Complex Numbers

Welp... We're Boned

At some point, birthdays stop becoming about growing up and start becoming about growing old. Personally, I think that point is age 21 in the US, because drinking.

But now I find they're less about growing old and more about being one year closer to death.

Hence, today's article:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47030233

What are the biggest threats to humanity?

Oddly, social media didn't even make the list. Neither did commercials, vegans, or SUV owners.

Now I'm picturing a vegan ad agency executive driving her SUV while instagramming. Don't tell me that never happens.

Volcanic threats

But while the prospect of a super-volcanic eruption is terrifying, we should not worry too much. Super-volcanoes and other natural disasters, such as an asteroid striking Earth or a star exploding in our cosmic neighbourhood, are no more likely in 2019 than any other year. And that is not very likely.

Before the 2017 eclipse, I noted that its track passed over or very close to the Yellowstone Caldera. So I tried to start a viral rumor on the internet that the massive combined gravitational force would trigger the Yellowstone Supervolcano. (Just to be clear, this was, is, and will continue to be bullshit.) It didn't take. I was devastated. The world was not.

Growing threats

The threats are complex and diverse, from killer heatwaves and rising sea levels to widespread famines and migration on a truly immense scale.

And this is why I still celebrate birthdays. Well, apart from the existence of tequila. Because every birthday means 1 year less chance of me being alive when shit goes south.

Also increasing are the potential risks from novel technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Remember yesterday's entry about Lone Asshole Theory? This particular doom is related to that. Sure, we can try to put limits on AI - but all it would take would be one lone asshole ignoring those limits.

Of course, I think the "threat" from AI is way overblown. Fuckers can't even get autocorrect to work right.

Another threat is the possibility of a nuclear war.

The 80s called. They want their fearmongering back.

Increasingly dense and mobile human populations have the potential to see new influenza strains spread easily. And this raises concerns about a future outbreak like the 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed up to 50 million people.

However, widespread vaccination programmes and other disease prevention measures help reduce this risk.

I think my next attempt at viral scaremongering should be how the anti-vax "movement" was started by the Zero Population Growth (ZPG) people (or possibly the Illuminati or the Freemasons) in an attempt to reduce world population.

With almost eight billion people living on Earth, we are increasingly reliant upon global systems to sustain us. These range from the environment that provides us with food, water, clean air and energy, to the global economy that turns these into goods and services.

Maybe it's not a conspiracy theory. Study it out, sheeple.

There is an old story of King Canute of the Danes commanding the sea to retreat. He knew he would be unable to hold back the tide and a similar sense of powerlessness can easily overtake us when we consider potential future catastrophes.

However, the truth is that the Danes have been pushing back their shoreline for generations: building dykes and draining marshes to protect themselves from the oncoming tide.

Ah... the power of civil engineering. Unfortunately, I'm retired.