Is Stephen Hawking correct?

[Gracie]

Stephen Hawking Human aggression will destroy civilization AOL Features

 

[S.J.]

Political ambition.

 

[Mad_Cabbie]

Grace, a link does not equal a thread.

... And I respectfully disagree with Hawking with regards to some of his latest theories; he seems to be reaching a lot more than in his younger years.

I get that he's relegated to a Hoveround® and it makes a great movie. I get that he is well renowned as a physicist and has a cool sounding voice modulator, but in the end, he's just a man.

A kind of long-winded and cranky one at that.

 

[Grandma]

Political ambition.

Are you aware that Dr. Hawking's condition prevents him from holding public office? He retired some months ago.

 

[Two Thumbs]

He's a bitter man, very bitter.

It's nearly impossible for us to wipe ourselves out. We would have to drop nuclear weapons all over the planet, including the oceans

 

[Two Thumbs]

He's a bitter man, very bitter.

It's nearly impossible for us to wipe ourselves out. We would have to drop nuclear weapons all over the planet, including the oceans

 

[gtopa1]

In a Physics discussion I would indeed listen to Hawking. His philosophizing is just rubbish.

Greg

 

[Mad_Cabbie]

In a Physics discussion I would indeed listen to Hawking. His philosophizing is just rubbish.

Greg

Even some of his latest work seems amateurish by his earlier standards.

 

[HUGGY]

I would say aggression pared with stupidity. AKA religious fundamentalists that are willing to die and take everyone with them certain that their god will sort everyone out after they are all dead.

NOW that pared with nukes is the formula for a certain end to humanity..or at the least a handful of survivors bombed back into the stone age.

 

[UllysesS.Archer]

I theorize that a nuclear device is not necessary to undo this country. And that much of the uncivilized world is much better prepared to survive a nuclear holocaust than America is.

How many people do you know that could survive without going to the store to buy food, and not having clean water to drink?

If people had to use their wits to find food and water, just to survive, most here would die, a great number of them murdered by other people looking to survive.

Most people in this country have never taken a crap outside of a bathroom, much less outside in the cold on the ground, and though they should be able to learn to do that, that is the least of the problems that they are not prepared for.

How will people eat and drink without electricity and running water? I am a hunter, and I know how to catch and clean fish, yet, if everyone had to survive off the land, the deer, turkeys, and other edible animals we know now, would be gone very quickly. How many cattle would be killed and not properly cleaned and end up going to waste?

And it might take years to go through all the meat available in an area, and perhaps that would give us time to recover, but it is a situation I never want to see.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Stephen Hawking Human aggression will destroy civilization AOL Features

Hope not. Looking at history though, there's been much more violent societies than anything extant today that didn't destroy themselves.

Humans are a predtatory primate animal species. There's no denying that. But at the same time it's why we've evolved as far as we have. By all rights, the human animal should have gone extinct long ago. But our ingenuity saved us where ancestral primates which existed earlier along side our forebearers didn't survive. I think then that same ingenuity which has saved us from natural selection and going the way of Neanderthals will save us from any self-destruction.

My biggest concern is genetic research. Start fiddlign with genes and all bets are off. Bad as a nuclear explosion is, it's not anything that could end the human race. Always gonna be areas unaffected and people who went underground who'd survive. But if you create something geneticly hostile to humanity who knows. Genetic plague could well wipe us out to a man.

 

[S.J.]

Political ambition.

Are you aware that Dr. Hawking's condition prevents him from holding public office? He retired some months ago.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I was saying that political ambition is the real threat to civilization. Aggression is only a method for tyrants to realize their ambitions.

 

[Two Thumbs]

I would say aggression pared with stupidity. AKA religious fundamentalists that are willing to die and take everyone with them certain that their god will sort everyone out after they are all dead.

NOW that pared with nukes is the formula for a certain end to humanity..or at the least a handful of survivors bombed back into the stone age.

Your ignorance is vast and your bigotry deep

 

[HUGGY]

I would say aggression pared with stupidity. AKA religious fundamentalists that are willing to die and take everyone with them certain that their god will sort everyone out after they are all dead.

NOW that pared with nukes is the formula for a certain end to humanity..or at the least a handful of survivors bombed back into the stone age.

Your ignorance is vast and your bigotry deep

Thank you for your obviously well thought out response.

 

[TheOldSchool]

This video has a cool take on civilization. There are 4 stages of a civilizations evolution from being barely able to survive, to eventually being practically impossible to collapse. We are a Type 0 civilization according to this scale because we rely on energy that comes from dead biological material. And we cannot currently outlast this material. Type 1 civilizations achieve energy use that cannot run out on a scale of millions or billions of years. And so on. The scientist in this video claims that we are about 100 years away from Type 1 status. And that a civilization is only at risk of destroying itself until it reaches Type 2. Which means we can survive absolute catastrophes by having spread to multiple planets.


