The Ultimate Evil.

[ColinEssex]

What do you think is the ultimate evil that will eventually lead to and bring about the downfall of mankind and the end of life or human life?

Serious answers please, it's no good saying Jeremy Clarkson or something.

Col

 

[Vassago]

Greed has always been the ultimate evil.

 

[Brianwarnock]

Whist not disagreeing with Vassago I think that the answer to Col's question is overbreeding which is actively encouraged by some religions.

Brian

 

[scott-atkinson]

A combination of Religious Fanatacism, and Corporate Greed.

What we need I feel is a World unifying moment, where the people of the world can put aside their differences and strive for the common goal, the presevation of the species...

Something like an alien invasion that would threaten the extinction of man, only someting of this magnitude type would us humans put aside our differences and fight together as one.

 

[scott-atkinson]

A combination of Religious Fanatacism, and Corporate Greed.

What we need I feel is a World unifying moment, where the people of the world can put aside their differences and strive for the common goal, the presevation of the species...

Something like an alien invasion that would threaten the extinction of man, only someting of this magnitude type would us humans put aside our differences and fight together as one.

or Jeremy Clarkson...

 

[Vassago]

Greed in general encompasses both corporate greed and religious fanaticism. People are greedy for money, fame, power, control, etc... Humanity really is doomed if we are ever invaded. I believe that most alien life out there would be unlikely to invade, having perfected the ability to survive in space and obviously more advanced technology, and presumably, intelligence, they would have no need to necessarily invade our planet. I find it much more likely that if they know we exist, they keep their distance because of what we do to each other and anything we don't understand. We would be the more likely culprit in our own extinction by starting a war with them out of sheer ignorance, were they to visit us in peace.

 

[Galaxiom]

Religion is definitely the major factor. Nothing else is quite so effective at initiating inappropriate actions in the face of problems.

Religion is a cargo cult that expects the delivery of a better world without doing anything to create it.

 

[scott-atkinson]

What Extinction Level Event do you feel would bring the peoples of the world together in unity?

 

[AnthonyGerrard]

Whist not disagreeing with Vassago I think that the answer to Col's question is overbreeding which is actively encouraged by some religions.

Brian

***ing Catholics.

and pretty much the whole world economy as set up at the moment demands population growth.

Greed.

I'd argue that maybe religion is a symptom of human malaise - not the cause of it.

Good to see we have started this debate at the level of a 12 year old who has found out for the first time that maybe God doesnt exist.

 

[Brianwarnock]

Good to see we have started this debate at the level of a 12 year old who has found out for the first time that maybe God doesnt exist.

Care to explain this?

Brian

 

[ColinEssex]

Care to explain this?

Brian

I don't understand it either.

Col

 

[ypma]

***ing Catholics.

Good to see we have started this debate at the level of a 12 year old who has found out for the first time that maybe God doesn't exist.

Sorry Antony, condemning a particular faith in a vulgar way, is in my opinion not conducive or constructive to a worthwhile debate .

As a Catholic I find your remarks in very bad taste and not worthy of this forum if this is your level as a 12 year old you need some good old fashion parental guidance .

 

[Brianwarnock]

***ing Catholics.

I don't know what Antony and ypma are thinking but the only thing I could replace the *** with was lov.

Brian

 

[Vassago]

I think it's "hating." Isn't the list a mile long of things they hate?

 

[AnthonyGerrard]

Care to explain this?

Brian

Ignore it was rubbish.
Having a bad day. Sorry.

 

[AnthonyGerrard]

***ing Catholics.

Good to see we have started this debate at the level of a 12 year old who has found out for the first time that maybe God doesn't exist.

Sorry Antony, condemning a particular faith in a vulgar way, is in my opinion not conducive or constructive to a worthwhile debate .

As a Catholic I find your remarks in very bad taste and not worthy of this forum if this is your level as a 12 year old you need some good old fashion parental guidance .

It wasnt my best of Friday no. Apologies. I didnt make myself clear and shouldnt have said anything.

 

[CJ_London]

moving on

What Extinction Level Event do you feel would bring the peoples of the world together in unity?

I don't think there is such an event - by it's definition there wouldn't be anyone left to unite.

Overpopulation - will become 'self regulating' in that if there is not enough food to go around the population will decrease - it won't just disappear in a puff of smoke - alien invasions excepted.

Change of Habitat - in earlier ice ages the population (inc animals) moved to habitats they were comfortable in or adapted to the new conditions (or became extinct if they did neither). If that means the available 'good' habitats are smaller in size or non existent see Overpopulation

Meteor Strike - see Change of Habitat

Global Warming - see Overpopulation

Reduction in Earths Magnetic Field - see Meteor Strike

Nuclear War - See Change of Habitat

Life is about survival, nothing more, nothing less. Humans are way past basic survival and into comforts, power, control etc. There are too many 'factions' at odds with each other and there will always be those who want to manipulate a situation to their own ends or be happy to sit back and let others do all the work.

To paraphrase a well known saying:

"You can bring some people to work together all of the time or all people to work together some of the time but not all people all of the time"

 

[The_Doc_Man]

If you think about it, evolution has led us to a situation where we need to overcome our natural urges to "tribalize." Religion and politics and race and many other factors all contribute to polarization, which is the real reason we have so many conflicts.

Overpopulation merely leads us to the situation where polarized tribes (or religious groups or political groups or take your pick...) come up against each other for resources (food, living area, energy, water, take your pick). However, that conflict could occur because of overpopulating the planet or the world or a single island. It is our inability to live together in peace without first having someone beat us over the head with a heavy, blunt object that is our built-in downfall.

Religion tries - and fails miserably - to beat us over the head with the "Hell and Damnation" stick so that we live together. The religions fail because of the multiplicity of religions that have different world views, some of which could never be reconciled. But this in turn occurs because religion is man-made, not divine. (If religion were truly a creation of divinity, there would be only one and its veracity couldn't be questioned.) For this reason, I don't hold religion as having any more blame than anything else.

It will always come back down to Man's stubborn nature and his reluctance to accept things that are different to his own viewpoints. That is, of course, a survival trait in a sparsely populated world - but not in a crowded one.

 

[Galaxiom]

Religion tries - and fails miserably - to beat us over the head with the "Hell and Damnation" stick so that we live together. The religions fail because of the multiplicity of religions that have different world views, some of which could never be reconciled.

The Abrahamic religions are fascism taken to the ultimate end where an oligarchy dictates everthing about the society right down to the personal level.

They promise peace through absolute and arbitrary uniformity, a concept most profoundly manifested in the Armageddon prophecy that the believers all so eagerly await to be fulfilled.

The Nazis had the same idea in killing everyone who was different from what they perceived as the norm.

 

[js061256]

There is no real evil, in and of itself. There are, however, errors that render results that do not serve us well. The greatest of errors is idolatry. No, I'm definitely not going all churchy on you. Let me explain. Idolatry is really the condition of mistaking a symbol that stands for something to be the thing it represents.

"The First Commandment" and Buddha's "A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon," are common expressions from different traditions that point to this universal concept/truth (small "t").

Greed is a good example of this error. Possessing great "wealth" is a symbol of well-being, but it is not, itself, well-being. And even though we may chase the symbols of well-being, or even kill to get them, when we do, we find that they are not even what we were after. The world is full of rich misery (miser, get it?).

I'll be happy "if, when and because" is another idolatrous error; it assumes that happiness is outside of us. We cannot be happy "out there," but only in our own conscious awareness. This we can enjoy when we quit making the Original Mistake.