"John are you saying, the excessive pollution, increase in cancers, obesity, lower of the value of human life, depression, lack of purpose are called getting better?"

Well, I suppose we could return to the depression era in the 30's, or maybe the times of the great plagues, or even the world wars. I'm sure women would LOVE to return to their subservient ways in the kitchen!

I'm not sure how you have come to the conclusion the old days were better!

"Most of the water we use can be easily cleaned, filtered and reused"

Not true for an agricultural and dry country like Australia. We are wrestling with restoring the Murray-Darling River system and buying back irrigation permits in the process. Much of the continent is too dry for growing stuff for commerce and with climate change, this is getting worse. Don't forget increasing salinity either.

"I'm sure women would LOVE to return to their subservient ways in the kitchen!"

Not having a paid job could also be seen to be liberating. The house-person was free to socialise, interact with the kids and do charitable work. These days both partners HAVE to work to pay for their electronic gadgets, homes, food, etc.

Many years ago I remember overhearing two young ladies talking in a tram, discussing the engagement of a mutual friend. "She won't have to work now", one of them said.

" Much of the continent is too dry for growing stuff for commerce and with climate change, this is getting worse. Don't forget increasing salinity either."---------------------------------
Water doesn't magically disappear. If one part of the world is drying up then you can be sure another part is getting wetter. And yes... you can remove salt from water. Aren't the Saudi's doing that now? I seem to remember reading about someone doing it anyway.

"Not having a paid job could also be seen to be liberating."---------------------------------
Please don't tell me you seriously believe women want to go back to that time.

Wow this thing went everywhere!! I can say the best part of my holiday season was taking my child to the great wolf lodge,,,yup cost a bunch, and yup spent quality time and precious moments...maybe could have had that camping or something , but it was cold and hate camping...sometimes money spent is not just spoiling kids. Oh, got some great video too... maybe a write off ?

"Water doesn't magically disappear. If one part of the world is drying up then you can be sure another part is getting wetter"

Yes. It is called the oceans. Many island nations are already starting to disappear.

Getting wetter in another part of the world wouldn't help me here in Australia.

In any case ithe issue was not about total water but fresh water flow.

"Many island nations are already starting to disappear."

Agreed, but man is foolish to believe he can stop mother nature from doing as she wishes. If the arctic cap melts and places New York under water as a result, then OUR life will pick up on move on to somewhere else..... and I place emphasis on "OUR" for a reason because life in New York won't stop... it'll just change. We certainly won't be inhabiting the Empire State building anymore but you can be sure it will become a new home for hundreds or thousands of underwater creatures.... and that's what life is... continuous change and adaptation. Man is just plain dumb to believe we have any kind of control over it too.

actually, based on my personal experiences of getting close and talking to many women, a larger than known percentage DO want to "natural roles" of existance for themselves: a strong man to provide for them, take care of them,let them raise kids etc... but, again, today's society is against this as it is not the most "Profitable" way of existing.

But, do you own research, and ask some women DEEP DOWN what they would like. Granted, usually to get REAL HONEST answers to this question, you probably have to be extremely close to them, and alcohol may be involved, but it is the truth.
Women can bark the whole equality stuff and competing with men, blah blah blah, but when you get to the REAL deepest of the ID..... they want the common expected roles.
Why did those roles work fine for thousands of years, then all of a sudden the industrial revolution turns it around? For males AND females?

> " .. if the arctic cap melts..."

Good gracious Rob, if there was a possibility that we have contributed to this, and that we could therefore prevent this happening, don't you think we should?

Life moves on with or without us. Today's technology is potentially tomorrow's obsolescence. In the meantime here are some interesting questions - have a look then come back to the original post and, if still wishing to, give a reply.
Please forgive the upper case characters - that is how I received it.

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:


1. DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

2. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

3. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

4. THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

5. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

6. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

7. IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

8. IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

9. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

10. WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

11. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

12. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

13. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

14. WHY DO THEY LOCK PETROL STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

15. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

16. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

17. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

18. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

19. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

20. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

21. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

22. DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

23. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?
24. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

25. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

26. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

27. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

28. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

29. WHY ARE HAEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HAEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?
30. WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

31. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

32. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?

33. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

"Good gracious Rob, if there was a possibility that we have contributed to this, and that we could therefore prevent this happening, don't you think we should?"

And the big word there is "if". Who is to say we have or haven't contributed? Who is to say we can actually prevent this from happening? Who is to say that we're not doing more damage by trying to prevent or slow these NATURAL events? A perfect example is a lightening strike on a dry forest. Our reaction is to jump into our water bombers and put the fire out as fast as we can. But the truth is these strikes and whole forests burning have been going on long before man was here with water bombers in hand. Now... are we REALLY doing good by putting these fires out?

