Years ago you used to see doom-mongers with “the end is nigh” written on their sandwich boards.

These predictions usually were based on interpretations of the Bible.

BUT we are still here!

Now scientists and politicians are warning that civilisation might be heading for a tipping point, due to poor world leadership, social unrest, population expansion, climate change, depletion of resources and inequality.

This scenario is scarier than a Frankenstein movie!

When will civilization collapse?

According to the Powers That Be–It has already started!

It might totally collapse in 40 to 50 years if we don’t do something to turn things around.

In the meantime society is getting restless!

How does social unrest start?

The population expands, supply of labour is more than is needed so it becomes cheap. Wealthy elites stick together and living standards of the lower class fall. Society becomes more UNEQUAL. The infighting between these groups starts social unrest.

Do we resist change?

Yes. When inequality and resource depletion meet they cause collapse–they fuel each other.

The ‘haves”are protected by their wealth from resource depletion for longer than the “have-nots” and so there is resistance to a change of strategy until it is too late.

The gap between the richest 1% and everyone else has been growing since the financial collapse of 2008.

How did the 2008 financial crisis occur?

In 2006 house prices began to fall and so the deregulated banks allowed people to take out mortgages for 100% of the value of a new house.

Deregulated banks started trading profitable securities worldwide which were mortgage backed.

People reneged on their 100% loans, so the securities lost value and the banks panicked when they had to absorb the losses. They, then, stopped landing to each other.

Government bank bailouts started.

An economic stimulus package was started, tax cuts and public works spending put money back into the economy.

The outcome: The realisation that banks couldn’t regulate themselves.

Can we avoid another global financial crisis?

Financial crisis is one of the stages of COLLAPSE.

Why do collapses happen?

Financial crisis-see 2008 collapse.

Climate change–when the stability of the climate changes it results in crop failures, floods and droughts.

Environmental Collapse–people start to cut down trees (deforestation), pollution from over use of fossil fuels.

Cars, planes and industry increase carbon emissions.

Poor World Leadership–leaders that tend to wait and see instead of finding solutions now. Political will is lacking.

Inequality–the gap between rich and poor drives social unrest which handicaps a societies ability to respond to the problems, ecological, social and economic.

Resource Depletion–oil will run out someday soon but the world relies heavily on fossil fuels.

Deforestation and Artic ice melts are continuing.

Rivers are drying up so future water shortages will develop.

Wars might be fought over water!

Overpopulation–will collapse the world’s food supply.

Crop failures cause by climate change–overfishing of the oceans which are getting polluted.

If we keep adding billions of people we will exceed the carrying capacity of the planet.

More people tends to create more pollution.

Well, my friends, that is what collapse looks like.

It may take years or decades, BUT it is already set in motion! People feel hopeless!

Is there hope? What to do?

We lack the knowledge of HOW TO LIVE!

Our original form of human social organisation was TRIBALISM, which didn’t have any impact on the environment.

The problems listed above are motivated and justified on the thinking that we humans can do what we please–we can build, dam up, extract, cut down, pollute as much as we want, shaping the world to our desires.

Maybe, during this collapsing process, we can start from scratch.

Can we learn from the hunter-gatherers?

They knew how to live so they didn’t ruin their environment on which they depended on for survival?

I think we have to simplify life:

Go into the garden and read nature’s signs.

Do things yourself–start a veg garden and feed yourself.

Retreat to the countryside, inhale fresh air, feel the sun on your face and let go.

Be a modern day hunter-gatherer.

We have to make the best of our situation and use the opportunity to create something better.

Step back to go forward OR in other words:

GO BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!

Do you feel man is superior over all other species?

Of course you do.

Our species has been to the moon and back!

How do we compare with other species?

Darwin’s work proved that humans evolved from monkeys.

The major difference between us is brain size, in other words, intellect.

Humans are good at inventing things and being creative.

How smart are we?

Was creating the atomic bomb really such a good idea?

Evidence is that humans are to blame for global warming, melting ice caps and rising sea levels, plus pollution.

Which means millions of people and other species could perish.

ARE WE SO CLEVER AFTER ALL?

Is man or nature best for looking after balancing life support systems on our planet?

This is the Great Debate.

