Humanity's worst mistake

[Nickolai77]

Well argued, but many of the technologies & techniques we use in the more economically developed parts of the world are considered unsustainable or even harmful to the environment in the long term, monoculture farming and constant intercontinental transportation of fruit & veg for eg.

Also for some reason the media went WILD telling people to be shit scared of everything GM, as though scientists were deliberately engineering tomato plants to uproot themselves "day of the triffids" style, eat your kids and take over your house, even though it could potentially solve critical food shortages everywhere including places with poor infrastructure and less fertile soil.

Unfortunately the same luddites propagating the anti-GM sentiments meet in a venn diagram with the rampant anti abortionists in their desire to deny scientific development to the whole world for the sake of unprovable space people only they care about, so we cant have mandatory birth control or improved means of food production yet.
I'd vote for one, while the other catches up, given the option.

I think eventually economic necessity would overcome people's opposition to GM crops and such. Really we do need to genetically engineer cereal grains to grow in areas of Africa prone to desertification and drought if we are to seriously tackle poverty and starvation in that part of the world.

I will also say that there could well be problems with, not food so much, but resource consumption as countries like China, India, Brazil etc become consuming more material than the West does. I imagine there will be problems ahead this century as the prices of rare earths necessary for computers and oil necessary for cars continues to rise. I don't think it will be the end of the world as some seem to think, but we need to become more resource efficient if the world is to successfully accommodate formerly un-developed countries becoming as developed as, say, Europe and America. Population isn't the problem here, it's the fact that soon Africans, like the Chinese today, will be wanting cars, laptops, proper houses etc, and this will cause an economic strain on the worlds resources. Which is why we need to become more resource-efficient to accommodate these changes. It's during these challenging times that people will learn to tolerate GM foods and such.

In the long run, and i'm talking in terms of centuries, asteroid mining and space colonisation is the key to man's long term survival. Once asteroid mining becomes feasible, i would predict that the prices of rare earths and raw materials will plummet and living standards across the world will rapidly increase.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Anonymity on the internet is pretty horrible. It would be a peaceful place if people were accountable for what they wrote.

 

[Russirishican]

Impregnating Mrs. Hitler.

 

[theheroofaction]

Religion.

Little known fact, WWII happened because some fucks decided suppressing religion was a great Idea.

quit flaming, kay'.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I would have to say wars over religion.

I'll agree with this over all the people just flat out saying 'Religion'. Religion on its own isn't a bad thing. Treat others how you want to be treated, don't steal - the basics of religion if followed in a sensible manner can make for quite a happy society.

It's when the nutters and people in power get hold of it that to falls to pieces and war start.

You can't say all religions have had holy wars though. The Buddhists are rather partial to peace.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

we're running out of room and food and resources. Unless we want WW3, over natural resources, within the next century, we need to do something now.

Natural resources, yes. Artificial resources are still very plausible. We still have plenty of room too, it's just a matter of building higher and lower. I stick by what I say, technological and scientific developments will always mean humanity can prevail. I do agree that population needs to be controlled - partially through the development of the third world, partially through global awareness of the issue, however in no way through legislature.

OT: Allowing people to have a national identity and separating the world into countries. National identity has been the cause for so much discrimination and prejudice based on country of origin.

Dividing the world up into countries has given people some naive sense of entitlement. Throughout history we've seen billions of people killed because some asshole thought some piece of land was rightfully theirs. Then you have countries go to war over resources because their country needs them, rather than coming to reasonable concessions they decide to try and decimate each other in a futile effort for crap.

The economy is also a **** like these, too much bloodshed for monetary gains. The world needs more idealists running it and we certainly need to do away with current democracy - it needs revised.

 

[Super Six One]

Killing off the dinosaurs, those things were cool and we ruined it.

 

[Shycte]

And of course people answer religion, what else? Always as sad...

Well the truth can be quite sad sometimes...

Indeed, but the issue at hand here is that religion is a way to broad answer. Seriously, religion has always been a part of mankind, in one way or another. Now, if you were to say something along the lines with "religious conflict" or "religios oppression" that'd be another thing, that be something that you could discuss. Just saying religion doesn't really work because it is such a fundamental part of our history and our civilization.

I am of the very cynical view that people use religion as an excuse to hate and kill those they would anyway, not the other way around.

If it was not religion, it would be something else.

We are a particularly hateful species really...

Well, I'm too, especially since we can find horrible deeds done without any religion in said society. Soviet and China, for example.

 

[illmuri]

It is interesting than an anthropologist would suggest that our largest mistake was a series of events that lead to the creation of a society that can support anthropologists.

I suppose his idea is that those two inventions lead to mass growth of population, which has then since been highly unstable. The problem with that is the simple hunter gatherers were much more exposed to extinction.

Without being specific, I would say any mistake would be having anything that can lead to the end of the human species.

