Dr. Sid Smith Lecture explaining why our Civilization is currently in Collapse

[SoothedByRain]

Talk given at Virginia Tech for the Greens at Virginia Tech, March 26th, 2019.

https://www.gp.org/b_sidney_smith_sb

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Figured it would be nice to add this lecture of Leo's to the end of this post for those who might need such.

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by SoothedByRain

[abundance]

Thank you for sharing this. I am not really hopeful that we'll be able to save human civilization as we know it. Even the green new deal is a bit of a bandaid fix to the systematic issues we face as a global human society. We'd need to rapidly de-escalate our production and growth to mitigate the most of the harmful impacts of abrupt global warming and I don't foresee this happening. This would require unprecedented global cooperation and draconian like measures for energy reduction. Maintaining our current energy output using alternative "green" energy is unrealistic. 

[Leo Gura]

Just keep in mind that in WWII some 40 million people were killed. During the Black Death, some 1/3rd of Europe was wiped out.

Global warming pales in comparison to those numbers.

Humanity can take a beating and survive. Our species is not fragile. The Earth itself is even less fragile.

Yes, we need bold climate action, but also don't get gloomy.

[abundance]

1 minute ago, Leo Gura said:

Juat keep in mind that in WWII some 40 million people were killed. During the Black Death, some 1/3rd of Europe was wiped out.

Humanity can take a beating and survive. Our species is not fragile.

True. However, both of those events took place in relatively stable climates and ecosystems. 

[Leo Gura]

54 minutes ago, abundance said:

True. However, both of those events took place in relatively stable climates and ecosystems. 

You'll survive 2 degrees of temperature change over 50-100 years.

And with new technology much damage can be reversed in the next 500 years.

We can blanket the entire planet in trees if we wanted to.

Humans will start terraforming the Earth and controlling its climate.

Fundamentally there is no limit. We are nowhere near tapping out the potential of Earth.

If the evolution of Earth & mankind were a computer progress bar, we'd be stuck at the 1% mark.

[SoothedByRain]

@Leo Gura Everything is flowing exactly as it is, no need for gloom. Think of what a Billion people migrating north from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is going to be like. WW2's 40 million is nothing compared to future geo-politics. Our borders, nations and collective identities are going to have to shift and morph drastically if we are going to attempt to adapt whilst bypassing serious war. I think we both know how Stage Blue, Orange and Green societies will react to chaotic upheavel and threat. Reversion. A shift is possible, but not in such a short period, not under such threat.

I often feel you're highly optimistic and generous with your dates when you speak of future vision, such as "Stage Yellow society might take hundreds to a thousand years to emerge" Sure, given the environment stays within a roughly "business as usual" state. The data amongst climate scientists suggests we are already too late, the hopefull ones are talking about 50ish years. The ones who are being real stark and dismissing any magic rabbits from glorious top hats are talking 10/20 years before collapse truly starts showing itself more harshly. Speaking of such, seen Australia? It isn't even summer yet. Not even 2030. The Aus population is 26 million. I wonder about the process of their migration? 

Lets hope the science and numbers are wrong and that the growing pains of natures reshuffle lead to conscious politics and society. Perhaps I've just fallen into some paradigm lock of biased, wildy deranged observations and predictions by a few odd balls. Mainstream society doesn't talk about rough, unwanted Truths though aye. What is Love 2 would be demonized by 95% of Humanity given they were to hear it. Egoic Survival is a relentless and beautifully designed masterpiece. Lets hope for genius creative cutting edge apes and magic rabbits. No need for gloom, there are no demons here, only Love and Shapeshifting Christ Creation.

I'll tell you one thing I know for sure. There would be shit ton of gloom for myself if it wasn't for your work Leo xxx

 

Edit: only just seen your second message response. Perhaps. I do feel you're highly optimistic and generous, but, what we need is your line of thinking thats for sure  

Edited November 20, 2019 by SoothedByRain

[Leo Gura]

@SoothedByRain I would not rely on scientists to make predictions about mankind's and society's evolution. They are not qualified to speak about vision.

Yes, some of the problems will be bad, but don't underestimate our creative capacity and our capacity to adapt.

As things get worse mankind will be forced to wake up and rise to the occassion. Our biggest problem lately is that life has gotten so easy people are getting complacent. A climate crisis will force people to get seriously engaged rather than taking things for granted.