Man’s dominion was backed up by the inventing of guns and gunpowder.

Then came transport linking up continents using ships to transport goods.

Man was doing great things!

Then in 1800 something happened–POPULATION EXPLOSION!!!

Despite wars, disease and natural disasters, the world’s population rose to one billion people!

What did Thomas Malthus, the economist, say about this?

He predicted disaster!

With the population explosion there would NOT be enough food to sustain human life.

Nature would have to take over producing disease, famine and starvation until balance was restored.

This shocked the World!

What happened next, how did the World respond?

Malthus’s predictions became a challenge to the creative minds of Europe and America to make sure they didn’t come true and man could break free from Nature’s limitations.

So what did the minds of the World come up with?

Britain found coal under the ground to replace wood burning.

BUT the World still relied on wind and water power.

In other words, energy came directly from natural processes. Nature was still king!

Then steam was perfected with the steam engine. This machine didn’t rely on the earth’s natural forces.

The steam engine could pull a wagon without the help of gravity, wind or water.

All it needed was the raw materials of the earth itself, such as coal, oil and gas.

By burning coal in an oxygenated atmosphere water could be heated in a high pressure container to produce an independent source of power.

Then the railroads were built.

After steam power came electricity.

Then mass production of products in factories followed.

Now man and nature were in competition for the earth’s finite resources.

Nature needed them for sustaining habitats and species.

Man needed them to keep the machines going to maintain a lifestyle for the people.

Man made materials, such as rubber and plastics, were on the rise.

So these advances were made without regard for nature or other forms of life.

What problems did all this progress create?

The man made materials have NO place or function in the natural eco systems.

Nature’s products degrade and decay over time.

But man’s products create waste and clog up the earth’s environment.

What has this to do with population increase?

Man’s manipulation of nature has led to population boom.

Better farming methods produce more food.

Better health and hygiene (vaccinations and drugs).

Motorized power and insecticides help the boom.

Today the population grows by approximately 211,000 everyday!!!

What will the future bring?

In the next 30 years the earth’s population is expected to be almost 10 billion!

Right now there is enough food grown to feed 10 billion people.

BUT the food is NOT evenly distributed, that’s why the Third World countries are hungry.

The other problem is food waste.

Most developing countries don’t have refrigerated warehouses and trucks.

So lots of food spoils fast.

What are the negative effects of population growth?

More infrastructure is needed in developing countries.

Undernurishment do to lack of food, which lowers productivity and poverty emerges.

Poverty breeds large numbers of children which increases poverty further–a vicious cycle.

The the overall consequence of population growth is to lower standards of living.

In conclusion:

Man’s intervention stopped Nature from having her way and keeping things under control!

Life is comprised of misfortune and suffering as well as pleasure.

In life we hope there will be an even balance between pleasure and pain.

So, on our good days, we are unconscious of the evil fate may have in store for us–sickness, loss, sadness, or loss of reason.

In youth we look forward to our coming life, we are like kids in a theatre before the curtain is lifted, sitting, feeling good, waiting for life to begin.

It is a blessing we don’t know what is coming our way.

If we foresaw it, it would be like the kids were condemned, NOT to death, but to life!!!

Nevertheless, every man desires to reach old age, a state of life where it may be said:

It is bad today, and it will be worse tomorrow, and so on, until the worst of all happens!

Life is a task to be done, in death it means that man has done his task.

It is a bad situation when you are faced with a future that can only get worse in the throes of old age.

Now, lets turn to some OPTIMISM in old age.

Death looks different in old age!

In old age, hopefully, the life force is strong and death looks different, less scary.

Most old people can’t escape illness but they live with it.

They don’t let it overwhelm them and ruin the time that is left.

Part of life is aging. Dying is the biological process that happens only at the end of all that LIVING.

Our ageist society combines aging and death into one.

That’s not right, aging is concerned with life.

Every old person struggles to come to terms with death.

In our youth oriented society we tie aging to death.

We project our fears on the oldies.

But the old can and do, to a great extent, adapt to their circumstances.

As I move into my eighties I become less uneasy about death.

None of us wants to die in pain, but we’re not afraid.

People project their terror of death onto the aged.

But to an oldie, life goes on in death’s shadow!