Type I civilization

• Large-scale application of fusion power. According to mass-energy equivalence, Type I implies the conversion of about 2 kg of matter to energy per second. An equivalent energy release could theoretically be achieved by fusing approximately 280 kg of hydrogen intohelium per second,[6] a rate roughly equivalent to 8.9×109 kg/year. A cubic km of water contains about 1011 kg of hydrogen, and the Earth's oceans contain about 1.3×109cubic km of water, meaning that humans on Earth could sustain this rate of consumption over geological time-scales.
• Antimatter in large quantities would have a mechanism to produce power on a scale several magnitudes above our current level of technology. In antimatter-matter collisions, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to radiant energy. Their energy density(energy released per mass) is about four orders of magnitude greater than that from usingnuclear fission, and about two orders of magnitude greater than the best possible yield from fusion.[7] The reaction of 1 kg of anti-matter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1.8×1017 J (180 petajoules) of energy. Although antimatter is sometimes proposed as a source of energy, this is not feasible. Artificially producing antimatter – according to current understanding of the laws of physics – involves first converting energy into mass, so no net gain results. Artificially created antimatter is only usable as a medium of energy storage, not as an energy source, unless future technological developments (contrary to the conservation of the baryon number, such as a CP Violation in favour of antimatter) allow the conversion of ordinary matter into anti-matter. Theoretically, humans may in the future have the capability to cultivate and harvest a number of naturally occurring sources of antimatter.
• Renewable energy through converting sunlight into electricity - either by using solar cellsand concentrating solar power or indirectly through wind and hydroelectric power. There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with man-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very largespace-based solar power satellites, Type I power levels might become achievable.

Type II civilization methods

• Type II civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type I civilization, but applied to a large number of planets in a large number of solar systems.
• A Dyson sphere or Dyson swarm and similar constructs are hypothetical megastructuresoriginally described by Freeman Dyson as a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to enclose a star completely and capture most or all of its energy output.
• Perhaps a more exotic means to generate usable energy would be to feed a stellar mass into a black hole, and collect photons emitted by the accretion disc. Less exotic would be simply to capture photons already escaping from the accretion disc, reducing a black hole's angular momentum; known as the Penrose process.
• Star lifting is a process where an advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses.
• Antimatter is likely to be produced as an industrial byproduct of a number of megascale engineering processes (such as the aforementioned star lifting) and therefore could be recycled.
• In multiple-star systems of a sufficiently large number of stars, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each individual star.

Type III civilization methods

• Type III civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type II civilization, but applied to all possible stars of one or more galaxies individually.
• They may also be able to tap into the energy released from the supermassive black holeswhich are believed to exist at the center of most galaxies.
• White holes, if they exist, theoretically could provide large amounts of energy from collecting the matter propelling outwards.
• Capturing the energy of gamma-ray bursts is another theoretically possible power source for a highly advanced civilization.
• The emissions from quasars can be readily compared to those of small active galaxies and could provide a massive power source if collectable.

 

[HUGGY]

This video has a cool take on civilization. There are 4 stages of a civilizations evolution from being barely able to survive, to eventually being practically impossible to collapse. We are a Type 0 civilization according to this scale because we rely on energy that comes from dead biological material. And we cannot currently outlast this material. Type 1 civilizations achieve energy use that cannot run out on a scale of millions or billions of years. And so on. The scientist in this video claims that we are about 100 years away from Type 1 status. And that a civilization is only at risk of destroying itself until it reaches Type 2. Which means we can survive absolute catastrophes by having spread to multiple planets.


Type I civilization

• Large-scale application of fusion power. According to mass-energy equivalence, Type I implies the conversion of about 2 kg of matter to energy per second. An equivalent energy release could theoretically be achieved by fusing approximately 280 kg of hydrogen intohelium per second,[6] a rate roughly equivalent to 8.9×109 kg/year. A cubic km of water contains about 1011 kg of hydrogen, and the Earth's oceans contain about 1.3×109cubic km of water, meaning that humans on Earth could sustain this rate of consumption over geological time-scales.
• Antimatter in large quantities would have a mechanism to produce power on a scale several magnitudes above our current level of technology. In antimatter-matter collisions, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to radiant energy. Their energy density(energy released per mass) is about four orders of magnitude greater than that from usingnuclear fission, and about two orders of magnitude greater than the best possible yield from fusion.[7] The reaction of 1 kg of anti-matter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1.8×1017 J (180 petajoules) of energy. Although antimatter is sometimes proposed as a source of energy, this is not feasible. Artificially producing antimatter – according to current understanding of the laws of physics – involves first converting energy into mass, so no net gain results. Artificially created antimatter is only usable as a medium of energy storage, not as an energy source, unless future technological developments (contrary to the conservation of the baryon number, such as a CP Violation in favour of antimatter) allow the conversion of ordinary matter into anti-matter. Theoretically, humans may in the future have the capability to cultivate and harvest a number of naturally occurring sources of antimatter.
• Renewable energy through converting sunlight into electricity - either by using solar cellsand concentrating solar power or indirectly through wind and hydroelectric power. There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with man-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very largespace-based solar power satellites, Type I power levels might become achievable.

