Martin Rees: Can we prevent the end of the world?
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2014
- A post-apocalyptic Earth, emptied of humans, seems like the stuff of science fiction TV and movies. But in this short, surprising talk, Lord Martin Rees asks us to think about our real existential risks - natural and human-made threats that could wipe out humanity. As a concerned member of the human race, he asks: What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?
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"Air travel can spread pandemics worldwide within days"
2020: boi u right damn
You really don't know?
What's with all the religeous comments? Don't wait for God to save us. We have to save ourselves!
Religious
Whats this GOD bullshit, LOL..
Are you the one who created your life ? No. Are you the one who created this planet ? No. You just suddenly found yourself here and after a while you think you know everything.
Dude, you don't even know how many organs and functions your body has. So please be humble and thankful for the life you were given and thank the one who gave it to you and created everything around you. ARROGANCE is our problem. Some of us arrogant enough to claim that they know everything while the truth is our knowledge is just a tiny drop in a massive ocean. Wake up.
@@COCASIAN1982 I can't even remember making this comment XD Getting this reply out of nowhere 5 years later was really confusing for a sec. Anyway, my opinions about religion have changed quite a bit since then, I'm not affiliated with a particular faith myself but I'm a lot more respectful of different ways of looking at the world. I still think that practical solutions to problems are important, that hasn't changed, but I accept the important role that faith and spirituality plays as well :)
Crazylaika lol, I didn’t pay attention to your reply date!! But I’m happy to read your reply. May Allah guid you to the right path. :)
I think the house insurance is a great analogy. I think the key difference between the earth and a house is also important. All of us agree that, despite the very small chance we'll actually need it, insurance is a necessity. Yet we can learn from seeing a neighbor's house burnt down and be reassured of our need for insurance, but as of now we can't learn from another planet's destruction, so investing in insurance is a lot harder to convince people to do. I also think his allusion to the difference in pace of technical evolution and natural selection could be worrisome. If technology evolves faster than our ability to understand it and use it wisely, then we could be in trouble if we don't accept that. I definitely agree that we focus too much on small, problems that don't really affect us.
"The planet is fine, the people are fucked" - George Carlin
Nah, we can escape. The sun will destroy the Earth.
Save the earth.
I hope we as a human being can take his nice advice and avoid this catastrophe. I hope scientist are working on ways to avoid this as well. The fate of our future generations lies in our hand.
Humanity has to answer so many disturbing questions and do plenty of course correction to survive for longer duration. We are making more troubles and chaos in this planet and that could potentially wipe out the human race forever. That's the underlying message of Martin Rees' talk. Good one.
Well said.
Inspiring.
Its so odd that this was on ted talks now ... iv been thinking about this stuff alot recently
excellent !!!
Well that was less depressing than I expected.
Great speech. Begin with a joke, end with a quote, and fill the space between with provocative thought.
2:23 what are you talking about, my chemistry set was harmless... Except the chunk of uranium that came with it.
Lol amazing
Unless that uranium was big enough hurt someone by throwing it at their head, it was safe.
0:33 isn't that Daniel Dennett in the third row?
No one ever disputes the basic elements that make up all this. Isn't that amazing?
this was nice, my dreams will be wild with imagination :)
Great talk, but with one nit-picky exception... 0:34, Earth has existed for 4.5 billion years but now we humans have Earth's future in our hands? I don't think so... Earth will be just fine no matter what we do: it's our survival that's at stake, not Earth's "survival". Travel a few hundred thousand km away from Earth and, by any measure, an observer would barely notice our existence or absence (notwithstanding radio transmissions). Any of our potential screw-ups would pale in comparison to the five recent major extinction events. The Earth recovered from those events (in terms of geological timescales) just fine, so it certainly won't miss a step if we off ourselves.
Martin Reese meant probably mankind's future and perhaps life on Earth future. Can we avoid extinsion in the very near future is perhaps the better question.
Extraordinario Sir Martin Rees, tal vez el mejor divulgador de ciencia de los últimos años.
Eu concordo que pode haver muitos riscos,pois como há muitos mistérios acerca dos átomos, e não tem como saber sobre potencial energia que possa gerar...
Did he just say we need more cowbells?
Debimos escucharlo.
espetacular!. rs
yeah
He looks like the guy playing chess against himself in that Pixar short...
