The thought that each of our actions now might be able to change whether our civilization is a common psht![1] or a rare psshht!!![2] or even conceivably a psssssssssssssssssshhhh...[3] is incredibly exciting.
[1] Psht! = A civilization that quickly (say, in another 5,000, 50,000 or 5 million years after the level of development of our present civilization) causes itself to go extinct.
[2] Psshht! = A civilization that continues to thrive for many million years, long enough to spread across an entire galaxy or even meet another civilization arising elsewhere in the universe).
[3] Psssssssssssssssssshhhh… = A civilization that continues to thrive indefinitely, until the end of time if there is an end, or literally indefinitely if there is no end.
And don’t forget the possibility that our actions not only may be able to vastly increase the amount of time our civilization flourishes, but also may be able to vastly increase the quality of that flourishing. That’s incredibly exciting too.
Speaking of the possibility that individuals can have much bigger impact than is often considered and speaking of the fact that this is very exciting:
Consider a story that very well might be true: “Vlad the Astrophysicist”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9bCFNN67wg
The thought that each of our actions now might be able to change whether our civilization is a common psht![1] or a rare psshht!!![2] or even conceivably a psssssssssssssssssshhhh...[3] is incredibly exciting.
[1] Psht! = A civilization that quickly (say, in another 5,000, 50,000 or 5 million years after the level of development of our present civilization) causes itself to go extinct.
[2] Psshht! = A civilization that continues to thrive for many million years, long enough to spread across an entire galaxy or even meet another civilization arising elsewhere in the universe).
[3] Psssssssssssssssssshhhh… = A civilization that continues to thrive indefinitely, until the end of time if there is an end, or literally indefinitely if there is no end.
And don’t forget the possibility that our actions not only may be able to vastly increase the amount of time our civilization flourishes, but also may be able to vastly increase the quality of that flourishing. That’s incredibly exciting too.