Humans are doing everything too much

[raildogg]

People are saying that climate change might cause huge damage or something else might cause huge damage. I think that humans are living in excess. The new system is go to college, get job, buy car, buy house and upgrade everything after that. People who own 1,000 stores are not satisfied but want 2,000 stores. We want more.

Anyone else think about the old times? The way that the people back in the day did things? The way they lived?

Sure, they were not as educated as us and did not have access to the technologies that we have but they lived a more sustainable lifestyle than we are living. How long do you think we humans can live like this?

Edit:

I see there is a lot of assumptions of me wanting electricity off, etc. I have no desire to turn off electricity, remove cars from roads or anything like that. It is just a little conversation piece about us humans constantly wanting more and more.

 

[CrazyLazy]

<---- P&N or Trollville.

 

[raildogg]

Not politics and I don't know what you mean by trollville.

 

[Alone]

If I have the chance, I'm going to live my life to the fullest because that's why I am here.

Call me selfish but I don't really care.

 

[Bulk Beef]

Fat people cause global warming and $4/gal gas.

 

[raildogg]

I think there is a balance to things. We now have great technology but we are paying the price for it. Back then, people did not have as much but lived in a less stressful world. I guess there is a price for everything.

 

[Drekce]

Back when exactly?

 

[Red Squirrel]

We are spoiled brats that's really what we are. We use the car to go everywhere since using a bike or walking requires work, and no way in hell do we want to walk 10 miles when it's 30 below.

But people did it back in the day, and lived. We are just spoiled and take the stuff we have for granted. While technology has made things better it has also made us weaker and less tolerant and we depend too much on it.

Though the real problem with all this is that we are doing it at a very high cost (pollution) but since the cost is not directly affecting us NOW, people don't care. It's like putting stuff on credit, so many people do it as they see it as "I'll worry about it later". It's the same with pollution. We are slowly starting to see the bad effects but the worse has yet to come so we're not doing anything about it.

 

[raildogg]

I don't really know. Maybe back when people did not have access to everything that we have access to. But maybe evolving is a natural human trait anyway - to continue to advance and make progress. I think maybe some humans may have associated advancing with "quantity". Its that we as a society cannot be happy with what we have - maybe that is the problem. We always want more of everything.

 

[IGBT]

..it's all eco-KOOK agenda driven BS.

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
We are spoiled brats that's really what we are. We use the car to go everywhere since using a bike or walking requires work, and no way in hell do we want to walk 10 miles when it's 30 below.

"Back then" people rode horses to get places if they had them.

The same old argument is getting ridiculous. People will always do what is most convenient for them.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Well, the thing is the modern way of doing some things is the most efficient (to this point and continue to improve). Food production for example. We overproduce crops but if we didn't then we couldn't meet market demand (which is different than actual demand because obviously there are people going without food all over the world). Of course because of the market they also screw with supply to keep prices in their favor (not a bad thing necessarily but it certainly can and has been abused).

I guess it depends on how much you buy into economics, technology, and other ideals on your outlook of how things are. I think Pandora's Box has been opened though, and that we shouldn't abandon the things that have gotten us to this point (that's not to say you should just accept things as they are). There are some huge advancements that will revolutionize so many things that its difficult to say how things will turn out. We haven't even begun to reap the fruits of nanotechnology for instance.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: Drekce
Back when exactly?

Before the last ice age?

 

[Bulk Beef]

You know, if you really feel that strongly about it, you can always move to a little shack in the woods and start mailing out letter bombs.

 

[IGBT]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb

Originally posted by: Drekce
Back when exactly?

Before the last ice age?

..well that's it. the eco-KOOKS want to send us all back to an era of robes,sandals and torch lit rooms.

 

[keird]

Originally posted by: raildogg
I think there is a balance to things. We now have great technology but we are paying the price for it. Back then, people did not have as much but lived in a less stressful world. I guess there is a price for everything.

There's a price for indoor plumbing and all the infrastructure that permits it. Our senior citizens likely lived for a period of time without it. On occasion, I'll go to another country, to a home that doesn't have plumbing.