At least he has the mic in the right place.
I find it very odd that he doesn't mention the end of the age of fossil fuels.
Martin Rees: Can we prevent the end of the world? #tedtalks
Another risk factor which I never hear discussed is that we are now living in a period of exponential change, which will make it tough for people to adapt. The rate of change will only continue to increase Robots WILL displace millions of jobs currently being done by people who may find it impossible to "reinvent" themselves. And it will happen much sooner than people realize.
3:56 Do we *really* have cosmic rays producing a natural experiment that would merely be mimicked by a supercollider? In the case of the natural experiment, a collision would presumably be between a high-velocity particle meeting a bit of matter that is pretty much at rest in relation to the Earth. The momentum of the product of that collision would likely take the resulting particle far from the Earth at a speed some significant fraction of the speed of light. The danger of the supercollider is that two particles at relativistic speeds would have their momentums cancel, so that the resulting particle would remain in the vicinity of the Earth for an extended time. There would be the possibility, if it 'falls' toward the center of the Earth under the influence of gravity, of interacting with other matter and accreting more mass. This theorized miniature black hole could grow in mass and size... until it has macroscopic effects. Then the Earth implodes. We don't really know if the natural experiments are or are not making miniature black holes. The tiny bits that might be produced in such collisions don't hang around to be observed. They go off to areas where further interaction with matter is highly unlikely. (Are there mysterious GRBs with the signature of an imploding planet?)
A cure for what ails the planet:
Equal sharing of Natural Resources promotes Justice and Sustainability:
gaiabrain.blogspot.com/2011/06/golden-rule-and-public-property-rights.html
Just one question, is British Academia as equally represented (among all the classes) if not as equally stratified, as The British Parliamentary System with it's House of Commons and House of Lords? Or is the bulk of the English population (along with nations across the Globe who have inherited its social systems), only encouraged to read the Daily Mirror and such tabloid journalism, while leaving the serious thinking to such "stewards"? Just asking. mainly because I wasn't too impressed with Lord Martins 2 worst-case-scenario options, with Scenario A wiping out 90% of the Worlds population, and scenario B annihilating 100%. Especially next to his clarification that scenario B wasn't merely 10% worse than scenario B, but actually infinitely worse because humans would no longer exist! What a revelation! Can't wait to see how the people at Cambridge are going to grapple with that existential crisis he spoke of
i still have tons of dreams
Dont Have portuguese?
Whatever misfortune befalls you is a consequence of your own deeds.
A post-apocalyptic Earth, emptied of humans, seems like the stuff of science fiction TV and movies. But in this short, surprising talk, Lord Martin Rees asks us to think about our real existential risks - natural and human-made threats that could wipe out humanity. As a concerned member of the human race, he asks: What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?
At the rate things are going the scenario is in the realm of the possible. We are to get more aware of the possibility of a total human extinction.
Catastrophes happen. In fact, they're inevitable. And it's not a mistake to think that. What IS a mistake is to think that we can predict them; because if we CAN predict them, there's a pretty good chance we can circumnavigate them. It's the ones we CAN'T predict that always get us.
saw theelon musk video on the mars colonization project to save the world he was all about the economical benefits of reusing the rockets. so the human race is worth saving as long as it is within the budget.
Hmm, this talk leaves me quite bitter. On the one hand, I strongly agree that human extinction (from a human point-of-view) should be prevented at any cost. On the other hand, protection against extinction stems from a paranoid mind. The paranoid vision of a small group of people should never dictate the law to which everyone must abide to. Highly improbably events that could potentially cause extinction happen all around us all the time, they should be dictate how we live and what sciences we can partake in
When you learn of the threats long before you become acquainted with the experts.
All well and good, but I'd be more concerned with more pressing end of the world matters - like the fact that we're burning away our planet
HOW CAN WE PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING
HOW CAN WE PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING? WE'VE STARTED BY TAKING KATHI-LEE GIFFORD OFF TELEVISION.
I'm more worry about the end of the world scenario that is beyond out control, such as the eruption of the Yellow Stone National Park, if the Sun dies, and if the Earth stop spinning.
like my dream house lol
we should build a foundation in a planet in the edge of the galaxy.
