[mcashman]

Frankly, nonsense.

Modern civilization is a robust and complex interconnected system with a wide variety of redundant and fault tolerant paths. When a natural disaster strikes, other regions can transport help, markets send price signals about scarcity and need.

We can use technologies that past societies would consider precognition to be able to predict the paths of storms, the onset of flooding, to watch lightning and tornados. We can predict and prepare and we have economic systems that insulate individuals, groups, and the rest of society from risks that become issues.

Billions of minds can collaborate, even without contact, solving problems like the development of vaccines, creation of chemicals to produce sanitation, development of light and strong materials to create structures that are resistant to heat, cold, shock and many other dangers.

We have withstood plagues, natural disasters and wars that would have been so massive as to be incomprehensible to past civilizations. Where the death of a key crop might have destroyed a more limited civilization, we simply substitute.

People like the author are afraid of interdependencies, but interdepedencies are what makes our civilization resilient. Imagine living in a small group of hundreds - what could you accomplish, how many problems could you solve? One thing is for sure - not even close to those we can solve in our exciting, complex, turbuklent society.

To hell with the doomsaers!

[mcashman]

Sorry, not the author, but the article the author was citing was nonsense.

(sigh)

[RKV]

I am a UCSB grad and have had to put up with Fagan and his ilk for a long time. Bollocks! Diversity and redundancy of sources (food, water, etc.) make the modern world robust, not fragile.

[Leto]

Also if Humans had resticted themselves to Hunter Gatherer groups we could could support anything close to the current population of the planet.

[wintertime]

People like the author are afraid of interdependencies, but interdepedencies are what makes our civilization resilient. Imagine living in a small group of hundreds - what could you accomplish, how many problems could you solve? One thing is for sure - not even close to those we can solve in our exciting, complex, turbuklent society. ( mcashman)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am reminded of the book by Steven King, "The Stand". In this book a virus kills off 98% of the population. The survivors of the epidemic, although initially rich in resources, suffer greatly due to the deaths of those who possessed the knowledge of how to do things.

Human wealth is due to human knowledge and need enough humans with their creative brains to run this world.

Just imagine if the population of the U.S. were reduced to that of Colonial Times. That number of people could not reproduce all the services we take for granted every minute of every day.

[Valin]

Well put. Building civilizations is what we (Humans) do.

To hell with the doomsayers!

(Once again) WELL SAID!