Oldies are aware that time is short but it doesn’t fill them with dread.

It makes people spend their time more wisely.

Oldies give priority to relationships and spend time doing things that are satisfying to them.

When you’re young and striving for success, the future can be oppressive.

So, for the oldie, we are relieved of the burden of the future. We savour the moment.

There is NO present if there is NO ending!

Oldies live in the moment because we know time is running out and we don’t want to waste our time.

As I go into my eighties, I realise that somewhere along the line there is a STOP.

That’s it!

So you decide to live life to the fullest.

REMEMBER: THE GRIM REAPER LOOKS DIFFERENT IN OLD AGE!!!

Do you remember the story of the Lord of the Flies?

It was a novel by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on an island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves.

Democratic rules of civilisation vs Autocratic savagery.

In the novel two different types of leaders emerge…

Ralph-represents civilisation. He was elected by the boys in a democratic vote.

He wants to implement rules by which to live.

Jack-represents autocratic savagery.

He put himself up as the leader who has absolute power, who takes no account of the other boy’s wishes or opinions.

The theme of the novel is the conflict between two opposing instincts in humans.

The instinct to live by the rules and act peacefully and value the good of the group.

OR, gratify ones immediate desires and act violently to obtain supremacy and enforce one’s will.

Everything was going good under Ralph.

But then, Jack imposed his will and put himself up as an autocratic leader.

Everything collapsed under Jack!

So, I’m going to talk about the need for Good Political Leaders for World Survival!

The world is full of aspiring political leaders, but sadly, very few live up to the leadership ideals.

In fact, many political leaders lack some of the most important leadership qualities, such as integrity and accountability.

Political leaders are vitally important–through the authority of government they assess the distribution of power and resources, build relationships with other countries and leaders, and make decisions that have a great impact on the well-being of a nation.

Good leadership requires a focus on the long-term good of the country, above any personal short-term gains.

They need to assess a situation and make a decision based on what would be best for the greatest number of people.

What is very important in a leader?

STATESMANSHIP–THIS MEANS HAVING THE INTEGRITY AND WILLINGNESS TO STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT.

What makes a good political leader?

Someone with good communication and interpersonal skills, who can work with others to achieve the greatest good for the population.

Someone with a strong character.

Someone who listens to the needs of the people.

Someone with the courage to say what needs to be said.

Someone who is willing to make difficult decisions for the greater good.

Anybody come to mind???

A good leader must have a style that focuses on building and doesn’t use manipulation to get what they want but uses inspiration and motivation.

Sometimes they might have to use coercion and negotiation, but in the end they use persuasion.

A key quality is taking Responsibility.

Accountability is crucial to effective leadership, without it there will be NO respect from followers.

A good leader is someone who will be honest and responsible for their actions and decisions and who is willing to admit mistakes.

They will focus their energies and time on representing the people rather than spending time covering their backs and criticising others.

GOOD LEADERS ARE CRUCIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF CIVILISATION!

AMEN!

The other day I was walking on a crowded pavement and I noticed everybody was glued to their phones except me.

There was one zombie headed straight for me, so I bumped into him.

He looked up with a blank expression and continued on.

I bumped into another one, he gave me an angry look like I was interrupting his obsession.

Other zombies just look at you with a bored look and don’t even say they are sorry.

What’s the world coming to???

The world is feeling the effects of the intense environment of instant communication.

Are you unable to do without your smartphone for even a few hours?

That’s an ADDICTION!

Screen culture is a world of sound bites, gossip tidbits and news headlines–ideas that don’t stand alone, they are interlinked to everything else.

What is this doing to people’s minds?

The addicted have to stay plugged in for fear of missing something!

This is the life of being constantly connected which is the norm today.

It’s NOT all bad. The internet carries and distributes a lot of information. It can bring us data on anything.

It is the basis of our financial, health and education systems.

This is a dream world our ancestors never experienced.

But humanity still seems in a state of pain, injustice, prejudice, abuse and general unhappiness!

SOMEHOW WE HAVE BECOME THE VICTIMS OF OUR TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES.

The state if being withdrawn or isolated from the objective world is having a bad effect on our mental health!

We shouldn’t moan about technology, but develop self-control, like we do with other temptations in life.

