The Future

Normally, in English class, I ignore much of the information that my English teacher tells us in class and much of it goes into one ear and out of the other, besides if it's information about a test, essay contest, something that will help me with the homework, etc. Actually, that would be all the time so I listen to him pretty well, but occasionally he'll go off with a story that has nothing to do with the class, and I would talk to Joey, John, or listen to my iPod. But today, while we were jumping into the next section in the book, we were discussing much of America history from the years after 1940 to about present day when the book was published (a pretty long time ago) and a pretty interesting topic was brought up. A topic that I have been debating over for a time now within my head and a topic that bothers me. Sadly enough, this topic has an inevitable subject that will happen someday, whether it be done one way or another. Just like in the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost, if the world doesn't end by fire, then it will end by ice, and vice versa.

Yes, the topic was about the end of mankind. It wasn't straightforwardly concerned over such as the topic was mostly about how there's unprotected silos filled with nuclear weapons in Russia after they were created during the Cold War era, and how if somebody cunning enough was to break into one, that it may very well be the end of man. There's so many different ways for man to die that it's not even funny. All we have to do at this point in time is to push a button, send a couple nuclear weapons around the world, start a nuclear war, and not even a day after the button was pushed, there will hardly be any life left on this planet. Right now, as my English teacher pointed out, as you hear cars outside roaring by your house, mankind is slowly dying. Our ozone layer is going bye-bye and when that goes, mankind will go bye-bye. Ever get a sunburn? Multiply that sunburn you had by ten more sunburns and maybe mix a little bit of skin cancer and melting in there. Yes, the ozone layer is nice when you see results like that, but it's slowly decreasing in size due to the amount of gas and other particles we're sending up into the atmosphere because of cars, factories, etc. And honest to God, you have Al Gore running around warning people and politics that we need to take action, and the majority of the people ignore him! Okay, let's wait until New York City is underwater because of rising ocean levels, the majority of American citizens cannot leave their home because they'll get skin cancer and radiation poisoning, and our crops are burning up, droughts are ample, we get hurricanes every week, and wildlife is dying. Maybe then we'll take action! Al Gore and others warning about the issue of global warming are the saviors here. These are the people we need to listen to because if we don't, we're going to dig ourselves into a hole so deep that we can't climb back out -- and we're already pretty much in that situation! We need to either do one of two things: Get NASA to hurry up, find another planet that can support life, find a way to ship more than six billion humans to that planet and some animals, and then we won't have to worry about Earth anymore; or we can actually worry about our planet first besides looking at other planets. I think scientists should invent some capsule that upon explosion can create an atmosphere on a planet, but maybe morph that idea around a bit and try to find a way to rebuild our atmosphere first.

Even though I'm so concerned about this global warming, that's only one of the many ways that mankind will go extinct. That's a scary thought, as a complex issue such as global warming is just a minor fault that will bring humans down. What else do we have that can kill us? We have things from outer space (asteroids, gamma rays [correct?]) and then we have things on our planet (super volcanoes, global warming, nuclear war, plague). What's even more scary is that the majority of the events on Earth that can kill humans off are caused by humans themselves. And what's even more terrifying is that the Earth is going to end no matter what, caused by mankind or a natural event. The sun is going to die millions of years from now, and even before then the sun will increase in size and swallow the Earth. Even before then the increasing size of the sun coming nearer to Earth may do its toll on the planet, drying it up and even evaporating the oceans. The only problem with global warming and the other man-made tragedies that can occur is that they'll just end us faster than we would naturally go extinct. Our doom is inevitable. But the ultimate horrifying thing is that what will be left? What's the purpose of our living now? Just think about it. When the Earth is swallowed by the sun, who's going to remember the greatness of John F. Kennedy? Who is going to remember the different continents of Earth? Who is going to remember mathematics, languages, arts, etc. Nobody as there will be nobody. What would be the case if we happened to be the only life in the universe or the last life there was. All life would be gone. There would just be stars and massive chunks of rock floating around in blackness known as space. What will happen as time goes on? Even if man was able to travel to and live on another planet, sooner or later the universe is supposed to all smash into itself and be gone too. I have to wonder though. What would there be if there was no universe? I hate it when people say nothing. There has to be something. Who is it to say that the universe is the ultimate stage? Maybe the universe is within a sphere just like a planet and is morphed around a central ball of energy -- the core. As to say the universe itself is the sphere. But just like how planets float about the universe, if the universe was a ball like a planet, what is it floating around in? I know we're looking at a large scale here, but the chance of such an idea being true is possible as no man knows the definite answer.

Why should I be concerned with this if it may not involve me? I may be dead before the government even accepts that global warming is occurring. I'm concerned because my life will mean nothing if there is no life to speak of it. Now, I never plan on being popular so I can easily be forgotten about twenty years after I'm dead and rotting in the ground, but let's say I wrote the best novel ever and I'm widely known. When mankind is gone, so will my legacy too be gone. History will be gone. All these fundamentals that we go to school to learn will be gone. Some people say that by then we'll have robots around to store all the information, and if they have to, be launched into space and drift around with the information stored, waiting to be found. But is a robot alive? No. Robots are metals, wires, computer chips, and the such. I would not accept them if they were invented and programmed to have the brain of a human, but I would accept them if they were to store as much information as possible about mankind before we go. But even then, there's only so much that a computer chip can hold. Look at the internet. You need multiple servers to store all the information contained on it, but when it comes to a single chip of memory, you can only store a little bit. And will that supposed life that may find this information be able to understand it? Unless it's those gray aliens widely known for probing people, then maybe, but otherwise I would have to say that the answer is a no.

Everything that we do today will be lost in time. The Earth will end either by ice or by fire, and with it our existence. What man should do now is try and prolong our existence besides killing ourselves over much of the sufferings and tragic events that we cause. If I were to take a guess, I would say that we'll go extinct due to our own activity. Look at the situation like an endangered animal. Us humans are sometimes the reasons why animals go endangered, and then we try and save them later on from going extinct. The question is: who is going to save mankind from going extinct? Think about it. Aren't we already endangered? Sure, there may be well over six billion of us, but also remember that by a press of a button that the six billion can easily go down to zero.

I hope I made some good points in my reasoning. Enjoy my opinions.

Have a good one. There may not be many good ones left.