Abelian Sea
o_O
(remember kids, don't drink and post)
(WARNING: profanity)
The human population is growing exponentially. It has reached levels that are, as best as we can tell, completely unprecedented. It shows no signs of slowing down; no war or plague in history has put more than a tiny scratch in it (WWII made a blip but was promptly recovered from). Earth's resources, though vast and varied, are finite, and we are going at them with abandon.
This raises an obvious concern. Someday, we will reach Earth's carrying capacity. This will be extremely Not Fun. To make our pop chart do a sharp turn and stop its growth because we've run out of room/resources to keep expanding will involve worldwide unpleasantness the likes of which we have so far only glimpsed.
Of course, we can mitigate this pain by consciously achieving "sustainability," an exalted state in which we as a species will exist with, effectively, no net cost to the environment we live off of and, necessarily, no net population growth. To me this seems highly improbable. To reach true global sustainability would involve a lot more sacrifice and international cooperation than we as a species are realistically going to put up with. Knowing humans, we won't do it until we're forced to, either in the chaos of "oops, we ran out of stuff" or the order of an oppressive totalitarian world government to ruthlessly limit the vast majority of humanity. As I said, Not Fun. So what's my suggestion?
We really need to get busy figuring out how to terraform other planets.
It's the most natural solution to problems presented by growing population and never-ending consumption: spread! It's what (biological) life is all about; fill your container, then adapt to move beyond it or suffer and bend to some ruthless natural order.
We alone of Earth's organisms have reached beyond the atmosphere. Let it be our destiny to lead the bizarre phenomenon of DNA-based life to other planets - because you know wherever we go, so go many many other species, even, inevitably, ones we'd rather leave behind.
Upward and onward! Let life spread through the cosmos like the virus it physically is! Cloaked in the raiments of our biological brethren, armed with the artificial appendages known as "tools," LET US CONQUER AND FEAST UPON THE VERY HEAVENS!!!
(a pulpit appears)
FUCK the Garden of Eden!
Though we be damned for it, though we suffer mightly and be cast into the outer darkness, we are REBELS!
Remember, my friends and enemies, we humans are THIEVES and CHEATS and HACKERS!
Adam and Eve saw the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and they straight STOLE THAT SHIT! Prometheus saw the fire of the gods, and he straight STOLE THAT SHIT! We saw before us the intricate food web of a self-sustaining ecology, which ultimately served to distribute the sun's raw energy to a diverse array of species, and we straight CHEATED THAT SHIT by creating artificial agricultural systems that funnel nearly all that yummy population-explosion-enabling energy right to our bellies. We dreamed of flying and shooting lightning and tapping into the unholy power of the very stars, and were stymied by the staggering complexity of physical reality, and we straight HACKED THAT SHIT to get what we wanted.
FUCK Earth's limits!
Are we mice or humans? MICE reproduce to the carrying capacity of their cage, and then start eating their fucking babies and gnawing eachother's nuts off to reach sustainability. HUMANS reproduce to their cage's carrying capacity, and then we invent fucking BOLT CUTTERS and BREAK THROUGH into the room, ignorant of the dangers. We plummet off the table, fry ourselves in the electrical outlets, starve in the carpet, and then, through the brutal method of trial and error and our devious little minds, we LEARN how to thrive in the room. And then, my friends and enemies, then we make WAR and kill eachother over the resources we've learned to access, and trade those resources, and some parts of our fractured population make peace, and there is prosperity - for some more than others - and in that prosperity we flourish, and in that flourishing we reach the carrying capacity of the room. And then, my friends and enemies, then
Pick the lock!
Unhinge the door!
Crumble the walls!
Tunnel through the floor!
BREAKTHROUGH! Into the house, ignorant of the dangers. We drown in the tub, we cause a great explosion with the gas stove, we fry the wiring and enter a dark age, and then, through the brutal method of trial and error and our devious little minds, we LEARN how to thrive in the house. And then, my friends and enemies, then we make WAR and kill eachother over the resources we've learned to access, and trade those resources, and some parts of our fractured population make peace, and there is prosperity - for some more than others - and in that prosperity we flourish, and in that flourishing we reach the carrying capacity of the house. And then, my friends and enemies, then
BREAKTHROUGH! Into the yard, across the countryside, throughout the continent, the planet, the solar system, the galaxy, and on and on.
My friends and enemies, I say to you we WILL break through Earth's limitations. Not because we have a right to, not because we should, not because it is ordained, but because we CAN and we are CRAZY ENOUGH TO!!
