Are we the last humans on Earth?

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DarwinX
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Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by DarwinX »

In this documentary by Bill Gaede it is discussed that our current generation may be the last on Earth. Does anyone agree with this forecast or has Bill Gaede made some errors in his judgements and calculations? If you have any opinions on this matter please feel free to comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
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Theophane
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Theophane »

Has the global birth-rate plummeted to zero since Gaede made this pronouncement? Are babies being born at this very moment?
Jklint
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Jklint »

Eventually there will be a last generation but the current one and the next are still only intermediate toward that end. Besides, our work in planet destruction is not yet complete. The waters are still too pure and too many species uselessly alive consuming resources.
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Misty
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Misty »

Jklint wrote:Eventually there will be a last generation but the current one and the next are still only intermediate toward that end. Besides, our work in planet destruction is not yet complete. The waters are still too pure and too many species uselessly alive consuming resources.
No way to really know one way or the other. Interesting. Which species are uselessly alive consuming resources? Aren't most species predators and prey?
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Jklint
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Jklint »

Misty wrote: Which species are uselessly alive consuming resources?
Everything not human except what feeds them.
Aren't most species predators and prey?
That's the way it's been for a billion years and life proliferated immensely. Poachers and trophy hunters were not anywhere in sight.
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Misty
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Misty »

Jklint wrote:
Misty wrote:
Which species are uselessly alive consuming resources?
Everything not human except what feeds them.
Aren't most species predators and prey?
That's the way it's been for a billion years and life proliferated immensely. Poachers and trophy hunters were not anywhere in sight.
The species not feeding humans are important for the ecosystem, i.e., we don't eat bees but they are important.

How do you know poachers and trophy hunters did not exist in the distant past?
Things are not always as they appear; it's a matter of perception.

The eyes can only see what the mind has, is, or will be prepared to comprehend.

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DarwinX
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by DarwinX »

Do you see any similarities between T-Rex and humans? Did T-Rex eat all its competitors until it had nothing left to eat but its own species?
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Misty
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Misty »

DarwinX wrote:Do you see any similarities between T-Rex and humans? Did T-Rex eat all its competitors until it had nothing left to eat but its own species?
I thought the dinosaurs died out because of a meteor.
Things are not always as they appear; it's a matter of perception.

The eyes can only see what the mind has, is, or will be prepared to comprehend.

I am Lion, hear me ROAR! Meow.
DarwinX
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by DarwinX »

Misty wrote:
DarwinX wrote:Do you see any similarities between T-Rex and humans? Did T-Rex eat all its competitors until it had nothing left to eat but its own species?
I thought the dinosaurs died out because of a meteor.
That's what they would like you to believe. Its nice and tidy, and doesn't have any repercussions, complications and is easy to understand. The reality is that T-Rex took millions of years to become extinct. It didn't happen as suddenly as they would make you believe. Note - all large land based dinosaurs have become extinct. This is because the Earth is expanding and gravity is slowly increasing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
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Ghostpy
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Ghostpy »

Jklint wrote: Eventually there will be a last generation but the current one and the next are still only intermediate toward that end. Besides, our work in planet destruction is not yet complete. The waters are still too pure and too many species uselessly alive consuming resources.
- What exactly are you trying to suggest we should do about the "uselessly alive species consuming resources" ?
Misty wrote: Which species are uselessly alive consuming resources?
Jklint wrote: Everything not human except what feeds them.
Ok, maybe you could consider that only humans and those species that feed humanity are not the ones "uselessly alive consuming resources". What about the species that don't feed humans (e.g. worms), but feed the species that do feed humans (some birds)? What about grass? Don't cows eat grass and drink water to produce milk and meat?

Since you are evoking a principle of "extending humanity's existence", for the which it would be needed that "uselessly alive species" stop exhausting useful resources, that principle should be sustained objectively, don't you think? Evolution of the Species taken to the extreme, Survival of the Strongest, isn't it? How have you come to realize that humans should be the crowned ones to be in the Survivor's chair? Is it just because you are part of that species? What would happen if some Alien species would come to Earth, and that species proved to be far more intelligent than humans, should then humanity be considered a "uselessly alive species" and hence should perish in order to guarantee availability of useful resources needed by that Alien species?

