Thread: Biggest threat?

What do you think is the biggest threat to humankind globally?

Not necessarily through extinction, that would require something really dramatic. But more like a drastic decline in life expectancy all over the world.

We survived Swine Flu and Bird Flu, so I'm guessing it's not some sort of mutated virus pandemic. I would vote for any sort of nuclear war.

Originally Posted by JX

We survived Swine Flu and Bird Flu, so I'm guessing it's not some sort of mutated virus pandemic. I would vote for any sort of nuclear war.

I vote some form of virus or bacteria. Those little buggers have wiped out more humans than anything else.

True, but we're becoming increasingly good at minimizing the damage; of course, maybe if it was used as a bioengineered weapon that gets out of control.

I'm going to go with stupid drivers

What do you think is the biggest threat to humankind globally?

us, humans.

Originally Posted by Heinsbergrelatz

What do you think is the biggest threat to humankind globally?

us, humans.

Seconded

Originally Posted by Arcane_Mathematician

Originally Posted by Heinsbergrelatz

What do you think is the biggest threat to humankind globally?

us, humans.

Seconded

i think that however it happens, this is the most likely. either through nuclear war or a biological weapon(which, with our new ability to create bacteria with DNA that we write on a computer, and produce whaterver enzymes we have the code for, are going to become increasingly deadly), or through mass starvation thanks to capitalism granting control of over half the world's resources to 1% of the population, any means that the human race is likely to encounter that could drastically harm us is likely to be our own doing.

Saying that we are the biggest threat to mankind is kind of cheating, a bit too unspecific so to say. Covers pretty much everything save for asteroids, our planet being scorched by the sun or earth being destroyed by vogons to make place for an intergalactic hyperway.

Originally Posted by JX

True, but we're becoming increasingly good at minimizing the damage; of course, maybe if it was used as a bioengineered weapon that gets out of control.

Sure, we are becoming increasingly good at decreasing the damage caused by bacteria. However, those little buggers can adapt pretty fast too. If for example resistance to antibiotics were to spread globally on a large scale then what is now considered a "simple surgery" would be far from simple again. We'd be set back a few hundred years in medicine.[/quote]

Originally Posted by jakotaco

Saying that we are the biggest threat to mankind is kind of cheating, a bit too unspecific so to say. Covers pretty much everything save for asteroids, our planet being scorched by the sun or earth being destroyed by vogons to make place for an intergalactic hyperway.

Hey, it's not for a "hyperway". That would be unethical. It's clearly for a hyperspace bypass.

Originally Posted by Arcane_Mathematician

Originally Posted by jakotaco

Saying that we are the biggest threat to mankind is kind of cheating, a bit too unspecific so to say. Covers pretty much everything save for asteroids, our planet being scorched by the sun or earth being destroyed by vogons to make place for an intergalactic hyperway.

Hey, it's not for a "hyperway". That would be unethical. It's clearly for a hyperspace bypass.

You have passed the test. :wink:

Now I sense a risk of this thread going off topic, so it's time to go back to what could possibly stop mankind from being able to sit down and watch the universe end while having a nice meal?

So far we've got weapons of mass destruction, disease, famine and drunk drivers (?!) as possible threats to mankind. It's a scary thought to think that at least the first three are very possible given enough time. (ok, drunk drivers are not an unlikely event, but unless said drunk driver is driving a nuclear submarine I think he is not going to risk the safety of mankind globally)

Originally Posted by jakotaco

What do you think is the biggest threat to humankind globally?

Noel Edmonds.

Something we haven't thought of yet!

A small group of men and women.

Kent Hovind.... and Ken Ham.

The biggest threat without a doubt is the American administration.

Controlled by bankers - run by puppets... they are the biggest threat to the whole world.

The current economic crisis will worsen and will lead to an economic collapse... very possibly by design.

And worse of all... they are only succeeding because they are preying on people's ignorance and the fact that people who think they are intelligent deny things that they don't agree with but still can't be bothered to investigate.

But that, unquestionably, is the biggest and most immediate threat.


2nd to that it could be viruses/bacteria.

^ that seems like something that needs a bit of evidence to go along with it. perhaps a topic in the politics section?

i disagree, although the american political system is a threat and a continuing menace to human rights, i don't think that the human race as a whole is in any danger from an economic collapse. obviously the collapse is possible but it doesn't present a real danger, we've dealt with economic collapses before and the human race has shown that it survives those handily.