The public is addicted to their smartphones and this makes some people depressed and anxious.

The need for instant connection to others is a need we can’t control.

We spend more time on social media trying to connect with others digitally but we spend less time interacting face-to-face.

So, people have to learn how to self-regulate this device in their hands.

Lets talk a bit about the importance of face-to-face communication.

Some people can go an entire day without actually interacting with others!

They rely on emails, texting and social media.

Digital communication tends to be impersonal.

Advantages of face-to-face communication:

First is Non-Verbal Clues.

You can read a person’s body language to see if they’re interested or not in what you are saying.

Next is Effectiveness–emailing and texting back and forth is less effective than getting your ideas over to someone in one go–face-to-face.

Face-to-face creates a personal touch to your communication.

It also builds relationships, it builds a bond between people.

And lastly, your information retains confidentiality through face-to-face in a private setting.

Face-to-face is still the most efficient way of communicating between people because it’s personal and you can get a direct response from the other person.

It’s not enough to just say the words, we need eye contact, body language and facial expressions to communicate our feelings.

Face-to-face is the best way of communicating because you can avoid misunderstandings that may occur in writing.

Too much digital attention is the cause of a shallow, scattered mindset especially in the young.

So lets learn some self-control over our digital world.

In the meantime…here comes another glassy-eyed zombie headed straight for me.

GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU DIGITAL SLEEPWALKER!!!

While checking out the philosophy in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, I uncovered two philosophical questions that are brought up in the novel.

They are:

Is it alright to eat animals?

What is acceptable as entertainment?

We will look at Vegetarianism first:

Arthur, the main character in the novel, questions the ethics of animal eating when he is confronted by a cow!

He is an omnivore and he never before contemplated the case for vegetarianism.

We don’t usually think about our modes of behaviour, whether they are morally right or wrong.

Do we wear clothes that are made in a sweet shop in a third world country?

Is that wrong?

Well, eating meat is another behaviour that not many of us consider.

If we thought about the morality of our actions constantly we wouldn’t have time to enjoy our own lives!!!

Some people feel animals exist for eating, for human sustenance.

Vegetarians object to the slaughtering of animals for human consumption.

Some have a humorous outlook that killing an animal deprives it of its long term pleasant existence.

Do you know any animals that have long term plans or projects?

No. Well then, their deaths aren’t like human deaths, are they?

The vegetarians abhor the pain and suffering animals are put through before they end up on our plates.

Are animals devoid of mental life?

Of course, you say. Animals don’t think about death like we do.

But we know they do feel pain because most have a central nervous system.

What are your thoughts on vegetarianism?

Myself, I enjoy a juicy T-bone steak!

Now, lets turn to entertainment:

What is acceptable entertainment? No violence. Mild violence or extreme violence.

There are several passages of violent entertainment in the Galaxy of the Hitchhiker’s.

What is violent entertainment?

Tarantino movies? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

This is fictional violence.

Violence is defined as the physical force that causes injury or damage to a person or property.

Is it acceptable to read or watch moderate to severe fictional violence as “Mere Entertainment”?

Let us now turn to the objections to violent entertainment.

The first objection is the idea of Character Corruption.

Does a diet of violent entertainment desensitise a person?

Does violent entertainment cause violent, aggressive behaviour?

The second objection is that real people suffer from violence, so then is enjoyment of violent entertainment decadent?

Does it contribute to moral and cultural decline?

The third objection is the “Viciousness Objection”.

If a person reads or watches about a vicious violent act, should this feel repugnant to the person or is it entertainment?

Why should the person who enjoys fictional violence be said to lack sensitivity or compassion?

Maybe such enjoyment requires the person to suspend his compassionate attitudes.

Or does one’s enjoyment of fictional violence make one desensitised to actual violence?

That would mean that it would corrupt the person.

There is another objection and it is called the “Cognitive Failure Objection.

This entails a moral failing, a failure to realise the nature of violence, for example, that violence hurts and causes damage.

The last point to make is the violence in comedy.

Remember the old cartoons? They used slapstick violence, poking each other in the eye, or hitting someone over the head with a frying. pan–this trivialised violence.

I enjoyed:

The Three Stooges

Laurel and Hardy

The Marx Brothers

This is slapstick comedy violence at its best!

