will we be able to tap into renewables in a way that sustains growth? Maybe. We're not there yet, though.
Re:The Future is Vast: Long-term perspective on humanitys pa...
by alcover on Friday March 18, 2022 @04:35PM
(#30727185)
I hear many minerals and fuels are past/near peaking. Recycling and thriftness will ease the descent a bit but I share your urgency. We have to go full-bore on space and nuclear.
We could have already exhausted all of the easy to obtain energy and resources, and that would make growth very hard to sustain at a level where we can expend extra effort on space exploration.
Imagine an alien civilization that didn't have a Carboniferous period where energy was just left sitting around and accumulating for future use.
Now imagine us exhausting it before we expand beyond our planet. That's the worry. Will we be able to tap into renewables in a way that sustains growth? Maybe. We're not there yet, though.