How long does civilisation on planet earth have left

loveissucide · 03-09-2009 03:56PM

I'd see how we're fixed by Christmas before jumping to conclusion.I'd say 20-50 years.

biko · 03-09-2009 03:57PM

Five Hundred Years

I just hope it happens on a day when I'm hung over and miserable anyway.

Pygmalion · 03-09-2009 03:58PM

Infinity and Beyond

Hugo Drax wrote: »

Actually it's quite likely that humanity will continue for millions of years.

But the point is that the humans of say, 1 million years time will bear as much resemblence to us as we do to prehistoric apemen, they will be physically unrecognisable to us as humans after another few hundred thousand years of evolution.

I've always wondered whether they'll look back and see the computer/aeroplanes/whatever as primitive technology the way we do with stuff from thousands of years ago, or will they look back and think we did quite well by mastering these concepts.

Of course people in Ancient Egypt and Greece probably discussed this exact thing on whatever their equivalent of Boards was (Usenet?)

Canis Lupus · 03-09-2009 03:59PM

Five Thousand Years

Hugo Drax wrote: »

Actually it's quite likely that humanity will continue for millions of years.

But the point is that the humans of say, 1 million years time will bear as much resemblence to us as we do to prehistoric apemen, they will be physically unrecognisable to us as humans after another few hundred thousand years of evolution.

Will we? What evolutionary path are we as a species going to take when you take into account that women don't find guys with 10 eyes etc sexy? In what way do humans need to evolve to succeed when we're pretty much the dominant species already and our success at living is based on being good at office jobs primarily.

I suppose we could get smarter but I don't see us physically changing much.

Pygmalion · 03-09-2009 04:03PM

Infinity and Beyond

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Will we? What evolutionary path are we as a species going to take when you take into account that women don't find guys with 10 eyes etc sexy? In what way do humans need to evolve to succeed when we're pretty much the dominant species already and our success at living is based on being good at office jobs primarily.

I suppose we could get smarter but I don't see us physically changing much.

Prehistoric Apemen has the same number of eyes as us adn yet are very different in many ways, you realise that right?

And you could consider that we didn't change that much from them, same shape, same number of everything, generally same proportions and not too different in size.

Also the whole "natural selection" thing doesn't work when there are no predators to take out weak people, one of the premises of evolution is that random mutations occur, those with beneficial mutations live, those with bad ones don't... Nowadays with safety, social welfare, decent healthcare there's nothing to kill off anyone so all mutations, good and bad, will spread.

ScumLord · 03-09-2009 04:06PM

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I ponder sometimes what happens when an ice age kicks off again? Sure humans might survive but what kind of civilisation?

It'll be nothing more than an opportunity. If an ice age did kick in it would open up new land for agriculture and recreation, imagine if the centre of Africa where the sahara desert is became fertile land. As long as it takes longer than a generation or two humans will have no problem adapting and migrating to the most productive areas.

That's what we do, adapt and migrate, adapt. There's literally no environment that we can't take advantage of given time.

cathysworld · 03-09-2009 04:08PM

A Thousand Years

Canis Lupus · 03-09-2009 04:09PM

Five Thousand Years

Pygmalion wrote: »

Prehistoric Apemen has the same number of eyes as us adn yet are very different in many ways, you realise that right?

And you could consider that we didn't change that much from them, same shape, same number of everything, generally same proportions and not too different in size.

Also the whole "natural selection" thing doesn't work when there are no predators to take out weak people, one of the premises of evolution is that random mutations occur, those with beneficial mutations live, those with bad ones don't... Nowadays with safety, social welfare, decent healthcare there's nothing to kill off anyone so all mutations, good and bad, will spread.

I'd argue that early man was more of an animal which is why you see such changes to how we are today, they wouldn't have been concerned about what people think when they got with each other.

I reckon physical mutations good or bad won't happen from here on in. It's just not cricket to have babies with a freak nowadays regardless of how well he can keep a sabertoothed tiger from the door.

If technology advances and morals/ethics change as they do, I suppose you could see genetic screening and manipulation along with technological intergration. BORG FTW!