Last year I visited a school that had no electricity (school just occurs during day-light) and a pot-belly wood stove for heat in the winter. The student's bathroom was wooden/brick out-house with holes in the ground. It's cold and smelly when you go to the bathroom. This is where some children begin their education. It doesn't make them stupid by any means, but how much more do we add to that child's life with light, comfort, books, etc...? Does their learning improve when they aren't concerned by their physical needs? Does their life improve when we give them access to 'technology' like indoor plumbing?

Sure, the climate control in WalMart costs a certain amount of money. But we take that very comfort for granted. The electricity that we're using to communicate in this very post comes at a certain cost. We take this electricity for granted. The United States of America is an incredibly wealthy nation. The natural resources available for our nation is staggering. That we're able to have the time to discuss and ponder how we use these resources, instead of shlepping buckets of water for our meals and laundry is proof enough that living in a 'less stressful' world comes at a price, too.

 

[raildogg]

LOL I knew that was coming. What I'm saying (writing) is that maybe simpler times and simpler things might not be such a bad idea. Maybe we should slow down a little. Maybe instead of taking down acres of land to build a mall, we should just leave it alone. But then again, there is money to be made, right?

I have no problems with cars, electricity, computers or anything similar to that, by the way.

The world has grown so rapidly over the past 50 years that it is interesting to watch what will happen if we continue this trend. I'm not just talking population figures, but everything else too.

 

[Wheezer]

Originally posted by: Alone

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
We are spoiled brats that's really what we are. We use the car to go everywhere since using a bike or walking requires work, and no way in hell do we want to walk 10 miles when it's 30 below.

"Back then" people rode horses to get places if they had them.

The same old argument is getting ridiculous. People will always do what is most convenient for them.

QFT

Humans, by nature take the path of least resistance...hence the invention of the wheel, sliced bread, refrigerator, supermart and self serve gas .....etc, etc, etc.

It has been this way since our beginning and will continue to be that way until our demise....live with it.

Originally posted by: raildogg
LOL I knew that was coming. What I'm saying (writing) is that maybe simpler times and simpler things might not be such a bad idea. Maybe we should slow down a little. Maybe instead of taking down acres of land to build a mall, we should just leave it alone. But then again, there is money to be made, right?

I have no problems with cars, electricity, computers or anything similar to that, by the way.

The world has grown so rapidly over the past 50 years that it is interesting to watch what will happen if we continue this trend. I'm not just talking population figures, but everything else too.

take that first step....walk away from your computer and turn it off then get rid of the internet....show us how it's done.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: IGBT

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb

Originally posted by: Drekce
Back when exactly?

Before the last ice age?

..well that's it. the eco-KOOKS want to send us all back to an era of robes,sandals and torch lit rooms.

Except that robes, sandals, and torches were all conveniences back then. Gotta go further.

 

[raildogg]

Amazing. So I have to turn off my computer to prove a supposed point I made? Where did I say to turn off electricity or anything like that?

 

[TehMac]

Global Warming doesn't exist.

 

[Jeff7]

Give up your computer and Internet then. Running the infrastructure to support the Internet uses a lot of power. Hell, Google's hard drives alone probably use more power in a day than the sun puts out in a thousand years.

In any case, if we run out of various resources, the "market" will correct itself eventually, as it always does. It might not necessarily be much fun, but we'll adapt.

Originally posted by: TehMac
Global Warming doesn't exist.

Sure it does. That part isn't up for debate.

Question is: Are humans playing a factor in it? That is the part which is still being debated.

 

[raildogg]

Also, can we tie some of the world problems with the human desire to want more of everything? We want more land, more resources, more influence.

 

[Wheezer]

Originally posted by: raildogg
Amazing. So I have to turn off my computer to prove a supposed point I made? Where did I say to turn off electricity or anything like that?

explain please how computers fit into your "simpler times and simpler things".

You can't have it both ways.

The idea of: "I want to go back to simple times but maintain the conveniences of today so I do not have to work too hard"

doesn't wash.

It's an all or nothing deal...the problems you state we created as a species are directly related to all the things you want to keep in your life.

 

[zinfamous]

Try as you might, you just can't stop progress. I think there is some value to be retained in tradition, but must of it should be thrown to the curb.

The assumption is that we learn from our folly (sometimes we do), and become more careful in the advances that we make.