Can't put my finger on why? but he really reminds me of Mr Burns from the Simpsons :-S
+blk bbw i can see it to!!!!!
Eckhart Tolle said it was down to "Evolve or Die". It's clear enough now which one it'll be.
I'm with him mostly but he copped out on the ending. Instead of suggesting good and bad outcomes (as the lecture title implies), he leaves the question of implementation hanging.
Expert systems could greatly benefit society, freeing us from drudge work and taking subjects like quantum physics beyond where the human brain can go.
But do we as a species have the moral compass required to direct thinking machines to good ends? Or will they be used to shore up the fortunes of a tiny elite? Judging by past developments, nuclear technology being one, I find little cause for optimism.
hmmmm I guess praying wouldn't hurt at this point...
DerrenBrown100 Yahweh, Yeshua and the Holy Spirit =)
If it makes you feel better,go for it.But the power of prayer has undergone rigorous scientific study,and it makes no difference whatsoever in terms of outcome.
Some would argue that 90% mortality is worse than 100%, because it is kinder to die alongside your fellows than to live w/ the knowledge that you survived and they didn't.
I'd like to state that I do not personally hold this view. I just know it exists.
Do not go gentle into the night, wear a cowbell.
What a proper old Englishman
Aliens will wake up Walt Disney and create another small world together.
He mentioned pandemics too.
Very simple answer....stop wars >_>.
in my world ppl will evolve and will go so far that each person will have his own virtual universe and will be the god of his own once we master our own biology we will be able to live forever in a non-decaying body's the possibility's are limitless we just don't understand them yet
We need more men like this to steer us in the right direction.
Bodi-less beings of pure energetic consciousness is in our future
did anything come and save the dino's? of course not. and nothing will come to save us either..............
if you believe it will, then how? please advise the audience of your ultimate assurance.
Dinosaurs didn't have technologies tho help them foresee an asteroid
The planet will be fine. The one thing that could be in danger of disappearing is humanity. And I think the planet would not mind.
Lol! So he said most humans are cows and the special ones (not cows) are building arks at Cambridge. Sounds about right.
cmon im only 11 i cant die yet
Well, who knows... it happens to all of us someday, it's inevitable. You never know when or how, but it will come someday.
you're now 15, that's old enough.
My fear about Robots is this. When they take all of the jobs, who is going to have money to buy the products they make and service?
Why, the robots, of course. They'll want rights, and then money. AND THEY'LL DESTROY US ALL TO GET IT!
In all seriousness, robots currently just perform the menial labor. We still don't have thinking machines, and, in their absence, the ideal of a fit human worker will shift from physically capable to mentally capable, as it already has been.
When robots can design other robots fit for a specific need without any human input, that's when we'll either achieve a utopian society, in which there is no economy but one of attention and love, or we'll destroy each other.
We would probably have to move to a post capitatist society.
*****
Bingo. Stock ownership in automated production as a birthright.
Just as the industrial revolution spelled the end of an agrarian/merchantile economy, the true automation revolution will (no doubt about it, there is no alternative) spell the end of a capitalist/employment economy. What shape the new economy takes is anyone's guess, but the first step to influencing what that new economy looks like is accepting the inevitable failure of this one. Buckminster Fuller already knew this back in 1970... it only speaks to our gullibility that we have failed to heed his words in favor of propaganda from those who stand to lose power when the inevitable does come.
The net effect of robotics would normally be to make products cheaper, the more ubiquitous the automation, the cheaper goods and services become. This could easily result in people being able to support themselves comfortably working only half a day a week doing some service job that people would prefer being done by humans.
Sadly, the process of goods and services getting cheaper is seen by governments in their infinite stupidity as being "a bad thing", it is "deflationary" and something to be fought tooth and nail by central banks. So they will print however much new money is needed to see to it that this positive effect of automation never reaches the little guy on the street. The end result will indeed be massive unemployment as people are unable to afford to support themselves.
This future has nothing whatsoever to do with robotics and everything to do with the fact that the field of economics is 95% suffused with absolute idiots. This dystopia will be entirely of their creation.
