What will wipe out humanity?

[Red]

About nuclear weapons, if (and that is a huge if) we ever have world war 3, do you think it'll involve nuclear weapons? If it does, it's been fun knowing you all (if it happens within our life times).

[Cirion Spellbinder]

About nuclear weapons, if (and that is a huge if) we ever have world war 3, do you think it'll involve nuclear weapons? If it does, it's been fun knowing you all (if it happens within our life times).

It depends on who is fighting who and the system of alliances in place. Smaller states with no nuclear arms or trivial amounts of nuclear arms might get nuked if they aren't allied with nuclear superpowers. I find it hard to imagine that such states will exist, but there is the possibility. Plus, like brimstoneSalad noted, the nations with nuclear weapons are usually too afraid of the repercussions of using them to actually use them.

It seems like global warming is the most plausible death of humanity, but I would much prefer it be the death of the sun or, even better, the heat death of our universe if possible. If you are reading humanity, please get your priorities straight!

[EquALLity]

I dont know a lot about it myself, but a lot of very smart people think A.I. will be a disaster. For example Stephen Hawking has said it will the the end of human existence

I find it hard to believe that conscious, self-learning computers would want to take orders from stupid humans. Even if we programmed them very carefully it seems likely that some fatal bug will arise at some point

I'm surprised that he said that. It seems pretty out-there.
Well, I find it hard to believe that computers would turn evil, but maybe I should look into it more.

Global warming leading to mass crop failure, displacement, riots, and civil war (non-nuclear), leading to a breakdown in infrastructure, mass famine and disease, which will give rise to new superbugs.

Oh, I see.

Unfortunately, we aren't having much action taken within and with a country that produces massive emissions, because one of our two major political parties doesn't even believe that man-made climate change is real.
There was a recent treaty signed between some countries (including the U.S.) that is a step in the right direction (but not enough, according to a lot of experts). Republicans are already threatening to quash that treaty if one gets elected President, though. O_O

Nuclear weapons are too difficult to build, and the only countries that have them are too rational to engage in mutually assured destruction. Yes, even North Korea.

You sure about that?

Also, note that if Turkey and Russia have more conflicts that NATO might be forced into a very serious conflict with Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Cg0602oe0

Chris Christie said in the GOP debate last night that if the U.S. had a no-fly-zone in Syria, that he'd absolutely shoot down a Russian plane that violated it, and got applause.
Rand Paul came out against it, thankfully, and got an applause also. But still.

[brimstoneSalad]

Nuclear weapons are too difficult to build, and the only countries that have them are too rational to engage in mutually assured destruction. Yes, even North Korea.

You sure about that?

Yes. None of the major powers want a nuclear war.

The rulers of N. Korea are atheists, they're not suicidal. The people on the other hand may be personality cultists and regard their president as a god, but none of those in charge with the military etc. would be. It's doubtful that the president is really even in control of the country.

Anyway, N. Korea relies on China, and China has pretty strong motivations to maintain peace in the region.

Russia and the U.S. have come through much worse before. The leaders on both sides are ultimately rational and know that a nuclear war is a bad idea; all of the little proxy conflicts are posturing.

[knot]

I'm surprised that he said that. It seems pretty out-there.
Well, I find it hard to believe that computers would turn evil, but maybe I should look into it more.

Sam Harris is writing a book about it! I think there's consensus among the experts that at the very least it's a potentially dangerous technology.

I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I were to guess like what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that. So we need to be very careful with the artificial intelligence. Increasingly scientists think there should be some regulatory oversight maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish. With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like yeah he’s sure he can control the demon. Didn't work out.

[garrethdsouza]

Who is going to be worst affected by global warming, any science based predictions?

It would probably reduce our population but not eliminate it.

[brimstoneSalad]

Who is going to be worst affected by global warming, any science based predictions?

Mainly the third world, and developing countries. The main issue is probably going to be unusual weather, droughts, floods, freak frosts, really hot days that damage crops, potentially massive swarms of insects, and of course hurricanes and monsoons the likes of which we've never seen.

That stuff is almost impossible to predict with great accuracy, as far as I know.

Otherwise, displacement of anybody living near the coast or on islands as the sea level rises. We'd be talking about a lot of refugees moving inland.

[miniboes]

I'm surprised that he said that. It seems pretty out-there.
Well, I find it hard to believe that computers would turn evil, but maybe I should look into it more.

Hawking is not alone. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and many others (especially people that work with AI) share his fear. I think AI is the second most significant threat to humanity as well, the most significant being climate change. A great book on the subject is "Our Final Invention" by James Barrat.

Dan Carlin did a really good podcast on the subject called "Summoning the Demon": http://www.dancarlin.com/product/common ... ing-demon/.

Elon Musk talks about it here: https://youtu.be/JfJjx12wkVQ

[EquALLity]

The rulers of N. Korea are atheists, they're not suicidal.

But are they rational enough?

The people on the other hand may be personality cultists and regard their president as a god, but none of those in charge with the military etc. would be.

Oh?

It's doubtful that the president is really even in control of the country.

It is? He's a dictator.

Anyway, N. Korea relies on China, and China has pretty strong motivations to maintain peace in the region.

Ah, I see.

Russia and the U.S. have come through much worse before. The leaders on both sides are ultimately rational and know that a nuclear war is a bad idea; all of the little proxy conflicts are posturing.

Maybe they don't want it, but they could be dragged into something.

But, I'm not so sure that the republicans don't want it. Chris Christie, like I said, stated that he'd shoot down a Russian plane that violated an American no-fly zone, and got applause. Putin warned of 'significant consequences' when Turkey shot down a Russian plane after a violation of its airspace, also.

Sam Harris is writing a book about it! I think there's consensus among the experts that at the very least it's a potentially dangerous technology.

Oh wow, sounds interesting. That Bill Gates quote is also really interesting.
It just seems far-fetched to me that something like what you're describing would happen, but maybe not.

Hawking is not alone. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and many others (especially people that work with AI) share his fear. I think AI is the second most significant threat to humanity as well, the most significant being climate change. A great book on the subject is "Our Final Invention" by James Barrat.

Dan Carlin did a really good podcast on the subject called "Summoning the Demon": http://www.dancarlin.com/product/common ... ing-demon/.

Elon Musk talks about it here: https://youtu.be/JfJjx12wkVQ

Thanks, I'll check out those links!