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Scifi and Fantasy Forum: Speculation: The End Of Life As We Know It
The End Of Life As We Know It
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Posted By:  Eleika Sep 27, 2003 - 11:14 pm |       | But will we exist 500 - 1000 years from now? I believe that was the question I was originally asking.
| Posted By: Bmat Sep 28, 2003 - 04:44 am | | In support of Dingman's theory, I hear about the dumbing down of America. The standardized tests are reduced in difficulty to help students get better scores. The classes in the public schools are simplified. The (public) school systems pass people who can hardly read.
Quote:Since 1960 our population has increased by 41%, spending on education has increased by 225% (in constant 1990 dollars), but SAT scores have fallen by 8% (or 80 points).
http://www.probe.org/docs/obe.html
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To go back to Eleika's original question. I'd say in 500 years humans should still exist, but longer than that depends on how large the population has grown and how the resources of the Earth have been managed.
Conjecture has been made that we can obtain resources from other planets or asteroids or moons, but if life has degraded in quality so much that space research and space vehicle construction is no longer possible, then obtaining resources in such a way is not going to happen.
| Posted By: Ding_man Sep 28, 2003 - 11:34 am | | I agree Hyperion it is common, but usually only kids that would be smart back before computers would actually probably know how to do that so its just the smarter kids getting smarter maybe... I don't know. 
| Posted By: Aldan Sep 29, 2003 - 10:44 am | | Well, don't forget that children, back when computers were "new" (they were actually invented before WW2, at least "modern" ones were), WERE learning how to program. I know that I did! However, the LANGUAGES that were available to LEARN IN were very limited, in number, in quality and in scope. However, COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE is NOT the only knowledge out there!
I know SO MANY children who have NO grasp of history AT ALL, can't spell worth a , have POOR GRAMMAR (and I'm not speaking of grandparents, for you who can't spell) and haven't a clue about art, or social dynamics or anything BUT the sciences! Math, true, is something that many learn, but even there, many are just relying on calculators for their arithmetic homework instead of figuring it out for themselves (my brothers, for example). These, to me, are symptoms of a disease. Are Languages (other than net-speak) unimportant? Social Sciences? How about the Arts?
One thing that I saw on TV the other day was a commercial from one of the candidates for governor in California, saying something to the effect that "We must make college available to EVERYONE! Too many of our universities are trying to keep out our youth with the requirement of a high GPA (grade point average) to be able to qualify for enrollment. This must STOP! Everyone deserves a chance...."
AAAAAAAAAAuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
| Posted By: Aldan Sep 29, 2003 - 10:50 am | | Oh, and as for using asteroids, etcetera, to supply the earths wants and needs in the future, until they invent something like the Star Trek machine that creates food, it will be eatables and drinkables (like usable water) that will be the most difficult thing to develop, because, basically, ASTEROIDS DON'T HAVE THE NECESSARY NUTRIENTS IN THEM FOR THE RAISING OF FOOD. They are the INNER portions of what was probably a planet way back when, not the OUTER portions, and the inner area of ours is VERY DIFFERENT, and not accepting of growth, from our surface area. The surface of THAT planet would have been lost to the cosmos in bits and pieces when the catastrophe befell it.
Oh, and don't forget the dangers of working in space and of towing the asteroids to where we could use them and mine them and all of that.
| Posted By: Hyperion Sep 29, 2003 - 11:11 am | | Tests at Junior School and High School level in England, have been increased in complexity and scale each year, and are set to be done so again next year.
I agree though that computer knowledge and the major sciences are not the bee all and end all of knowledge; often the finer aspects of good education like Literature and art, History are overlooked in our modern world for the more immediate and beneficial for the work place studies of Computer Science and the major Sciences.
However I do feel that it is a much harder place for a youngster to get ahead in today’s society, as it is much more specialised and as a result in order to get ahead one often has to sacrifice most subjects on concentrate whole-heartedly on the one subject.
Anyways your right, we are steering away from the original topic slightly heh.
Life as we no it will undoubtedly change for the dramatic over the next century or two, as technology escalates and the immerging new sciences like Nanotechnology and Microbiology, Genetics bare fruit.
Designer brains for your child, with specialised brain structures that will favour a strong ability to learn math, or physics anyone??
heh
Hyperion out
| Posted By: Eleika Sep 29, 2003 - 08:36 pm | | Well, I've heard that Britain has maintained its standards compared to North America. One teacher of mine quoted a figure that was something like, "The average North American student has a vocabulary range of about 2000 frequently used words, while the average British student's is 5000." This is not meant to offend anyone, just quoting what I've heard. Here in Canada we get bombarded from both sides (Britain and the US) so I'm not exactly sure where we stand education-wise, but I know that some of our standards have been lowered, too.
And the way I see it, the intelligence of the populace *is* important to the future of this planet, if we're going to survive. It's very relevant.
| Posted By: Aldan Sep 30, 2003 - 09:39 am | | Still, though, in Canada, you do have the requirement, at least in SOME provinces, to learn French. That, at least, helps to stretch the mind a bit.
