What? Even in popular culture it has been uncontroversial since at least the nuclear age to posit that humanity faces serious existential risks in the near and mid future. You're questioning this? You think there is nothing at all risky about any of the many powerful new technologies we've developed over the last couple centuries? I'm a little perplexed. What do you know that we all don't?
Or are you merely referring to the OP's tone? I am looking mainly at their substantive point, not their tone.
> The third paragraph makes you sound like you ARE a religious fundamentalist, albeit from a different tradition. "Fundamentally change as a species?" "Great Filters?" "The road is fraught with many perils?" "Unimaginable suffering?" I don't mean to be rude, but do you realize how you sound?
The writing suddenly became bombastically hyperbolic and poetic, with references to concepts the average person would have no context on. Sounds like religious fundamentalism to me. It was just interesting to have those two styles juxtaposed like that.
I only see one reference: The Great Filter is a reference to the Drake Equation, which is pretty well known by STEM nerds, especially those interested in space and astronomy. Certainly seen it mentioned many times on this site. I don't see any other references at all?
Yeah, great filter is just one of those things that tries to explain why we don't see signs of alien life everywhere we look in the cosmos. Everything looks dead. Why? Maybe life is incredibly hard to take off and even with a bazillion planets, a chance of 0.0000000000001% might mean we really are alone in the galaxy. A different one is that life is incredibly common, but developing sentience is so rare that we're the only ones. These are the better options as we're already past these hurdle. What if it's incredibly common for sentient life to evolve that makes machines and all the things we do, yet the entire galaxy still seems dead? Well that would be very bad for us as it means there is a big "filter" ahead for us. Perhaps there are millions of dead civilizations amongst the cosmos that died from solar disruptions, gama ray bursts, asteroids, climate change, nuclear Armageddon, or a superior alien species bent on the eradication of all other life?
Look up The End of the World with Josh Clark for a podcast providing more thorough treatment of concepts such as the Fermi Paradox, the Great Filter and the Kardashev Scale. Alternatively, research those subjects individually.
Scientific minds have been debating these ideas for over the past 50 years in ways that in my view differ significantly from the vast majority of theological discussions. The underpinnings are ultimately just physics.
Look up Rubadiah, chapter 11, verses 80-90 for a passage providing a more thorough treatment of concepts such as Indivisible Essentialism, the Great Schism, and the Scale of Ethesius. Alternatively, research those subjects individually.
Pious minds have been debating these ideas for over the past 1500 years in ways that in my view differ significantly from the vast majority of heathen discussions. The underpinnings are ultimately just morality.
That's kind of amazing when I can't find any of those concepts with a Google. I mean, I can find the great schism, but that's the East/West Christianity divide.
Like someone who can understand basic facts around us? We are already changing, because our way of interacting with the world has fundamentally changed. “Great Filter” - I’m guessing you might want to google that one. Suffering - let me remind you the consequences of climate catastrophe.
