tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19476812.post7041691502490987609..comments2023-07-04T02:49:33.116-07:00Comments on Collective Development: A WarningPacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03710979728514592674noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19476812.post-65973034775411071482007-01-21T00:03:00.000-08:002007-01-21T00:03:00.000-08:00You make a good point. Completely killing off hum...You make a good point. Completely killing off humanity would take a cosmic extinction level event. Killing 99% would have a significant impact towards environmental restoration, but humanity would eventually rebound and potentially do the same as before if they had not learned their lesson. I hope that the resiliency of humanity will stick in the minds of any would be mass murderers.Pacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03710979728514592674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19476812.post-35835643399188042772007-01-20T18:40:00.000-08:002007-01-20T18:40:00.000-08:00I do agree with the spirit of your posting. I agre...I do agree with the spirit of your posting. I agree that such scares need sensible preventions. I likewise have met a number of people who also have similar inclinations to wiping out the human species for the good of the biosphere. I had two extra observations on that subject.<br /><br />First, while humanity has wreaked untold change and loss of biodiversity on this planet since it first managed language and the ability to manipulate complex tools and fire, the simple fact of the matter is that even a mere dip in the economic and social development of mankind would cause extinctions to merely accelerate. A complete extinction of humanity would damn hundreds if not thousands of species to extinction, as their existence is now completely restricted to a human-maintained menagerie. Some examples that stand out are Giant Pandas, Scimitar-horned Oryxes and Asian Lions...just go to the National Zoo in DC to see more. If human society collapsed, then these animals (and plants) would be too far from their native habitats and in too few numbers to survive. Their existence is now linked to ours.<br /><br />As for killing off humanity with a single pathogen, it is a possibility, but as I see it an extremely remote one. The simple fact of microbiology and epidemiology is that a pathogen's virulence is inversely related to the intensity of infection: quite simply, pathogens that spread easily, like the common cold, do not kill easily. Yes, this could be manipulated by biologists, but I wonder just how easy it would be for a pathogen, even a windborne one, to reach 100% of humanity. Once again, the closer you get to killing off that last person, the cost of making sure every last person is killed exponentially increases. And, as Agent Smith says in The Matrix, humanity itself is like a virus....and probably like the 1918 even it can be resurrected...Kochevnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17324813801736964649noreply@blogger.com