You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Apocalypse. Conspiracy or not?

Vincent May 16, 2022 at 13:19 3875 views 21 comments
With the changes in the world in recent years, I have started to think about what if a real catastrophic crisis is heading our way. It has been prophesied by all religions. Climate scientists warn us about it. Mathematics has proof that it is inevitable. Are we really in a sixth mass extinction wave? Is it really going to happen or is it all scaremongering? I would like to get some opinion and discussion from others. Preferably no spam. This is a serious question

Comments (21)

Hillary May 16, 2022 at 13:52 #696058
Quoting Vincent
Is it really going to happen or is it all scaremongering?


Kn the basis of present observations, a reasonable extrapolation to the future shows a grim, dark future. I hesitate to call this Armageddon or the apocalypse, because of the biblical connotations of a god letting his wrath descend on a rotten non-believing humanity. There are non-western cultures, like the Hopi, who make similar predictions (call them a sjibollet). The reason is not disobeying gods but bringing chaos to nature. They object to technology (like Quakers?), which they consider a move away from humanity and an invitation to natural disaster. Of course, you could consider paradise the state of nature unchanged or redirected by human hands, which has a kind of religious load.

Anyhow, as long as technological progress and economical growth are considered measures of progress, it could very well be that the techno-economic TGV speeds up more and more, with an increasing load and that the drivers and maintenance personnel are blind to the abyss it's speeding to.
javi2541997 May 16, 2022 at 14:06 #696078
Quoting Vincent
Will there ever be an apocalypse?


To be honest, we are already in an apocalypse. Climate change is a big issue and it has changed how the earth works and so, our lives.
It is a silent apocalypse which will end up in lack of supplies as food and water.
It is not necessary to be in war to experience an apocalypse
Vincent May 16, 2022 at 14:28 #696100
Quoting javi2541997
It is a silent apocalypse


What if the heat waves that are now underway continue to increase and the ice sheets break off. Then the sea will rise quickly. If you know that about half of the people live by the sea. Then there will be an immense flow of refugees inland. And because it is so hot or because there are immense rains, the crops will fail. There will be no food and drinking water. Do you think there will be no war then? Then I think it's the law to kill or be killed.
I think that quiet apocalypse we're in right now could be accelerating quickly. It doesn't look like the climate will improve any time soon. Heat records are broken every year.
javi2541997 May 16, 2022 at 14:35 #696105
Quoting Vincent
Do you think there will be no war then? Then I think it's the law to kill or be killed.


Well, yes. But I guess this would happen in countries which are used to wars and violence.
For the rest of the world the gap between the rich and poor people will be bigger. But I do not see it as a war like Ukraine or Syria.
Vincent May 16, 2022 at 14:45 #696113
Quoting javi2541997
But I guess this would happen in countries which are used to wars and violence.

Indeed, Europe and America are doomed. But as you know they are bad losers and I fear they want to drag everyone into their conflict.




Ciceronianus May 16, 2022 at 15:14 #696125
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

Here's a handy list of the many times the apocalypse has been predicted. You may as well make your own prediction.
Vincent May 16, 2022 at 15:31 #696131
Reply to Ciceronianus
Wow, so many people guessed wrong. :chin: Not hard that no one believes me.
But I will make a prediction that will probably also be wrong. But if I'm right...... :starstruck:
2022 is the year, 100% sure
October is the month, not 100% sure.

Now you can of course laugh at me. We will see
Agent Smith May 16, 2022 at 16:40 #696160
Judgment Day: 2060, according to the greatest mind the earth has ever known, Isaac Newton. Even his mistakes were correct! :snicker:
Jack Cummins May 17, 2022 at 00:05 #696288
Reply to Vincent
I looked at your poll and began trying to vote, but didn't do so because the categories seemed too clear cut. In particular, I am not sure whether there will be an actual 'apocalypse or not, but wouldn't say that I have no answer because it is something which I wonder about so much. Originally, my thoughts on apocalypse were based on the Bible, with a bit of Nostradamus thrown in.

However, stepping outside of those perspectives the actual possibility of apocalypse still appears to be a possibility with the weapons of mass destruction and ecological issues. But, it is hard to know what will happen and it may be that there are some apocalyptic scenarios, but not ones which affect the entire world. Of course, there could be one ultimate one, such as if the most powerful atom bomb was dropped, destroying all human and other lifeforms, and, possibly the planet itself. Another scenario is the possibility of a meteorite crashing into the earth.
I like sushi May 17, 2022 at 00:35 #696293
Apocalypse means ‘to reveal’ btw. There have been numerous revelations in human history.
180 Proof May 17, 2022 at 01:39 #696309
[quote=thread poll]-yes, very sure
-climate catastrophe
-sometime in the coming decades
-other[/quote]
Ah yeah, the Late Great Anthropocene ...
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/582635

(Locally, I've been an entropologist (and, globally, a catastrophist) decades before the 2020 wake-up call.)

From an old thread on "overpopulation" ...
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/633815

:death: :flower:
Tom Storm May 17, 2022 at 02:02 #696319
If you are an Aboriginal person in Australia, the apocalypse began 200 years ago.
ASmallTalentForWar May 17, 2022 at 02:15 #696323
I don't think or hope to survive an apocalypse (well, maybe I'll hang on as long as possible just to see how bad it gets), but I do think that there are so many people and that human beings are able to survive so many terrible conditions that there will be pretty much no way to eradicate every one or prevent them from perpetuating the species.

We're like cosmic cockroaches.
180 Proof May 17, 2022 at 04:26 #696356
ASmallTalentForWar May 17, 2022 at 05:53 #696386
Quoting Tom Storm
If you are an Aboriginal person in Australia, the apocalypse began 200 years ago.


And, yet, there are still aborigines in Australia. And Sioux in America.

Somehow, people just persist against all odds or even reason.
Tom Storm May 17, 2022 at 07:19 #696402
Quoting ASmallTalentForWar
And, yet, there are still aborigines in Australia.


Indeed, and in my role I work with Aboriginal community members in my city of 5 million people. Many describe the arrival of the white man and the persistent impact of this trauma as like the end of times.
Hillary May 17, 2022 at 08:10 #696416
Quoting ASmallTalentForWar
And, yet, there are still aborigines in Australia. And Sioux in America.


Living in state controlled land, drinking booze, robbed from their culture and nature. All hail to the western way.
Ciceronianus May 17, 2022 at 14:58 #696501
Quoting Hillary
Living in state controlled land, drinking booze, robbed from their culture and nature. All hail to the western way.


All hail to the western way of thinking they're all drunks, you mean?
Hillary May 17, 2022 at 15:04 #696502
Reply to Ciceronianus

Excellent point! Yes, also. The western way has introduced excellent means to evade the pain and misery it introduced! Be it sister morphine or brother booze.
SpaceDweller May 17, 2022 at 20:15 #696602
Reply to Vincent
Our Sun (the star) will eventually die out, therefore we (planet Earth) is doomed for certain at some point if the far future.
Hillary May 17, 2022 at 21:55 #696641
Quoting SpaceDweller
Our Sun (the star) will eventually die out, therefore we (planet Earth) is doomed for certain at some point if the far future.


Good point. We will never be able to avoid the final apocalypse. One fine day it hits globally and universally. No worries. Behind us it starts all over again! No trip to heaven nor hell. Eternal recurrence is what its made for.