Are we REALLY doing good by trying to prevent or slow the Northern ice from melting? Who knows. I do know it may have been pretty dumb for man to build so close to the water though!

Agreed, Rob, about natural events.

South-east Australia is one of the most bush fire prone places in the world, along with California and parts of France. I've recently read that prior to western settlement, Australian Aborigines deliberately lit fires in the bush to limit the severity of naturally occurring ignitions (e.g. lightning strikes). The local fire authorities follow the same example today by burning off scrub close to the ground prior to summer, though it didn't help much in 2009 when fire storms raged at atomic bomb temperatures and at incredible speed through the countryside, killing dozens of people.

A lot of people complain about pollution, but isn't today so much better off than during the industrial revolution. I can recall the occasional newspaper story in the 60s about pea-soupers in London - I don't think that pea-soupers happen today in London (locals might like to correct me if I am wrong).

And I'm still trying to work out how the presence of humans caused the start and the end of the ice age. Anybody around back then are welcome to comment.

we are still in the industrial revolution.
so, we have used our technology to reduce a problem our technology created? nice. :) to me, that is a bandaid instead of avoiding the cut in the first place.... again, my idea is not as profitable.

"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... A virus."

Please, have a look to this book
You fix it's price - you can fix it to 0$ and donload it. I found it very interesting even if I did not understood everything because of the english language.

"Refaire le monde" is interesting.
In 1958, Aldous Huxley wrote "Retour au meilleur des mondes" (Back to brave new world ???)
He explains incoming problems, overpopulation, ... , how to learn to be free.

Of course, many other books explain the problems we are facing today and why we do not solve them.

Didier.

"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment"

Ever seen a tiger build a space shuttle and fly to the moon? There is something a bit different about us. Maybe it only appears as if we have not achieved equilibrium because we have yet to discover just how big our surrounding environment actually is.

You see the problem here is that you are living in a world bound by what (you think) you know. But the reality is that we know so little in the grand scheme of things.

what I do know is for thousands of years, tigers (or frogs or monkeys) never felt the urge to build a space shuttle, a cell phone, or skyscrapers. are we advanced, or do they know things we don't? ;) Like maybe true happiness is eating, sleeping, ****ing, and that is ALL. That is what we love to do and chase, but we are too busy doing other pointless things for a dollar to spend time on the big 3.

I think they are on to something. :)

"what I do know is for thousands of years, tigers (or frogs or monkeys) never felt the urge to build a space shuttle, a cell phone, or skyscrapers."

Merely because they can't. They haven't the iq, the opposing thumb... yadda yadda. But there is clear evidence of a society, a ruler, a runt... etc. You can also be pretty sure that if a tiger in Africa had the ability to construct an air conditioner... it would. Bettering one's self is quite natural, and takes place in all walks of life.

I promise to not post anymore links (I don't even track "news" but...)

there are downsides:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/10/22258897-hundreds-report-symptoms-after-west-virginia-chemical-spill?lite

we do everything we can to destroy the Earth's own, best water filtration system: itself

"Progress" can peak, and start abusing itself.
One example I read was:
when man killed one buffalo it was progress
when he killed TWO, it was Great!
when he figured out how to run 200 off a cliff and kill them all, progress had surpassed its need.

"there are downsides:"

There are downsides to everything so I'm not sure what your point is. I'm sure though that chemical leak went further than just bothering those who live around it. What about those who rely on the coal which that chemical was supposed to wash?

Things happen in this world and people get hurt. Quite sad, and please don't get me wrong.... I don't wish it on anyone, but why are deaths from a chemical spill treated as or looked at any differently than deaths from say, an earthquake?

Maybe we will one day possess the knowledge to completely stop an earth quake in its tracks. That being the case, would stopping an earth quake be right, or wrong?

but why are deaths from a chemical spill treated as or looked at any differently than deaths from say, an earthquake?

are you being serious, or turning in to a troll (highly unlikely as your posts are by and large well thought out).

one is ENTIRELY preventable, the other not.

Chemical Spill <=> Earthquake

A] At the emotional level, both cases are convergent.

B] In each case taken separately the deaths were not necessarily inevitable, in which case they were divergent.

No trolling.

Here's one further dilemma or paradox:

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Grazie

I haven't yet heard anybody credibly blame human activity for causing earthquates, although I am sure somebody somewhere has done it (eg God's punishment for sin). If humans aren't responsible for earthquakes, it should be easier to be more philosophical about them than a chemical spill or nuclear disaster, where it is reasonable to think that somebody may have been negligent, or worse.