[Cspace]

Taking everything into account, how long do you think we'll be around? Please explain your view.

[.:Nightmare:.]

hmm my science teacher said maybe a 100 years cuz of global warming. plus the ocean goes down a couple of inches a year. so u think the wars we r having now r bad. the worst war will be the war for WATER!

[Neraphym]

First of all, global warming increases the water level; second, the water does not disappear. It either evaporates into clouds, or becomes frozen. The effects of global warming probably aren't as bad as they are hyped up to be. Overpopulation is going to be an issue, but there is always the chance of us developing space travel and terraforming technologies beforehand. If not, a nuklear war would erupt over scarce resources and we'll all die.

[Res]

I like to think we'll be around for a while. At least another couple hundred years.
Reason being: Humans are a versatile thing. If an obstacle arises, we usually manage to find ways to avoid it/prevent it/overpower it/live through it.

By no means am I saying it'll be pretty, but the will to survive is a great thing. If someone wants to live through something, they will. Or they'll die trying.

[Unrealblight]

I'd say we're going to be able to live on the moon by the time it's ~really~ needed. By then, we'll probably have figured something out that lets us comfortably live on Africa/Antarctica/Greenland/etc.

At least 250 years, by then, there's bound to be a couple more World Wars, and we can just allow the genocides to control the human population

[Bobette]

We're rather versatile. As long as we have a place to call home I feel that we can survive.

As far as killing each other off goes, genocide has gone on throughout history (sadly), but we're still alive and well, arewenot? We may suffer the unfortunate loss of lives and culture, whoever is left will bounce back I'm sure.

[Aaron]

Overpopulation is going to be an issue, but there is always the chance of us developing space travel and terraforming technologies beforehand. If not, a nuklear war would erupt over scarce resources and we'll all die.

I'll have to agree with Alpha's point of view. We're going to run out of room eventually, but I'm sure we'll find a way to fix that before it becomes too bad. If we can't find a way to fix the overpopulation problem, war will likely break out due to political turmoil over the issue.

[Zziggywolf5]

Depends on what you consider civilization. Will there be tribes or clans of people with cultures? I think there will be as long as humanity exists. We are socially minded creatures, after all.

Will humanity have shiny clean metropolises 10,000 years from now? That is a much harder question. One that I can't think of an answer right now. I'll try later.

[Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin]

As long as there isn't an incident involving an entire continent trying to wipe out the entire human race (now, THAT'S Mass Genocide!), then I'll think we'll live a few hundred years, and, if we're lucky, maybe a millenia.

[Atilla]

Human civilization doesn't exist. It simply appears to.

[Elvenblader]

We'll last as long as we can coexist with each other. Humanity is not forever but if we learn to coexist, accept each other and leave peacefully then maybe we will live for a long time. But in the end, it is entirely up to each person to decide how long they are going to allow society to keep on fucntioning.

[Neraphym]

I share my opinion with Sam Harris mostly. Religion and nukes do not mix well (nukes don't mix well anywhere, but of all the things to mix it with...). When you think a better life awaits you in the next world, you're more likely to do bad stuff in this world. That's one thing the average churchgoer and the average 9/11 hijacker have in common. Add nukes and you get a nuclear holy war. If religion continues to survive beyond this age, then the chances of humanity surviving go down substantially.

[Zziggywolf5]

While I'm a Christian, I do have to partially agree with Alpha. People who don't believe in another place you go to after death are more likely to want to stay alive. This is why I fear theocracies; it's a bunch of people with a full military and populace to further their beliefs.
I don't think just all religion is that dangerous.

[Neraphym]

Well, Harris is quite critical of moderate religion, as they enforce the foundations for extremism. I think if the religious moderates were much more critical of religious extremist views, the would would be a better place. Religion can be and often is a horrible thing, but at the same time, it can do good things, too. Sadly, we are seeing less and less of that good side. I'm not saying religion will absolutely doom us, but the odds do favor our destruction at its hands.