For the past couple months I’ve been in a philosophical Hell. My already potent distaste for the human species was compounded by some books I was reading and resulted in what can be described as “a really poopie outlook” on life.
It was only a couple days ago that I was able to snap out of this self-induced emohaze. To have complete closure on this part of my life and as a tool for organizing my jumbled thoughts, I’ll put in writing my conclusions about where we’re (humans) are headed.
Nature as a fundamental necessity for human life
I’m fairly sure this is self-evident. We depend on nature for food, shelter, oxygen, raw materials… pretty much everything that pertains to our survival.
Disparity between modern society’s way of life and the natural balance
While our dependency on nature is inherent, we have created a system (agriculturally, technologically, philosophically) that separates us from nature in almost all aspects of our daily lives. We are living outside of the “rules of nature,” so to speak.
Our “mastery” of nature is showing adverse effects. Global warming, overpopulation, pollution, disease, etc. By removing ourselves from the processes of the natural world which governs a species’ population, we have created a whole new set of problems not experienced by any other species on this planet.
Future of Mankind
So we get to the other side of the equation stated in the title. From the above conjectures I think there are 2 possible outcomes. Please note that these are only based on what I have said above. I think the most probable future is one of explosions and mass destruction. Us having nukes is the equivalent of a drunk 5 year-old playing with a grenade.
Anyway.
Our separation from the basic state of nature will continue while our reliance on the natural world for raw materials will increase
Of the two, I think this is the most likely to occur. Looking at our history shows that this would just be a continuation of what we’ve been doing for thousands of years. Having more babies, living longer, taking more.
Of course this way of life isn’t sustainable and will eventually result in a complete collapse. I don’t believe that the human species will be extinct, but I do think the world population would be irrecoverably reduced and we’ll be forced to return to a state of nature.
Technology will become advanced enough in which all aspects of human life will be sustainable and our reliance upon the natural world will completely disappear
This is a much more optimistic outcome (optimistic in that we’re not almost completely wiped out, take it how you will). Perhaps there will be a day where the human species can be sustained completely void of any interaction with nature. Think of it like a self-containing bubble on the moon, except on Earth.
This is the outcome that I didn’t consider very carefully at first because two improbable things have to happen for this to work. First, our technology will have to become more advanced then I can comprehend. Additionally, it has to become this advanced before we mess up the world so badly there’s nothing left to recovery. But considering the rate technology is advancing and the ingenuity of mankind, maybe there’s a chance this could happen. The second thing is we’d need to eliminate our natural tendencies, most importantly our biological imperative to procreate. Sustainability cannot be achieved with the population growing the way it is (or would be, since I assume it will be even worse in the future). I was even more shaky on this at first, since I love the outdoors and being in it. It’s not that far fetched though, and really is just a continuation of our alienation from the natural world.
Either way…
No matter what happens, the truly freeing thought is that it doesn’t really matter what happens since it’s so far in the future. Do what you can for the living now. Do your best to help reduce the destruction of the planet. Creating a better life for everyone comes from the small contributions of a lot of people.
