Greatest threat facing humanity?

[More Sense]

What is the greatest threat facing humanity?

Here are a few candidates:
- environmental damage
- war
- terrorism
- earth being bombarded by comets
- scientific experiments going bad
- disease

Any comments, anything to add to the list?

What's your view?

Deborah

[Laura]

Hiya,

was just scanning through the groups and i came across this one, the
greatest threat to humanity i think is peoples attitudes towards each
other and other things

Laura

[Wuvbear]

I was going to sad; mankind but that would be too abvious. The greatest
threat to mandkind i think is religionand money science. In religion we
find confort but also concequence to our every action and thus creating
fear. Fear makes the balance in good and bad tip over. Money is
dangerous also, one person creates a entity based on making money. And
since intities cannot be judged by a religion (just the people in that
entity) there are not boundries exept for the law. And since law is a
creating of a single country, race or the like that get be broken.

[Sam Carana]

The greatest thread facing humanity is delusion.

 

People are deluded by politicians and schoolteachers alike that things are under control and that everything is fine, that we can rely on them.

 

We cannot and things look bad. The risk of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in increasing. There are huge environmental problems. Schools create generations of mindless robots who refuse to see the problems.
 

Most media play along with this game, lulling people into a false sense of security.

 

The threats are huge, the risks are unacceptable and we need ideas how to tackle this.
 

I am Sam

[Wuvbear]

Hi Sam,

I agree with your opinion, but the things you mention are not the real
problems. It is not delusion that is dangerous, its the reason why we
are delusional that is dangerous. Is the western civ that we are born
in teaches us that way of thinking. But if you think about it, its a
good idea some sort of 'scare control' in our education. A long time
ago 'this is how god wanted' was used, nowadays its the media that
blinds us from the truth. And the media in its turn in raised by that
same civ.

I suggest a revolution, it won't work because there only a few
intelligent / free of mind enough to understand our cause. And if we
would use our intelligents to create the perfect world, there will be
sacrifices. Those who still believe that are living the correct way of
life will fight back. That kind of sounds like 'the 3rd reich' or a
holy war....

Its to late
we are lost

[Ender]

Deborah i think that you list is not complete.
The greatest threat facing humanity is apathy. That is people general
lack of care for the matters which affect them. As long as people are
comfortable in their own little worlds then they leave the outside
world for others to deal with.
In a democratic country (I live in Australia so i will use Australia as
an example) this lack of interest is completely unacceptable. It
undermines the purpose of a democratic society.
What do you think?
Ender

[More Sense]

Yes, Ender, apathy is definitely something that needs to be added to
the list. Without people actually giving matters some thought, we won't
get far, no matter how ingenious the solutionbs are we come up with
here. Thanks for pointing that out and the more reason for all members
of groups like this to go over things.

Deborah

[John]

I don't think religion is one of the greatest threats. Yes, religion
has been used for bad purposes. I've grown up in a religion and still
practice. I was not raised to fear God. I don't fear much anything.
Religion has aided me in my liberation from many vices. Wrong-doing is
what restricts, not religion. If I drink, I get drunk. Drunkeness is
restriction. If I engage in lascivious behavior, I run many risks, all
which would greatly restrict me in many ways. I am not saying sex is
bad. Its proper use is liberating; its improper use restricts. The
same with religion.

Saying religion is what causes problems is like saying guns kill. Guns
don't kill unless someone irresponsible is handling them. Religion
isn't going to harm unless someone weak and irresponsible gets
involved. The same goes with vehicles, kitchen appliances, heights,
swimming pools, and a multitude of other otherwise benign things.

Sure, there have been wars fought over religion. But one of the biggest
killers in history was an atheist: Stalin. It is not religion, but
mankind that is the problem. It seems whereever we pop up, whether
religious or not, we cause problems.

Lack of education, at least in the USA, is major problem. I mean REAL
education, not this communistic "job training" that we get at our
colleges. I teach college and let me tell you, the intelligence level
of the students is absolutely depressing. THey can't write coherent
thoughts. I grade some of their papers. It's not just that I have to
stumble over their spelling errors, but they can't even put a clear
thought down!!!!! They are there simply to get a piece of paper which
they think will award them a job.

Education is about learning to think, developing one's mind so that
people cannot put one over on you, so that you can be presented with a
problem and have resources with which to overcome it. Job training
isn't going to give you that. Critical thinking--the lack of it is one
of the biggest problems today.

[so hate consequences]

Political correctness is pretty high on my list. In our efforts to not
offend anybody, we lose our entire basis for right and wrong. After
all, who is the government to tell someone what right and wrong are? It
is almost getting to the point where we can't teach kids that even very
basic sins are wrong. Maybe telling someone that lying is wrong
infringes on their values. Then they can sue you for that. It's
ridiculous. What's far more offensive than disagreeing with someone is
lying to someone for fear of offending them.