"the end of the world or the beginning of the new era" that is the question
The average human should reflect carefully on their place in the dominance hierarchy of our species. Further, when presented with an argument, they should consider not only the argument, but the position of the the arguer in the dominance hierarchy and the interests of said arguer. The so-called nobility set themselves apart from the masses. Should I take what Martin is saying at face value or would that be naive? Do a academic types have the best interests of the masses at heart? Why would they? When will there be a TED talk detailing the dominance hierarchy of our species? It seems as though there is a lot of effort by those that are in control of the masses to convince the masses that the masses are in control of their own destiny. There is not much truth in that. Caveat emptor.
By the time earth is done we would have moved to Mars and other planets.
I coming from 2020 and you are right about pandemic, I wish you are save now and talking more about corona virus and their plans and how can we protect ourselves
Idiot !!! He is not an virologist or epidemiologist
we will eventually move out into the universe. Plenty of space, still more to explore and many more wonders to see.
VidResp2 Sonny Irvin CallToActions 7/7/14 COINTEL MindControl Alters - Quantum Timelines YT Watch Code hdnNrUnb22I
I can't believe he didn't mention the mass education on physics and chemistry as well. I don't think there is anything we can do about mass amounts of people, knowing how to create nuclear devices. It's coming folks. The days that you have to be very selective, of who gets to learn certain things. I don't think it can ever be controlled. What a bleak thought.
I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution.
"We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal."
IT's a misstep from our perspective, but not from Nature's. We will have been just another dead end.
The world never ends, it goes on forever
lol
Spoilers: The answer is "no".
I know 100% without the slightest hint of doubt that the world is not going to end... anytime soon anyway
Why bother saving it? it's full of nut cases
get umbrella coverage nikka and be good, god bless america, we #1
Well, wouldn't it be better if there were far fewer humans?
That's exactly the plan mate!! That's what they work very hard to convince you with. They've done good job with you I think. Wake up.
The planet will be fine...even if all life were destroyed,it would just generate more,by the very fact of its chemical composition and its orbit around the sun.Life will out.
Tenía razón ahora estamos en PANDEMIA
What are we going to do....we are not rich how can we go move to planet mars?....are we going to die?
yeah we can...use satellites
Yeah, it's not looking good lol
Rather than focusing on the impossibility of trying to prevent the end of the world, maybe we should prepare ourselves for it... The most important thing is that when it happens we are prepared for the grave and the Day of Judgement. Our only fear should be dying with regrets in a state that is displeasing to our Creator. And Allah (swt) knows best.
XD true
Milo Bozovich We should try to please Allah? Oh. Another guy told me I should try to please Yahweh. And another guy said I should try to please Krishna. Which one of you are right? Please tell me! I need to know before I die! Humans have made up about 50,000 gods...but which one is real?? I need to know! Help me!
A creator that demands worship and punishes you if you don't does not deserve to be worshiped.
Broc Stefan Does God demand worship? Yes. Do you go to hell for denying the existence of God? Yes. Does how powerful/infinite a God is affect whether or not his actions are moral? No. Might does not make right. You don't need to read books on goblins to know they don't exist.
Broc Stefan numbers = comments -
1. a - I'm not better than them
b - Millions of people could be wrong and have been wrong
c - Most didn't choose to believe, they were indoctrinated as children and taught not to question.
2. When I had doubts about the existence of God, I tried my best to find logical reasons & evidence to keep believing. In the end I realised there are no such reasons and so I could no longer believe and be honest with myself.
3. So a rapist can go to heaven, but a Hawking or an Einstein can't? How can you live with this? That is an immoral belief system. Also, if God wanted us to believe, he could make himself known.
4. a - The book is the claim not the evidence. Historians don't even know what *year* Jesus was born. Please provide actual evidence.
b - Even if you prove definitively that there is a God, we already know for a fact that humans are the product of natural selection. The theory of evolution, just like germ theory or atomic theory or the theory of relativity are fundamental theories in science that have been proven countless times, and are supported by mountains of evidence and peer-reviewed studies.
Natural extinction. Can we stop a comet the size of mount everest ,travelling at over 14,000 MPH! no give me a break.He forgot natural
Wize man
Really? He names genetic modification and an "Army of the Twelve Monkeys" scenario as the most dangerous and likely method of our destruction? Really?
