Muslim world?

[BigRob]

Changes in technology how? What more can technology do to solve the problem of world food and commodity shortages in the next 40 years? I have been an Environmental Engineer for the past 35 years, and we still haven't figured out how to easily and inexpensively solve our pollution problems. It still requires structural solutions to clean up the air and water. Water treatment plants, are still a mass of concrete and steel - even if they are run more efficiently using computers. Air pollution equipment are in the same category.

And do you seriously expect technology to figure out a way to grow twice as much food per acre of land? Technology is good for solving technical problems, but growing more wheat, rice, and all the other staples that the world needs for nutrition is simply not going to be solve with technology. There is not even a glimmer of hope on the horizon that such technology will someday exist.

Sure, we have in the past made each acre more productive, it is not outrageous to assume it could be advanced again. There have been theories in the past that the Earth could not produce enough food to maintain its population and yet here we all are.

Furthermore, out of all the global problems, how many has the global community solved? Exactly NONE. Be it AIDS, global warming, food shortages, petroleum shortages, controlling nuclear proliferation, etc. The world community can't cooperate to do anything except how to put on an Olympic games.

There are multiple diseases that the world community has come together to eradicate. You name a few major problems, but leave out some of the successes.

We need solutions like mandatory sterilization after 2 babies.

This is just ridiculous.

 

[dahermit]

No, we'll just terraform Mars and Venus. After that, the human race can populate the cosmos.

The surface of Venus is nearly hot enough to melt lead. The amount of sunlight reaching Mars is one-fourth of that reaching Earth. Terra-forming is only theoretically possible, but would have to overcome tremendous scientific obstacles. It would take more resources than fixing the problems here on Earth.
You should have studied more science in High School and watched fewer sci-fi movies.

 

[samsara15]

The human race does not have the energy resources to get very far. It will be a wonder if we ever colonize Mars, let alone Venus or the Moon. The resources of energy are not there to be harvested. Humanity has never yet created a single source of energy that did not lose more enrgy than it produced. The laws of thermodymanics tell us that we cannot do so. The only source of energy that leaves it practical for us to harvest is therefore the Sun.

Two babies per family will be the norm in a few generations, and enforced rigorously by every government in the world, with almost unaminimous public approval, lest we starve.

 

[BigRob]

The human race does not have the energy resources to get very far. It will be a wonder if we ever colonize Mars, let alone Venus or the Moon. The resources of energy are not there to be harvested. Humanity has never yet created a single source of energy that did not lose more enrgy than it produced. The laws of thermodymanics tell us that we cannot do so. The only source of energy that leaves it practical for us to harvest is therefore the Sun.

Humanity can develop new and more efficient energy sources. Certainly at present we have no energy source really that can get us very far in space, but eventually it seems logical that we would be able to come up with something, be it the sun (as you state) or something else.

Two babies per family will be the norm in a few generations, and enforced rigorously by every government in the world, with almost unaminimous public approval, lest we starve.

This is quite a blanket statement, however there is no reason to believe this will be the case. For example, many areas that are experiencing rapid growth (Arab world, Africa etc) cannot feed their populations already in some instances. However the problem is not going anywhere, and it is debatable if many of these government could even actually enforce such a thing, and not to mention the religious aspect of such a policy, which would come into play especially in the Arab world.

 

[samsara15]

Humanity can develop new and more efficient energy sources. Certainly at present we have no energy source really that can get us very far in space, but eventually it seems logical that we would be able to come up with something, be it the sun (as you state) or something else.



This is quite a blanket statement, however there is no reason to believe this will be the case. For example, many areas that are experiencing rapid growth (Arab world, Africa etc) cannot feed their populations already in some instances. However the problem is not going anywhere, and it is debatable if many of these government could even actually enforce such a thing, and not to mention the religious aspect of such a policy, which would come into play especially in the Arab world.

You live in an optimistic dream land, where unsolved problems will have miraculous solutions, even though no one has any idea how to solve those energy problems. Until you have a real solution to the energy problem, a bird in hand, it is not prudent to speculate that some miraculous solution to it will ever be found. It would be wise to curb that optimism until you have a valid reason to feel it might be justifable.

Yet, Conservatives doubt the validity of science when it comes to such ideas as Global Warming. That shows you are at least somewhat aware of the limitations of human knowledge and science. You should extend that skepticism further.

Starvation will eventually limit the Muslim population (and ours as well), if nothing else does. It would be nice if we could avoid such a grim future.

 

[PLC1]

The surface of Venus is nearly hot enough to melt lead. The amount of sunlight reaching Mars is one-fourth of that reaching Earth. Terra-forming is only theoretically possible, but would have to overcome tremendous scientific obstacles. It would take more resources than fixing the problems here on Earth.
You should have studied more science in High School and watched fewer sci-fi movies.

Sci fi has a way of becoming sci fact. Do you remember the Nautilus? Preposterous, a nuclear powered submarine. That will never happen.

And, imagine the scientific advances that would come from solving the problems you describe? It would be a human advancement similar to the development of agriculture, or the invention of written language.

 

[dahermit]

Sci fi has a way of becoming sci fact. Do you remember the Nautilus? Preposterous, a nuclear powered submarine. That will never happen.

And, imagine the scientific advances that would come from solving the problems you describe? It would be a human advancement similar to the development of agriculture, or the invention of written language.