[Abhishek Bhawsar]

i'd put quest for power as the prime threat. humans thrive for power. and with power comes more power. all of the things which have been discussed so far, its the quest for power which is the chief driving factor.
power to control religion, territory, trade, commerce, nations, economics is what creates disharmony amongst humans.

abhi.

[Wuvbear]

I could not agree more, thank you!

[so hate consequences]

Yes, unfortunately this goes along with being human.

[Wuvbear]

On the other hand, being a chair or a tree isnt that great either

[so hate consequences]

Good point, I was just pointing out how ironic it is that mankind is
its own greatest threat. This is precisely why we need a savior.

[Aeantis]

A simple question, completely irrelavant responses.

I believe that nuclear warfare posses a imense threat, with Kim Dae
Jung in North Korea.

However not the demise of technology, we posses anti-nuclear
technology.

I think it is the lack of recognition of growing technology that posses
the greatest threat. The industrial age marked the begining of the
epocolipse. We rely to much on technology, eventually we will run out
of resources and be stuck.

[Sam Carana]

Yes, nuclear proliferation is an immense threat, not to mention the existing threat of missiles being launched in Russia or China as a result of logistical misunderstandings. There's also the ongoing threat of war in the middle east with Israel, Pakistan, India and Iran acquiring many weapons of mass destruction.

 

In this day and age, all weapons of mass destruction should be phased out. A country is clearly wrong when it builds such weapons and then threatens other countries with mass destruction.  
 

We've got to go to the core of what we belief in to set the record right. The bible isn't adequate in this respect, since the destruction of cities like Sodom and Gomorrah is described as something good, while one must assume that innocent babies were killed in the event. Weapons of mass destruction are by definition wrong, as they are aimed at entire populations, including innocent babies.
 

With hew technology, missiles can be pin-pointed to hit a single car, killing only the people in the car, without killing innocent bystanders. These missiles can be launched from submarines and directed to their target by drones (airplanes without pilot). The technology is there to take out enemies one by one, without any need for weapons of mass destruction.

 

Security services should be included in trade negotiations. Where countries develop weapons of mass destruction, they effectively seek to hold other countries hostage, making trade negotiations into ransom payments. Such countries should only be invited to take part in trade negotiations if they guarantee not to develop weapons of mass destruction. Such a guarantee implies that they will allow journalists from any countries to investigate facilities that are suspicious for verification.

 

Secondly, security services should be included in trade negotiations as services that are provided in a competitive environment. People should be able to choose what level of security they want from which supplier. To achieve such an environment, the military should be split up into many pieces, each of which should offer services in all areas, rather than that the military is organized hierachically in a pyramid-model from the president down.

 

I am Sam, I say what you'd have liked to say!

[Aeantis]

I wouldn't know I only read half of what you said, and the last
sentence. Thanks for agreeing though!

[Phoenixxe]

Inexorable material greed!

Selena

[Aeantis]

We will destroy ourselves long before we colonize another planet.

[Sam Carana]

I agree with your concern. The nuclear threat is the most immediate and urgent threat we're facing. More generally, we should add chemical and biological weapons, but the Iraq situation has unfortunately lulled people into a false belief that no countries possess such weapons. I think people have been deluded into a false sense of security. Even during the cold war the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) situation was madness, but it did turn out to prevent one side from attacking the other.

 

Right now, the situation has changed as many more countries have nuclear capabilities and are working on expanding their arsenal. These and other countries have developed their nuclear weaponry in secrecy and they are plotting all kinds of things that are not coming out in the open. They may seek to set one country up against another. There may be ruled by dictators or by rogue regimes with few principles other than maintaining their position of power, whatever the consequences. Many countries have a narrow economic basis and a social structure that disrespects the rights of minority groups. Terrorism and suicide bombers add further danger to the already explosive tensions between many nations.
 

Just imagine a nuclear explosion taking place anywhere in the world. Who will the various countries point the finger at as the culprit? Will there be missiles flying in response?

 

This is a crazy situation. Dictators and lunatics hold the world at ransom, while the UN doesn't even lift a finger, effectively giving a seal of approval to attrocities that are committed under its very eyes.

 

We should not put too much trust in the UN. Insetad, we should demand openness. Journalist should demand to have access to places that are suspicious. Countries should open their borders to foreign publications, even if this exposes things that are wrong. In fact, foreign publishers and journalists should be encouraged to cover local news, especially where the domestic media fail to lift a finger. We should support a free press, even stronger, we should demand it!

 

Those who don't like the idea should be condemned by international opinion, to the point where a majority in the respective country will realize the situation. The media and in particular the Internet have an important role in spreading this message. There's nothing that can stop an idea when its time has come. Spread the word!
 

Sam

[Sam Carana]

Here's a Blog on the question what is the biggest threat facing humanity.
http://biggestthreat.blogspot.com/

Cheers!
Sam Carana