Shorthand for a supervirus. Its from The Stand by Stephen King.
There are dormant diseases we know are in the permafrost which also means there are dormant diseases we DON’T know that are in the permafrost that are almost certainly there.
In your opinion, is it bad to create new kids?
I have a hard time guaging what people mean when they say we’re fucked, when it comes to the environment.
Like I’m much more confident what they mean when they talk about Trump winning.
And I thought I knew what they meant about the climate: “we’re fucked” means the global south is fucked.
Should I be living like I have 10-20 years until I (effectively) die, in your opinion?
Like I have just begun to place nonzero priority on trying to be nice to 70-year old me instead of assuming I’ll be dead before 40.
Is that suboptimal?
Obviously 40 isn’t either, as that’s only 2 years and change away. But the point stands.
No, but our quality of life is going to drastically change. Food wont be produced the same, climate refugees will make whatever crisis the republicans pretend is at the border look like a game of red rover, and there will be rationing on both food and clean drinking water. More people in the global north will die of food insecurity and dehydration than at any prior point in our world’s history, wars will be fought over livable land and potable drinking water. Most likely, that kind of waring will turn nuclear.
Is it possible all of this happens after I die naturally? Yes, possibly, though like I said I am quite confident that famine, water insecurity, and multiple dangerous outbreaks will occur before I do. I put my odds of dying because of a climate related catastrophe as probably higher than any other likely cause outside of heart disease at this point, and with the advancement of weight loss drugs, that looking like it will be further away than it is right now.
Nothing we can do at this point will stop the above. Its going to happen. How disruptive it is will depend on a whole lot of factors that would require a crystal ball to see if we have the ability to do.
So should someone have children or not? Its no skin off my sack either way. Choosing not to have children will not change anything I posted above. Each generation born though will be closer and closer to living through catastrophe.
That’s not what I was asking.
Is it mean to the newly created children to create them
Isn’t the answer obvious based on what he’s been writing?
1 Like
Also the (effectively) was me trying to say would life suck so bad that I might as well plan as if I were dead. Or like, plan as if saved money/stonks were valueless
You mean, should you be living like me?
eta: jk, I think I have 30 years left in me.
Since my brother has two little daughter whom I adore its obviously to late to ask this question because for their sake I have to hope for a wonder anyway. So I could live with both having and not having. The whole situation is terrible anyway. I got into scuba diving few years back because I wanted to see this environment before we destroy it all but unfortunately that also involves travelling(flying) which is kinda bad for the environment. I try to do my best in other areas to balance that.
1 Like
Ive been a lot less worried about money and retirement than I was twenty years ago
1 Like
Individual changes will have 0 effect. Dont feel bad about flying.
This is like saying don’t vote
1 Like
Its not, the only change that will matter is systemic, and no current systems are interested in changing. There is nothing we can do as individuaks.
In fact, voting is the only thing close that we can do as individuals to affect change
Individual votes have 0 effect
Collective votes might have nonzero
Individual not flying has 0 effect
Collective not flying might have nonzero
2 Likes
Let’s see if I can do this math:
There are about 700 billion passenger-miles flown globally each year.
There are about 160 million US voters in Presidential elections.
Let’s just make the simple and disputed assumption that your vote is worth 1/160 million of the result.
The comparable impact would be flying 4400 miles.
Of course your decisions on whether to fly or not may have no impact on the number of flights taken, but they may also have an extremely outsized impact. The math is about the expectation.
And that’s comparing your impact on actual emissions vs appointing someone who will have some impact on things, which is not the same as directly changing things.
Idk about mean but I think there’s certainly a level of naive selfishness required to be having children given the current outlook
3 Likes
Dont think it’s normal that Ernesto is still a hurricane after crossing in front of Newfoundland.
Its absolutely not, but we are going to see a lot more of these northern hurricanes as the waters heat up there