(WARNING: profanity)
The human population is growing exponentially. It has reached levels that are, as best as we can tell, completely unprecedented. It shows no signs of slowing down; no war or plague in history has put more than a tiny scratch in it (WWII made a blip but was promptly recovered from). Earth's resources, though vast and varied, are finite, and we are going at them with abandon.
This raises an obvious concern. Someday, we will reach Earth's carrying capacity. This will be extremely Not Fun. To make our pop chart do a sharp turn and stop its growth because we've run out of room/resources to keep expanding will involve worldwide unpleasantness the likes of which we have so far only glimpsed.
Of course, we can mitigate this pain by consciously achieving "sustainability," an exalted state in which we as a species will exist with, effectively, no net cost to the environment we live off of and, necessarily, no net population growth. To me this seems highly improbable. To reach true global sustainability would involve a lot more sacrifice and international cooperation than we as a species are realistically going to put up with. Knowing humans, we won't do it until we're forced to, either in the chaos of "oops, we ran out of stuff" or the order of an oppressive totalitarian world government to ruthlessly limit the vast majority of humanity. As I said, Not Fun. So what's my suggestion?
We really need to get busy figuring out how to terraform other planets.
It's the most natural solution to problems presented by growing population and never-ending consumption: spread! It's what (biological) life is all about; fill your container, then adapt to move beyond it or suffer and bend to some ruthless natural order.
We alone of Earth's organisms have reached beyond the atmosphere. Let it be our destiny to lead the bizarre phenomenon of DNA-based life to other planets - because you know wherever we go, so go many many other species, even, inevitably, ones we'd rather leave behind.
Upward and onward! Let life spread through the cosmos like the virus it physically is! Cloaked in the raiments of our biological brethren, armed with the artificial appendages known as "tools," LET US CONQUER AND FEAST UPON THE VERY HEAVENS!!!
(a pulpit appears)
FUCK the Garden of Eden!
Though we be damned for it, though we suffer mightly and be cast into the outer darkness, we are REBELS!
Remember, my friends and enemies, we humans are THIEVES and CHEATS and HACKERS!
Adam and Eve saw the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and they straight STOLE THAT SHIT! Prometheus saw the fire of the gods, and he straight STOLE THAT SHIT! We saw before us the intricate food web of a self-sustaining ecology, which ultimately served to distribute the sun's raw energy to a diverse array of species, and we straight CHEATED THAT SHIT by creating artificial agricultural systems that funnel nearly all that yummy population-explosion-enabling energy right to our bellies. We dreamed of flying and shooting lightning and tapping into the unholy power of the very stars, and were stymied by the staggering complexity of physical reality, and we straight HACKED THAT SHIT to get what we wanted.
FUCK Earth's limits!
Are we mice or humans? MICE reproduce to the carrying capacity of their cage, and then start eating their fucking babies and gnawing eachother's nuts off to reach sustainability. HUMANS reproduce to their cage's carrying capacity, and then we invent fucking BOLT CUTTERS and BREAK THROUGH into the room, ignorant of the dangers. We plummet off the table, fry ourselves in the electrical outlets, starve in the carpet, and then, through the brutal method of trial and error and our devious little minds, we LEARN how to thrive in the room. And then, my friends and enemies, then we make WAR and kill eachother over the resources we've learned to access, and trade those resources, and some parts of our fractured population make peace, and there is prosperity - for some more than others - and in that prosperity we flourish, and in that flourishing we reach the carrying capacity of the room. And then, my friends and enemies, then
Pick the lock!
Unhinge the door!
Crumble the walls!
Tunnel through the floor!
BREAKTHROUGH! Into the house, ignorant of the dangers. We drown in the tub, we cause a great explosion with the gas stove, we fry the wiring and enter a dark age, and then, through the brutal method of trial and error and our devious little minds, we LEARN how to thrive in the house. And then, my friends and enemies, then we make WAR and kill eachother over the resources we've learned to access, and trade those resources, and some parts of our fractured population make peace, and there is prosperity - for some more than others - and in that prosperity we flourish, and in that flourishing we reach the carrying capacity of the house. And then, my friends and enemies, then
BREAKTHROUGH! Into the yard, across the countryside, throughout the continent, the planet, the solar system, the galaxy, and on and on.
My friends and enemies, I say to you we WILL break through Earth's limitations. Not because we have a right to, not because we should, not because it is ordained, but because we CAN and we are CRAZY ENOUGH TO!!
