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this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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One of the possible answers astrophysicists give for why we haven't seen more evidence of intelligent life in the universe, is that there are technological milestones that lead to doomsday scenarios. They're "great filters" that many advanced civilizations don't survive. The classic example is nuclear fission and the power it gives to destroy. I'm convinced that plastic is one of these filters.
I'd figure those plastics wreak havoc in the long term in an individual life but won't prevent people form reproducing and developing. It might be a serious setback but just a hurdle for humanity. Climate change, our nuclear arsenal, ... pose more urgent threats.
funny that you mention reproducing...
Yeah lead does all of this stuff too and we made it past the Romans using it as a sweetener...
Did you mean sweetener?
Or did they spin it into threads?
Sweetener.... Darn phones lol
Curious why you've got two emojis in your username?
DEREK!
I'm enjoying a treat Derrick!
Pretty sure plastics save more.lives than they destroy. Modern medicine isn't nearly as effective without them.
Not necessarily the creation of plastic--I agree that it's very beneficial--but the management of plastic. As we're seeing now, plastic can be very destructive to life when it's used and disposed of irresponsibly. The filter in this case is being able to use plastic for its good without letting its harmful aspects get out of control.
If they end up destroying the whole species?
I wouldn't necessarily be convinced of that. I'd put that in a similar category as climate change. It might catastrophically ravage the world, but I think humans would survive. It's not the same punctuated event as nuclear fission. If a crazy person got control of nukes early in, they could wreak havoc on the world. Initial blasts kill tons of people, radiation would likely not be fully understood and fallout changes the global landscape before humanity can realistically react. Contrast that with global warming and microplastics, we know (we as in humanity in the broader sense) these are issues. It might need to get to the catastrophic ravaging before enough people are convinced, but eventually it will happen. And the intervening time won't cause humans to go extinct. Sure billions might die, but not all.