Please take your time to write, I'm hungry to read your answer.
Last edited by Ghostpy on February 26th, 2014, 7:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Steve3007
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Steve3007 »

Ghostpy:
specie
Unusual usage. I've only seen one other poster here use it. It looks like it's being used as the singular of "species". But, as far as I know, the singular of species is species, isn't it?

Jklint:
Eventually there will be a last generation but the current one and the next are still only intermediate toward that end. Besides, our work in planet destruction is not yet complete. The waters are still too pure and too many species uselessly alive consuming resources.
I suspect that when Jklint wrote this, he/she was deliberately being cynically ironic, to make a point, and should not be taken as literally believing, as a personal value judgement, that waters are too pure or other species needlessly alive.

It's interesting though, to consider whether there will in fact one day be an identifiable "last generation" of humans. Was there a definitively identifiable first generation? I think the evidence suggests not. But I guess there is an asymmetry in nature there: Sudden, discontinuous extinction is perfectly possible whereas sudden discontinuous creation is, evidence suggests, not.
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Ghostpy
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Ghostpy »

Steve3007 wrote:Ghostpy:
specie
Unusual usage. I've only seen one other poster here use it. It looks like it's being used as the singular of "species". But, as far as I know, the singular of species is species, isn't it?
Not to my defense, but to give an explanation to this, I'm just a native spanish speaker trying to defend myself in english. In Romanic languages (spanish, portuguese, italian, french), singular words almost never end in "s", and since "species" was not on my regular top-100 word list, I didn't know it was the same in singular/plural.

Por favor discúlpeme su eminencia, le prometo que no volverá a ocurrir ;)
Steve3007 wrote:Jklint:
Eventually there will be a last generation but the current one and the next are still only intermediate toward that end. Besides, our work in planet destruction is not yet complete. The waters are still too pure and too many species uselessly alive consuming resources.
I suspect that when Jklint wrote this, he/she was deliberately being cynically ironic, to make a point, and should not be taken as literally believing, as a personal value judgement, that waters are too pure or other species needlessly alive.
Well, that would be your interpretation. As far as it goes, Misty and I have interpreted the statement in a literally sense, and to support that Point of View, Steve3007 himself reasserted his statement when he answered:
Misty wrote:Which species are uselessly alive consuming resources?
Steve3007 wrote:Everything not human except what feeds them.
As far as I can see, it is only you who claims it is a cynically ironic statement, not to be taken literally believing.

Let's wait for Jklint to enlighten us.
Steve3007
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Steve3007 »

Ghostpy:
Not to my defense, but to give an explanation to this, I'm just a native spanish speaker trying to defend myself in english...
Ah! OK. Please don't feel you have to apologize or change the usage of the word. You defend yourself very well in a language that is not your first. Far better than I would be able to do in Spanish. (I confess I had to copy your Spanish sentence into Google Translate). I see nothing wrong with a bit of linguistic variation. Language is, after all, a constantly evolving phenomenon. I was just curious. Maybe the other poster I saw using it was also Spanish!
...Let's wait for Jklint to enlighten us.
Yes, I think we will have to do that. Jklint ... over to you.
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Consul
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Consul »

Steve3007 wrote: February 26th, 2014, 7:20 pm Ghostpy:
specie
Unusual usage. I've only seen one other poster here use it. It looks like it's being used as the singular of "species". But, as far as I know, the singular of species is species, isn't it?
In Latin, "specie" is the ablative singular of "species".
"We may philosophize well or ill, but we must philosophize." – Wilfrid Sellars
Steve3007
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Re: Are we the last humans on Earth?

Post by Steve3007 »

Consul wrote:In Latin, "specie" is the ablative singular of "species".
Mystery solved. Thanks.
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