Let me know your thoughts.

Which has the most meaning in life, considering the absurdity of it all?

Lets take a close look at this before your mind gets boggled!

We know religion promises eternal life but lets leave that aside, especially if you’re a non-believer.

But, we mere mortals, who have a finite life, and who try to create meaning for ourselves, and who don’t believe in religion, we ask the question, “What’s the meaning of life?’, over and over again!!!

Us mortals endeavour to be part of something that transcends our biological existence, such as having children or creating works that last past our demise.

This makes us feel MORE than mortal!

There is another question floating around:

“Would you be BORED if you were immortal?”

Some future-minded scientists predict that in a 100 years or so medical science will be able to STOP the aging process!

Would humans be bored with a radical life extension, or indeed, living forever?

Would there be meaning in immortality?

Note that life extension does not imply COMPLETE immortality.

There still would be some traumatic deaths and accidents.

So there would always be some uncertainty about death!

With future technology advancing at break neck speed we probably would never get bored. Our engagement with life would go to new heights!

I am in the midst of analysing the philosophy found in the novel:

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

In the novel the character called, “Wowbagger” has immortality given to him.

To begin with it was wonderful, taking risks and having non-stop fun.

Then things got a little boring for him. He got tired of going to other people’s funerals and smiling!

So, he conceived the purpose of insulting everyone in the universe and that would keep him busy and never be bored.

So, Wowbagger found meaning in immortality.

What about the finite human life? Can we find meaning or is there always the threat of meaninglessness?

We all have things we want to do, projects to finish. The problem is death. The fact is we have many things we want to do and only a finite amount of time to do them before we die.

If we were immortal we would be free from time pressure.

We would have all kinds of time for many, many projects.

But, being mortal, all our good works tend to be wiped out after our death.

Hence, what’s the point?

We struggle with the question of a meaningful life but is this struggle absurd because of our insignificance in the whole scheme of things?

The human condition is absurd because we seek inherent value and meaning in life but we fail to find any in a chaotic, meaningless world.

We can only embrace our existence and meet absurdity with defiance.

Example of absurdity in everyday life:

Get up in the morning, take train to work, four hours work then lunch then four more hours work, take train home, have dinner and go to bed. Monday through Friday- all at the same rhythm. One day, the “WHY” of it all overcomes us and we see the absurdity of life.

Do our lives serve some real purpose?

Or are we just inconsequential specks in the world?

But we still seek some sort of meaning because we cannot stop wanting CLARITY AND COMPASSION AND MEANING from the world, it’s built into our nature.

Why let the question of meaning torture us? Maybe we should ignore the question.

Maybe life itself can restore the balance that has been made chaotic by our continuing questioning.

I will sum up my 81 year old thoughts now:

“I’m old and tired and I’ll probably never find out what is really going on. So the only thing to do is to say the “hell with it” and just keep writing blogs.”

We are lucky to be living in a time when science is finding out so much about the world and universe around us.

It boggles the mind!

We are flying through space at 65,000 miles per hour around the Sun.

Faster than jet planes.

We are so small in comparison to the universe.

In our galaxy, The Milky Way”, there are billions of stars.

Time is very interesting to think about also.

We know about the “Big Bang” that created our universe is 13.7 billion years old.

The Earth is around 4.5 billion years old

Humans are about 130,000 years old–mere babies!

I don’t know about you, but I get very excited just thinking how lucky we are to belong to a species that is very intelligent to figure this stuff out BUT also to appreciate the fact that we are part of it all albeit a very small part.

Human history and prehistory is also very interesting.

Archaeology tells us about the tools and art of everyday people long ago.

History is the greatest story of all!

With all this science going on who needs silly conspiracy theories.

The rate of scientific progress is accelerating.

Technology is close to many breakthroughs that could change our lives overnight.

DOES THIS MEAN A FANTASTIC FUTURE OR AN END TO CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT?

Either way, it’s going to be interesting.

Coming up is a golden age of discovery, a leap forward.

This might not feel like such a wonderful time because of wars, poverty, crime, and political nonsense.

But that’s not the whole story.

I hope we can raise humankind to a higher plane–someday.