With all the religious barbarism going on, threat of escalating conflict in Eastern Europe (war with Russia omgwtfbbq), the currently available diseases, gene technology is most threatening? He doesn't even mention global warming, which will be disastrous when combined with the coming phosphorous, water and desertification crises that will lead to famines that will fuel more wars (good luch averting this one in the coming century).
Nooooo, it's those damn scientists again that are always meddling with genes that will end the world -_-
If I had to guess what will end us: ignorance. (with lack of empathy as the runner up)
You fools, when the world ends there will be a new beginning. Would you really want to prevent the new beginning from others?
Scenario A sounds wonderful. To wipe out 90% of humanity would ultimately save it. The world with it's current population is doomed and will fail.
Everyone believes they have the right to as many children as they wish and it is this selfishness that has doomed us all.
Unfortunately, it is happening!
The "village idiots" will also have titles such as "lord".
DK Kempion couldn't agree more😄
There once was a time when the not too distant future could be, in part, foreseen. Times moved slowly, and technological advances were things like windmills, horseshoes, and timekeeping devices. A person could be the third or fourth generation in a particular field of work, and likely a farmer who is simply feeding themselves and the their village. We lived in balance with the planet, or at the very least inflicted minimal damage along the way.
Then came steam power and fossil fuels, which led to large scale manufacturing and farming. From that came the Industrial Revolution, and now a technology revolution. We have mastered seemingly everything, except that which could give us the greatest freedom of all. We have yet to master truly clean energy generation on a large scale. Our future depends on many things, but as I see it, clean energy generation and storage is the greatest hurdle.
You can't eat clean energy... With an expanding population the demands for food will increase, the limited land available for food production will be (and already is) overused. This degrades the soil composition making it harder and harder to maintain high yields without outside input (energy). Biological and perma-culture farming is a good way to maintain soil fertility but the yields are to low to support the growing world population. In other words, we need to not only stabilize the world population, we also need to reduce the population drastically.
The fastest way to do this (seeing as war and genocide are rightfully frowned upon) would be control of birthrates. (fyi, this is still a pretty damn slow process even if everyone now would have only 1 kid)
The idea that eternal growth can be sustained with technological advances is, in my humble opinion, a fantasy. For this eternal growth idea we need infinite resources, there are probably infinite resources in the universe but access to these resources is pretty limited....
Solar power generation is getting cheaper every day. Major progress in battery technology gets announced almost every week. Ultimately this will translate to far lower costs. Meanwhile demand for fossil fuels is going up at a rate much faster than production, which means the price for it is going up, and will continue to climb. It will not take long before solar power is cheaper than fossil fuels. It is already the case that in many parts of the world, it is cheaper to install solar panels on one's roof than it is to buy one's electricity off the grid.
See for example: www.solarcity.com/
:) Too bad that he cannot speak freely, he's just reading a text.
We cannot begin to even begin to try and save ourselves until we have a global discussion about population control, because all excess, all resource management, all conservation, stems from this one number. And that conversation will never happen, which is why we are doomed to fail.
***** because women get pregnant on their own out of thin air right?
ALL HAIL OUR ALIEN OVERLORDS! Better to live on your knees then to be wiped out! (p.s. so we can fight another day)
"Regulations" are the source of "drug lords". It is precisely because it is illegal to sell certain drugs that unofficial markets exist for them, inviting criminals and violence. Regulations aren't just ineffective, they cause the problems they superficially seek to address.
- ADJ
One day my Guru told about the time he was given the experience of visiting a new Nuclear reactor in India. They took him down deep into its very core and then opened a heavy lead window where he could see this blazing blue light. They closed the window and he told them that this light looked just like the light of the 'Blue Pearl' the essence of our very own Soul. I hold that when we look for Truth what we find must incorporate Spiritual truth, scientific truth, philosophical truth, psychological truth, etc. where all agree as to what is true. The Yogis say everything is made up of, is, Consciousness. They call it Universal Divine Consciousness and they say it exists as the smallest particle. Everything in the material world is then made up of these conscious & aware sub-atomic particles. Its combing the quantum and the material worlds.
make money nikka and forget about it
nikkas be hiding in caves and when they gone, the party starts, HOVA
Not in denial. The don’t want joe public to know....I mean us thicko’s At least 90 percent of us ;)
Don't worry Jesus will save us
True
why?
You’re kidding,right?