I learned Spanish in 9th to 11th grade, and then learned some American Sign Language just a few months ago at college. That helped me, considerably, because it not only helped me to look at Spanish, but also to look at English differently, as well as to look at our culture here in America, helping me to recognize where some of that culture comes from.
| Posted By: Nomad Sep 30, 2003 - 10:36 am | | Here, in Massachusettes, they have upped the anti for the test scores to graduate highschool and are increaing some of the difficulty back to the 3rd grade. They are trying atleast.
| Posted By: Aldan Oct 01, 2003 - 09:38 am | | YAY MASS!!! (and I don't mean that catholic meeting that they use for a worship service)
| Posted By: poppie Oct 02, 2003 - 08:17 pm | | Malthusian economics, and the upper population limit. Wonder what will happen when that limit is reached on a planetary scale? Or, just perhaps, the groundwork is being laid with the Western World/Islamic Jihad confrontation? Only time will tell, but its awfully interesting to speculate.
poppie
| Posted By: Eleika Oct 02, 2003 - 10:00 pm | | I could see the big Western superpowers eventually going the one step too far and start looking at Africa as a place to colonize. You know, back to the colonial days, but with nukes, and it's not good ol' Mother England who's in charge.
| Posted By: Hyperion Oct 03, 2003 - 08:10 am | | Mugabe kneads taking out if you ask me.
He is destroying Africa, and it is on British hands to do it.
Did you no that he is building himself a multy million dollar mansion at the expense of the African people while the majority of the African souls are starving to death and fighting for the scraps in the rubbish heaps and on the streets, living in squalid conditions.
It is disgraceful that Blair hasn't done anything already, it would be a sinch for our British forces to take him and his cronies out, though I have to admit that at the moment the British forces are stretched rather thin, we are deployed throughout the world on missions at the moment.
However I don’t think that is an excuse, Mugabe is as much if not more a nasty piece of work than Sadam was, and he should be gotten rid of.
As for Africa herself, it does look at tempting site for colonial rule via one nation or another, though I can safely say that America doesn’t have any want for Africa really, its the middle east that the US is interested in.
However, just because America is the sole super power and holder of the biggest army on earth at the moment, doesn’t mean that there are not other nations equally as capable of dishing out justice is knead be, even if that means going to war.
UK, France, Australia, Russia, I wont say Germany as their armed forces are not up to much, all those countries are capable of taking down mugabe.
And powers such as UK, France, Russia are capable of holding their own against any country even the US in a war, all of them have massive nuclear arsenals and high tech hardware such as satellite tech and guided GPS guided missile systems, and UK and France have their own versions of the UARV and UAARV's 
Anyways I agree though, Africa is a tempting site for some countries; though I don’t think the US is interested in it.
Hyperion out
| Posted By: Athalia Oct 03, 2003 - 08:31 am | | The US isn't interested in Africa...
And I think that if the world ever needs to have more space to stick people in, humans should look to the moon, etc.
Interest in space exploration has declined because (according to my philosophy professor) since the cold war ended there is no one left to challenge about who has the most technology and the most brilliant scientists (That isn't grammaticlly correct, I know, Alden, but I don't feel like correcting it.) So since there is no more reason to prove who is the "best" space projects have started falling to the way side.
BTW I would never live in space myself, the lack of air tends to freak me out.
| Posted By: Aldan Oct 03, 2003 - 10:45 am | | Actually, Ath, I wouldn't be too interested myself because I wouldn't have a nice atmosphere to burn up all the space debris that is floating around in our solar system. If a rock hit the station/ship that I was in, it would be a bad short few minutes. VERY SHORT. Of course, after that, I wouldn't be too concerned (I'd be dead).
| Posted By: Hyperion Oct 03, 2003 - 12:23 pm | | HEH
I would be one of the 1st to jump at a place for some sort of colony mission to another planet; the zero gravity and recycled air wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.
In fact I would sacrifice the ability to walk if it meant I could live in outer space aboard a zero gravity space station or exploration ship of some sort.
Yes indeed I would be one of the 1st to sign up, in fact I would probably be pushing my way to the front of the queue shouting, 'pardon me coming through, man on a mission' heheh
Yes just the though of a massively long exploration through space gives me the goose bumps all over.
Come to think of it I would go alone if the mission demanded it, I would be quit prepared to travel through space on my own no matter the time span if we hadn’t created ftl travel
Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest being alone and out in space, I would be very much in my element cruising past all the gas giants and stars taking scientific data down while searching for other forms of life
Hyperion out
| Posted By: Eleika Oct 03, 2003 - 08:34 pm | | Now if only we could work the kinks out of our space travel problems ... namely, speed.
| Posted By: iamume Oct 04, 2003 - 12:57 pm | | I have heard that stars and planets emit energetic frequencies.As all life here would be attuned to earths frequency I wonder what long term subtle or dramatic effects would occur while living on another planet or around another star.Even so, earths frequency could be simulated fairly easily.A space station which simulates gravity is needed if we are to find out if the long term negative effects of 0 g living come solely from O g environment.
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