Wednesday August 02, 2006

My answer to Stephen Hawking's question

Stephen Hawking asked this question on Yahoo! Answers some time back, and I did take my time to get around to composing an answer (and almost as long to post it up over here) :

How can the human race survive the next hundred years?
In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?

As noted by the Yahoo! Answers staff : This is the real Stephen Hawking. Look here for more detail.

And here's my answer, right there on page 820, some 24,000+ responses later :

answers.yahoo.com :

Humanity must re-think the concept of "growth". The idea of uninterrupted growth has led us to where we are today. Overpopulation, resource depletion, climate change - these are the result of "growth".

If we colonize another planet, but still continue with our concept of "growth", we will, in time, need another planet. And then another. And so on. What's going to stop us then? Running out of habitable planets in the galaxy? Hostile aliens?

In nature, unchecked growth is called cancer. If we don't change our way of thinking, we will act like cancer upon any planet we touch.

But "growth" seems to be embedded into our brains. It might actually take a calamity to force humanity to move in a different direction. How can it be otherwise? It takes education and conscious effort to even be aware of the problems that we now face.

We have to think differently about growth - if not through education, then it will happen through circumstance.

- Well, that's it. Shrug. More "growth" = more resource depletion, more death and destruction, and less and less room in the proverbial petri dish.

See also :

1. Stephen Hawking says humans must go into space to survive

(2006-08-02 07:56:15 SGT) [Env] Permalink

Tough times ahead for South Korea

peakoil.com -> app.com :

Korea has long been a puzzle. With its high standard of living, work ethic and history of overcoming adversity, the nation of 48 million should be growing much faster - or at least getting more bang out of the growth it has. Instead, surging crude-oil prices and rising global interest rates are leaving Korea vulnerable.

Growth in some of Asia's biggest economies won't be enough to overcome three headwinds gaining in intensity. The first one is oil. The price of Dubai crude has jumped 27 percent this year, raising costs for consumers and businesses in nations like Korea that import almost all their oil. Rising interest rates are another headwind. In Washington, Frankfurt and even Tokyo, central banks are tapping on the brakes. The third headwind - the U.S. consumer - hasn't fully materialized, but its mere potential is weighing on Asian markets. For all the growth in China, India and, increasingly, Japan, U.S. demand still has a huge say in Asia's future.

peakoil.com -> koreaherald.co.kr :

South Korea's personal bankruptcy filings hit a record high in the first half of the year due to the ongoing economic slowdown and softened bankruptcy rules. The number of new personal bankruptcy cases approached 50,000 for the first six months, up some 260% from a year ago. Experts accused easier legal processes which prompt financially distressed debtors to seek voluntary bankruptcies at courts. Surging interest rates and a poor job market also fueled a rise in bankruptcy filings, industry watchers said.

(2006-08-02 07:54:45 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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