Merely getting to Mars with a maned mission is now considered too expensive for a single nation. Which means the resources it would take to actually create an atmosphere, increase the sunlight to the point where plants could live is likely to consume more resources than could be provided by all the nations of the Earth. Furthermore, the proposals to increase the sunlight on Mars(a orbiting aluminum collar completely around Mars, reflecting light downward), work in theory, may not work in actual practice, therefore, a gamble. Nations of the world are not likely to invest in such gambles.

Not all Sci-fi becomes a reality...where are the working rocket back packs, ray guns, cities underwater, etc.? Terra forming another planet is very unlikely.

 

[PLC1]

Merely getting to Mars with a maned mission is now considered too expensive for a single nation. Which means the resources it would take to actually create an atmosphere, increase the sunlight to the point where plants could live is likely to consume more resources than could be provided by all the nations of the Earth. Furthermore, the proposals to increase the sunlight on Mars(a orbiting aluminum collar completely around Mars, reflecting light downward), work in theory, may not work in actual practice, therefore, a gamble. Nations of the world are not likely to invest in such gambles.

Not all Sci-fi becomes a reality...where are the working rocket back packs, ray guns, cities underwater, etc.? Terra forming another planet is very unlikely.

Rocket backpacks? I remember seeing those demonstrated. Here's one:

Terra forming another planet may never happen, who knows?

Why place limits on what the human race is capable of? If such an endeavor is more than any one nation could undertake, then the world working together would still be a huge step forward, even if the project never comes to fruition.

 

[dahermit]

Rocket backpacks? I remember seeing those demonstrated. Here's one:

Terra forming another planet may never happen, who knows?

Why place limits on what the human race is capable of? If such an endeavor is more than any one nation could undertake, then the world working together would still be a huge step forward, even if the project never comes to fruition.

Re: Rocket backpacks. FYI, do a little research and you will find that they can only stay airborne for less than a minute. Films of "flights" are edited from several/many "flights". They are, for all purposes, still a flight of fancy.

As to the countries of the world working together to terraform a planet...right after they eliminate hunger and cancer. Dream on, but know what is a dream and what is likely to be a reality.

 

[PLC1]

Re: Rocket backpacks. FYI, do a little research and you will find that they can only stay airborne for less than a minute. Films of "flights" are edited from several/many "flights". They are, for all purposes, still a flight of fancy.

As to the countries of the world working together to terraform a planet...right after they eliminate hunger and cancer. Dream on, but know what is a dream and what is likely to be a reality.

Dreams can become reality. Would a united Europe have been a dream during the 16th. century, when they had been at war pretty much nonstop for hundreds of years? England and France finally living in peace was once a dream, now they've built a tunnel between the two nations. Such a project would have seemed to be a pretty wild dream a couple of hundred years ago.

If you think in the long term, then remember that human progress is happening on a geometric progression, then a lot of things are possible that seem to be wild dreams now. Probably many things will happen in the next hundred years that we can't even dream about now.

How many people foresaw the internet even half a century ago?

Of course, I don't know that teraforming other planets will ever happen, that it is even possible. That was just an off hand comment, after all.

But, you can't sit here in your primitive 21st. century world and say it will never happen, either.

 

[dahermit]

Dreams can become reality. Would a united Europe have been a dream during the 16th. century, when they had been at war pretty much nonstop for hundreds of years? England and France finally living in peace was once a dream, now they've built a tunnel between the two nations. Such a project would have seemed to be a pretty wild dream a couple of hundred years ago.

If you think in the long term, then remember that human progress is happening on a geometric progression, then a lot of things are possible that seem to be wild dreams now. Probably many things will happen in the next hundred years that we can't even dream about now.

How many people foresaw the internet even half a century ago?

Of course, I don't know that teraforming other planets will ever happen, that it is even possible. That was just an off hand comment, after all.

But, you can't sit here in your primitive 21st. century world and say it will never happen, either.

At 2/3 of the world's people go to bed hungry each night. For that 2/3 your modern world does not exist. That is the real problem to solve on this planet and there seems to be little progress despite the great advances you site.

 

[MichaelB]

And in an ideal world there should be enough room for all peoples of the world since diversity is what makes the world ... not a world that wants to wipe out any race or religion (unless your ideals fall into Hitler's view of the world) .... no one group of peoples are right or perfect and we need to have diversity otherwise you have? .... come on ... you know the answer ...

 

[BigRob]

At 2/3 of the world's people go to bed hungry each night. For that 2/3 your modern world does not exist. That is the real problem to solve on this planet and there seems to be little progress despite the great advances you site.

Where does this stat come from? And how is "hunger" defined?

 

[dahermit]

Where does this stat come from? And how is "hunger" defined?

World Health Organization. It is defined as: Take a trip to Africa and see the bloated bellies, the sunken eyes, the vitamin deficiency diseases (rickets, et. al.). But then, conservatives describe water boarding as fore play.

 

[PLC1]

World Health Organization. It is defined as: Take a trip to Africa and see the bloated bellies, the sunken eyes, the vitamin deficiency diseases (rickets, et. al.). But then, conservatives describe water boarding as fore play.

According to WHO, world hunger is a big problem:

* 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
* 800 million people go to bed hungry every day.
* More than 6 million children under five die each year from malnutrition.

But 800 million people is not 2/3, not even 1/3, more like 1/7 of the human race.

Not that it should be ignored, of course, but exaggerating the scope of it isn't going to help.

And, I'd be willing to bet that a smaller proportion of the world's population goes hungry now than was the case a couple of hundred years ago.