Type II civilization methods

• Type II civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type I civilization, but applied to a large number of planets in a large number of solar systems.
• A Dyson sphere or Dyson swarm and similar constructs are hypothetical megastructuresoriginally described by Freeman Dyson as a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to enclose a star completely and capture most or all of its energy output.
• Perhaps a more exotic means to generate usable energy would be to feed a stellar mass into a black hole, and collect photons emitted by the accretion disc. Less exotic would be simply to capture photons already escaping from the accretion disc, reducing a black hole's angular momentum; known as the Penrose process.
• Star lifting is a process where an advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses.
• Antimatter is likely to be produced as an industrial byproduct of a number of megascale engineering processes (such as the aforementioned star lifting) and therefore could be recycled.
• In multiple-star systems of a sufficiently large number of stars, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each individual star.

Type III civilization methods

• Type III civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type II civilization, but applied to all possible stars of one or more galaxies individually.
• They may also be able to tap into the energy released from the supermassive black holeswhich are believed to exist at the center of most galaxies.
• White holes, if they exist, theoretically could provide large amounts of energy from collecting the matter propelling outwards.
• Capturing the energy of gamma-ray bursts is another theoretically possible power source for a highly advanced civilization.
• The emissions from quasars can be readily compared to those of small active galaxies and could provide a massive power source if collectable.

Fascinating video. Unfortunately it is still a toss up if we as a civilization mature enough in time enough to make the leap to immortality.

 

[TheOldSchool]

This video has a cool take on civilization. There are 4 stages of a civilizations evolution from being barely able to survive, to eventually being practically impossible to collapse. We are a Type 0 civilization according to this scale because we rely on energy that comes from dead biological material. And we cannot currently outlast this material. Type 1 civilizations achieve energy use that cannot run out on a scale of millions or billions of years. And so on. The scientist in this video claims that we are about 100 years away from Type 1 status. And that a civilization is only at risk of destroying itself until it reaches Type 2. Which means we can survive absolute catastrophes by having spread to multiple planets.


Type I civilization

• Large-scale application of fusion power. According to mass-energy equivalence, Type I implies the conversion of about 2 kg of matter to energy per second. An equivalent energy release could theoretically be achieved by fusing approximately 280 kg of hydrogen intohelium per second,[6] a rate roughly equivalent to 8.9×109 kg/year. A cubic km of water contains about 1011 kg of hydrogen, and the Earth's oceans contain about 1.3×109cubic km of water, meaning that humans on Earth could sustain this rate of consumption over geological time-scales.
• Antimatter in large quantities would have a mechanism to produce power on a scale several magnitudes above our current level of technology. In antimatter-matter collisions, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to radiant energy. Their energy density(energy released per mass) is about four orders of magnitude greater than that from usingnuclear fission, and about two orders of magnitude greater than the best possible yield from fusion.[7] The reaction of 1 kg of anti-matter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1.8×1017 J (180 petajoules) of energy. Although antimatter is sometimes proposed as a source of energy, this is not feasible. Artificially producing antimatter – according to current understanding of the laws of physics – involves first converting energy into mass, so no net gain results. Artificially created antimatter is only usable as a medium of energy storage, not as an energy source, unless future technological developments (contrary to the conservation of the baryon number, such as a CP Violation in favour of antimatter) allow the conversion of ordinary matter into anti-matter. Theoretically, humans may in the future have the capability to cultivate and harvest a number of naturally occurring sources of antimatter.
• Renewable energy through converting sunlight into electricity - either by using solar cellsand concentrating solar power or indirectly through wind and hydroelectric power. There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with man-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very largespace-based solar power satellites, Type I power levels might become achievable.

Type II civilization methods

• Type II civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type I civilization, but applied to a large number of planets in a large number of solar systems.
• A Dyson sphere or Dyson swarm and similar constructs are hypothetical megastructuresoriginally described by Freeman Dyson as a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to enclose a star completely and capture most or all of its energy output.
• Perhaps a more exotic means to generate usable energy would be to feed a stellar mass into a black hole, and collect photons emitted by the accretion disc. Less exotic would be simply to capture photons already escaping from the accretion disc, reducing a black hole's angular momentum; known as the Penrose process.
• Star lifting is a process where an advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses.
• Antimatter is likely to be produced as an industrial byproduct of a number of megascale engineering processes (such as the aforementioned star lifting) and therefore could be recycled.
• In multiple-star systems of a sufficiently large number of stars, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each individual star.

Type III civilization methods

• Type III civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type II civilization, but applied to all possible stars of one or more galaxies individually.
• They may also be able to tap into the energy released from the supermassive black holeswhich are believed to exist at the center of most galaxies.
• White holes, if they exist, theoretically could provide large amounts of energy from collecting the matter propelling outwards.
• Capturing the energy of gamma-ray bursts is another theoretically possible power source for a highly advanced civilization.
• The emissions from quasars can be readily compared to those of small active galaxies and could provide a massive power source if collectable.

Fascinating video. Unfortunately it is still a toss up if we as a civilization mature enough in time enough to make the leap to immortality.

True. Unless the Hindus are right we'll never know.