It's like with Trump. Yeah, he's a monster, but it's forcing people to take government seriously again. We got too complacent.

[CreamCat]

Civilization constantly collapses and rebuilds over and over. I destroy my ego and rebuild it over and over.

[abundance]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You'll survive 2 degrees of temperature change over 50-100 years.

And with new technology much damage can be reversed in the next 500 years.

We can blanket the entire planet in trees if we wanted to.

Humans will start terraforming the Earth and controlling its climate.

Fundamentally there is no limit. We are nowhere near tapping out the potential of Earth.

If the evolution of Earth & mankind were a computer progress bar, we'd be stuck at the 1% mark.

I applaud your optimism.We have the means to make radical change but not the will. At least not yet. 

 

[SoothedByRain]

@abundance The youth of the west won't give up their smartphones and cars until forced to, by then, it will be too late. Many say it already is too late. Emerging nations like China are planning advances in their use of coal which will dwarf all western first world efforts of clean energy, which itself, at this moment, without future fantasy tech, is unsustainable. 

@Leo Gura Agreed. Guess I should get to work enabling an emergence of higher consciousness. My own awakening and embodiment first of course. We won't survive for long without light being shone upon the devil.

@CreamCat All is in flux and the bubbles are beginning to broil. The past is not Now and the map is not the territory. 

[CreamCat]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

It's like with Trump. Yeah, he's a monster

I didn't expect you to call him a monster.

11 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

We can blanket the entire planet in trees if we wanted to.

Humans will start terraforming the Earth and controlling its climate.

Fundamentally there is no limit. We are nowhere near tapping out the potential of Earth.

If the evolution of Earth & mankind were a computer progress bar, we'd be stuck at the 1% mark.

You make extinction rebellion seem like a bunch of paranoid people who are overreacting to climate predictions.

Edited November 21, 2019 by CreamCat

[SoothedByRain]

For anyone interested in UK Politics and the upcoming election. 

https://campaigns.greenparty.org.uk/manifesto/

It is all 100% necessary and glaringly ridiculous to propose such. Its almost equivalent to suggesting Syria should aim to become the science and medicine research hub of humanity within the next 20 years, regardless of its current political, cultural and psychological development. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by SoothedByRain

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, CreamCat said:

I didn't expect you to call him a monster.

Plenty of monstrous people in the world. This isn't a moral judgment. It just basically means they're deep lost in ego with no hope of salvation until physical death.

Quote

You make extinction rebellion seem like a bunch of paranoid people who are overreacting to climate predictions.

It all depends on the scope of your vision and time frame.

In the short-term there will be lots of suffering due to climate change. But in the long-term I'm not too worried about it. Mankind will adapt and grow.

Most people don't think more than 50 years ahead and they have no deep understanding of the evolutionary potential of mankind. They tend to assume mankind is a static thing that will just do the same stuff as now. No! Mankind will massively evolve in consciousness, technology, and society in the next 100-500 years. Mankind will become unrecognizable, we will evolve so much.

[Ibn Sina]

I am not optimistic about the world,  we shouldn't be. All evidence points towards a gloomy future, death, destruction, earth becoming a lifeless desert. 

Life is not just precious, life is difficult. There are 10,000s of ways things can go wrong ( as a medical student, I can testify it in a medical/biological sense), and add in the environmental factors, social factors, death and destruction is inevitable. ( If I were to write  the complete list of evidences that testify for a gloomy future then it would be toooooooooooo long).

But this doesn't mean now you need to be sad. Even if a comet were to strike the earth, there is no reason for sadness. There is nothing wrong with destruction (and having extreme aversion and dread to it is what creates irrationality and delusion towards the reality of the case, like believing that your parents/childrens are alive although they are dead because you cannot bear the pain). Our job is to see what the case is, and then do what we can do, and accept our fate. But what we can't do is talk without solid base of evidence and logic and make decisions and conclusions on a whim.

[Tanz]

I as God which is also you, sayings things will be FINE.
We work so hard to create all this only to have it dwindle away?  
Mark my words, no asteroid or solar flare either.  Humanity will be fine.  

Materialist believes the environment is greater than them so its easy to believe that it will just destroy humanity.  They don't realize they are the environment and when you create a tremendous internal environment, the external manifest into that.