EDIT: Human evolution will be directed by our own doing rather than natural selection/process. Least that's my poorly educated guess.

Tea_Bag · 03-09-2009 04:13PM

Five Hundred Years

chin_grin wrote: »

Three boobied mutants FTW!

only if we can add another hand to our body.

i reckon we got 200-300 years. we are just so overpopulated at the moment i doubt the planet will sustain more than 10 or 12 billion people, which we will reach very quickly if we keep curing diseases.

rossie1977 · 03-09-2009 04:46PM

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I ponder sometimes what happens when an ice age kicks off again? Sure humans might survive but what kind of civilisation?

the last ice age only affected canada, northern usa and northern europe, places like spain, france, italy, africa, mexico, south america were ice-free

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/physical-landscape/ice-age-europe.jpg

dimejinky99 · 03-09-2009 04:54PM

Five Thousand Years

Stephen Hawking actually estimated in our current way of doing things, failing a major meteor strike or other catastrophe that we'd survive as a species for another 900 to 1000 years, but he also suggested we would have at least one worldwide major nuclear event(meaning war I assume) in this time but that it wouldn't put an end to us as a species but would change how we all live. Obviously.

pikachucheeks · 03-09-2009 04:54PM

cathysworld wrote: »

Two words-Chuck Norris!

Kradock wrote: »

I have spoken to him , he says we have 666 years left.

Really? Because when I spoke to him he said "I'm an over-rated tosser!"

:P

Turtwig · 03-09-2009 04:57PM

99% of the know species to inhabit this earth are extinct, so it's just a matter of time for homo sapiens.
Wonder if there'll be another more advanced species though....

This world could end at any time.

ScumLord · 03-09-2009 04:59PM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

only if we can add another hand to our body.

i reckon we got 200-300 years. we are just so overpopulated at the moment i doubt the planet will sustain more than 10 or 12 billion people, which we will reach very quickly if we keep curing diseases.

Even if we did over populate you'd just see the same thing that happens to bacteria happen. Numbers would fall back to a more manageable number. That may mean war and a huge amount of deaths but that won't stop civialisation, if anything it will only make us better as we come up with ways of avoiding it in the future. We've learned allot from the two major wars of the last century though, they pretty much united Europe and the US.

Daroxtar · 03-09-2009 05:57PM

We'll evolve and the new species will use us as fuel untill they run out and then thats them fukked too.

JONJO THE MISER · 03-09-2009 06:05PM

You know if there was a nuclear war leading to a nuclear winter the only place to survive would be Far northern canada and greenland.
Anyway forget nuclear winters by 1st January 2013 we will all be gone.

Professey Chin · 03-09-2009 06:12PM

Until I decide otherwise

*prepares doomsday device*

thomond2006 · 03-09-2009 06:15PM

Infinity and Beyond

According to FF, the world will end when they lose power in government.

Must be why we continue to vote for the pr1cks. :mad:

My name is URL · 03-09-2009 06:29PM

Fifty Thousand Years

I went with 10,000 years.

There's a mass extinction event every 80,000,000 years or so.. and the Sun won't start to die for about 5,000,000,000 years so the chances of civilisation still been around by then are zero really.

We'll go the way of the Easter Islanders, exploting beyond repair our natural resources and turning to war to have whats left =D

Poor Uncle Tom · 03-09-2009 06:59PM

Between 500 and 1,000, I would say it will be man made this time, so it will be a shorter cycle. No one person, or group, should be capable of the destruction being carried out on this planet right now, imo.

tricky D · 03-09-2009 07:02PM

Until the Soylent runs out

Paddy Samurai · 03-09-2009 07:36PM

A Thousand Years

MementoMori wrote: »

So I was wondering what the general consensus is on how long civilisation has left on the planet before humanity goes extinct?

It depends,i reckon we have a set amount of resources for a certain period of time,within that time we have to get off the planet and colonise other habitable planets.If we achieve this goal before we run out of resources there is no reason that civilisation cannot exist on this planet for millennia.If not the lack of resources will eventually lead to the destruction of civilisation as we know it.

How long does civilisation on planet earth have left

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