In conclusion:

Be thankful for the magnificent brain you have.

Question everything and think like a scientist.

Don’t throw your life away on dead-end beliefs.

THINK BEFORE YOU BELIEVE.

“The end of the World is Near,” said the man that just had a near-death experience.

I remember as a kid seeing men with sandwich boards marching up and down with the message on the board, ” The end of the World is Near.”

People always had an interest in the final day of judgement.

The end of the World is an interesting subject because the World really could end.

It’s NOT a crazy topic at all!

Space rocks called asteroids are floating around and could someday devastate us.

Nuclear war is scary.

Also the Sun, our star, will die and ruin the planet.

The Sun’s dying act would fry the earth in 4 billion years, but that’s a long time away.

Maybe we will inhabit another galaxy by then.

For generations, millions of people have believed in doomsday claims.

We know it is sensible to assume there will be a tomorrow.

Skeptical thinking defies doomsday scenarios.

Now, this man who was babbling about the day of judgement said he saw the end of the World in his near-death experience.

He was in the hospital on the operating table and saw the earth explode.

This must have been his light at the end of the tunnel!

I told him it was probably a dream induced by a lack of oxygen in the brain during the operation. His brain was highly stressed at that time.

The brain can conjure up some very weird things.

We can all be fooled by our brains as far as what we see, hear, and feel.

We remember things that aren’t real.

So, shouldn’t we be skeptical?

I think the human brain, under stress, is very unreliable.

But some people are comforted by weird stories and near-death experiences make great stories!

DON’T BE FRIGHTENED, THINK SKEPTICALLY!

Are you a SKEPTIC? If not, maybe you should be.

Some people say:

“Skepticism kills innovation and creativity. It creates static beings.

We are made to grow, learn, and seek TRUTH. Not to tear it down.”

But some “TRUTH” isn’t true!

How can we know what is and what isn’t TRUE?

Scientists are skeptics, they question everything until it is proved with EVIDENCE, the available body of facts or info indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

Thinking like a scientist leads to MORE intuition and creativity.

So, what does being a skeptic entail?

It means withholding your opinion until SOLID EVIDENCE has been presented.

Skepticism stimulates creative thinking by encouraging questions rather than settling for absolute answers.

What do you know?

We think we know all sorts of things, but how and on what grounds can we defend those claims?

Our supposed knowledge of the world is based on perceptions gained through our senses, but aren’t perceptions prone to error?

5th century BC Greeks originated skepticism to fight dogmatism, which is inflexible principles laid down by “authorities”.

Skepticism got going in the 15th and 16th centuries when the first stirrings of the scientific revolution led people to question the basis of existing knowledge and the validity of theological truth.

So, lets get down to the nitty gritty.

You say you don’t want to be a skeptic!

So, that means, you want to trust everything people tell you.

Who needs facts when your gut speaks the truth!

You are ready to live the dream!

Now, who wants to Think Like A Scientist?

“I do,” you scream!

Okay you are ready to THINK!

What does it mean to think like a scientist?

It means that you want to maintain a healthy level of curiosity and doubt.

You ask questions and strive for evidence.

You don’t draw conclusions until you have good reason to do so.

You must also be ready to change your mind if your conclusions turn out to be incorrect.

Why should we question everything?

Well, the human brain does a poor job of separating truth from fiction!

What is conformation bias?

Our brain does this well, this bias prevents us from thinking clearly about our beliefs.

We remember info that supports our beliefs.

But tend to discount info that challenges our beliefs.

You need to resist this bias and keep an open mind and really consider other ideas.

Why our memories are unreliable:

The brain constructs our memories from bits of info, things are left out and things are added.

Don’t trust your memory!

Your brain constructs and interprets what you see.

What you see is something the brain has interpreted for us, based on what comes through our eyes.

It can be deceiving.

To be a skeptic you might have to give up some of your beliefs and that scares a lot of people.

They claim that their treasured beliefs are necessary to find joy, comfort and meaning in life.

But if you are a skeptic you will always ask:

“Where’s the evidence?”

In conclusion:

Always try to think like a scientist, so that you can distinguish truth from fiction.

Question Everything.

Don’t pretend to know things you don’t know.

THINK BEFORE YOU BELIEVE!