 

[CptCamoPants]

I'm going to be controversial here, but I think one of (not the worst, but in the top ten) the worst things humanity has done, or rather failed to do, is the failure to institute population caps in the last century, with strict regulations and harsh punishments for breaking those rules. I even wouldn't be averse to (as a last resort) adding birth control to the water supply in countries with greater than 3% growth per year. The population is increasing out of control, and we're running out of room and food and resources. Unless we want WW3, over natural resources, within the next century, we need to do something now.

Yea. Population controls have worked REALLY well in the past. Just take a look at China.

 

[xXGeckoXx]

Going with capitalism. Sure it worked well for a while but right now we need to unify. give solar and fusion huge budgets. And woopee world saved. This just does not happen in capitalist systems.

 

[Robert Ewing]

I'm tempted to say religion. But it's done a considerable amount of good. Especially Islam, it's done some amazing things. I dunno. I guess humanities worst mistake must of been made about a million years ago, when we killed off other branches of humanity such as Neanderthal, homo erectus etc. I know some of the 13 original human species died out naturally, but it would be freaking awesome to have entirely different sentient species living here on Earth, other than just us boring Homo sapiens.

 

[Biodeamon]

So in my anthropology class today, we discussed how this one anthropologist arguest that crop and animal domestication was humanity's worst mistake and we got into a discussion over what we thought was the worst mistake, so I ask you the same question:

What do you think is humanity's worst mistake?

I think it's somewhere between music elitists, british comedy and Japanese hentai.

what? you're mad i tell you maaaad!

hentai and british comedy are the best things ever! Monty Python for instance.

If you ask me monotheistic religion was a terrible idea that sparked thousands of years of conflict.

and also i don't see why the neolithic agricultural revolution was a bad thing. without we'd still be roving savages

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Unfettered corporations, culminating in corporate personhood. Corporations used to exist only as long as their charter existed. Now they stick around for decades and gain more and more influence, first over their market but eventually over the government. I'd settle for the revocation of corporate personhood and a barrier built between corporate money and out politics.

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

The fact men like women is the worst thing to ever come from humanity.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Crocs, yeah, I'm saying it's crocs...

 

[TriggerUnhappy]

There's quite a few, though I suppose one of the most prevalent would be the objectification of not only humanity, but life in general. The obvious effects of this are the demonization of anything different or out of the norm, which has led to countless conflicts and idiotic arguments, but the effects run much deeper. There is a cultural black hole, helpful in its ability to remove the blind naivete of past generations, but damning in that it has left us cynical, analyzing and breaking down any bit of optimism or hope that emerges, leaving no clear hopes or goals for society in sight. No longer is the world a mysterious and adventurous place, with unknown possibilities around the corner; every nook and cranny of this Earth has been explored and marked down long ago. There is no such thing as romance, no person whose heart you were destined to hold dear through the ages; they are just one of many fish in the sea, with countless others just like them. Heroic ideals of the past have been washed away, leaving in their place celebrity worship, a stalker-ish phenomena where people are chosen as the "perfect" ideal of the week, and rather than encourage those that pursue their own ideals, we simply ostracize those that don't already fit.

Now obviously what I've described doesn't apply to every person, <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD8uQzu0IL0>there are still those who view the world in an imaginative way, but culturally there seems to be little but the material and obvious left. Not to say our society's cynicism doesn't have its positive effects, such as stirring the questioning of the people against corporations and governments that seek to control us, but it does seem to have left the world a very dreary and materialistic place. I can't even question when these sort of beliefs began to exist, they could have always been present for all I know, but looking back at the mythology and heroes of old, it does seem our society is deeply in need of some hope and imagination. Or at the very least, a good tall tale or two.

In the past few minutes I pretty much just hurriedly typed and rambled out these two paragraphs, so if there's anyone who'd like to elaborate or argue against what I just babbled about, feel free.

 

[Dr Ampersand]

Impregnating Mrs. Hitler.

I think you mean Schclgruber (sic).

 

[CptCamoPants]

Personally, I feel that religion is our biggest mistake. Yes, religion has done a LOT of good in the world, but I feel that it has caused much more harm. I also feel, though, that religion's exhausted its ability to do good in this world and now simply divides people and causes suffering. The good that I feel religion has done is mostly in culture and art, but you cannot deny that the vast majority of killings throughout history (including war, individuals, and ethnic cleansing) were committed because of their beliefs. Either through differences in beliefs between two nations or simply that one belief dictated killing (for example, Norse paganism).

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Little known fact, WWII happened because some fucks decided suppressing religion was a great Idea.

quit flaming, kay'.

Quit flaming yourself!

Saying that "WWII" happened just because "some fucks decided suppressing religions" is a gross historical inaccuracy and over-simplification.

Besides, considering the human deaths in comparison to current global population ratio, Religion has any kind of organized movement beat in causing most deaths.