In 1972 researchers at M.I.T. conducted a study that concluded that society as we know it will collapse and end prior to 2040. The study has been studied a lot and not one subsequent study has shaken its conclusion. The study was part of the reading list for a sociology class in college. I have actually lived my entire life believing this to be true simply because in 1975, before I was aware the study existed, I wrote my note for the class of 1975 time capsule (being opened this year at the reunion) and my predicition: I would not have children because the world in 50 years would be such a terrible place I could not justify bringing childen into the world.
As my wife always says: You've been right about one fucking thing your whole life and it had to be this???? On the good side I have always known that I saved too much for retirement and stopped saving 20 years ago and just let it sit, never to be used.
2040
skibum609Massachusetts
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last commentThings will be okay ... piece of shit lefty kooks, like icey on this site, are gradually becoming less influential. America is not done yet.
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They’ve been predicting the end of the world as long as man has walked on the face of the planet, it actually gets better with every new generation.
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Smart people have been predicting the end of the world since the beginning of time. Thankfully they have all been wrong (so far). So I’m going with that - and saving for the future and trying to set my kids up as good as possible in case the MIT 1975 study is wrong.
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I remember hearing Jay Forrester do a show and tell on that model, maybe around 1971. I think it's fair to say that the world of 1972 no longer exists, especially if you (like most people) were Chinese or Indian.
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Last night I watched a couple of episodes of the TV show "what's my line" from the 1950's. The thing that really stood out was how high class everyone was on the show. Everyone was well-dressed and well mannered. Everyone was white. What a time, before we had to pretend all the races were equal, and white people had to lower our standards to meet the less intelligent and classless races. That world no longer exists. Society as we know it has collapsed.
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Long range predictions are very difficult. No one back in the 70s predicted the impact of the internet, smart phone and AI. They envisioned flying cars and exponential space exploration, presumably with everyone using landlines and watching TV.
I recommend this book and believe in the wizards:
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World
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The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles C. Mann explores two opposing scientific visions for humanity's future, personified by Norman Borlaug (the "Wizard") and William Vogt (the "Prophet"). Borlaug, a Nobel Prize-winning agronomist, championed technological innovation and the Green Revolution to increase food production and save lives. In contrast, Vogt, an early environmentalist, warned of overpopulation and resource depletion, advocating for reduced consumption to prevent ecological ruin. Mann uses their contrasting philosophies to examine the major challenges of food, water, energy, and climate change, providing a framework for understanding the ongoing debate about how to sustain a growing global population.
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Were living in the end stages of the American empire. End stage capitalism. Hope it all falls apart soon. We need a reset
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You need to drown.
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I assume you are talking about the Club of Rome study. It was a massive computer model. A couple years after it freaked everyone out, someone decided to enter data from various periods of history and it always showed an economic collapse. 1750. 1500. The answer was always the same no matter what data was entered.
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A lot of leftie American guys are either gay, trans, cucks or just pathetic low testosterone weaklings that aren’t going to reproduce. A lot of young conservative men want wives and children. I think that bodes well for the future.
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^What is going on in the United States is that due to unfettered immigration, long after we needed it, especially immigration from people who provide no economic benefit, we are simply no longer a country. Add in foreign enemies; internal enemies and significantly diminished natural resources worldwide and I remain as confident as always that I was right 50 years ago. I literally now accept the fact that not only will I outlast skiing, the country will not outlast me.
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Skibum youre a cuck.
And most conservative guys are incels and red pill weirdos.
But yhe country is falling apart because corporate capitalism is failing. Imperialism is failing
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Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die.
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In 2040 I'll be 98. Will there still be strip clubs?
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Icey you ever have an original thought stupid. Why didn't you kill yourself after the fat whole took your life savings? Coward? Just incompetent?
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2040 will be here in the blink of an eye. Many believe AI will change the world, potentially for the bette, fueling advancements in all aspects of life. I’m optimistic, but will keep my gun handy.
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When I turned 11 in 1968 my Dad took me to see 2001, a space odyssey. AI will never be accepted by me lol. In 2040 I would have been 83.
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AI does not give a fuck about your gun. I think the odds of a world-altering catastrophe - natural or manmade- occurring in the next 15 years are higher than they have ever been in our lifetimes. A manmade disaster is certainly more likely than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis (which Kennedy caused).
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I have to say it surprises me that someone hasn’t snuck a nuke out of Russia and set it off somewhere by now. I think it could happen eventually.
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^More likely that North Korea would have just given one to terrorists like Iran already. Russia still has a little to lose.
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^ In 2040, I’ll be 88, will Russia or North Korea still exist?
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^Neither North Korea, Russia, 25 or skibum will exist then. My mindset that we are doomed does have an upside, yesterday I was asked to fill in at the Bar Association Golf Tournament today, so I blew off court and 5 appointments and am packing essentials into my golf bag: 10 pack of fireball shots, Captain Morgan, Vape, crumble and a strong sativa for my little wooden bowl. Our plan? Get wasted and finish last.
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@skibum
That reminds me of an old joke
Seems that Rob and Joe were old buddies for over 70 years, the both loved baseball and lived for the summer months when they enjoyed both watching the pro baseball team and, the both played in a senior league.
Anyway they had a pact, where the first one to pass on would return briefly and tell the other what heaven was like. As luck would have it Joe passed on first, exactly one year later, as promised he appeared in front of Rob, first to speak was Rob who shocked greeted his friend with great enthusiasm and joy. “So tell me Joe what’s it like in heaven my old friend”
Joe replied “ it’s very pleasant there much to do, my friend, but I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is we play baseball every day for enjoyment, but friend, I have got some bad news as well, ‘you’re pitching tomorrow’ “
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Nostraskibumnas has spoken!
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The biggest threat to the world is the US right now.
Bombing Yemen Somalia. Military buildups near Venezuela Iran China. Facilitating genocide in Palestine. Israel destabilizing the middle east as an American proxy.
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An energy breakthrough could change the world. Abundant, cheap, clean energy. Change it in the way the development of fossil fuel did - “fueled” advances and improved quality of life everywhere.
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Yemen = vermin. Samalia = vermin. Iran = pig vermin/ Venzuela = drug vermin. China = subhuman vermin. Palestinians? Pg feces. Their supporters? All child abusers.
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Rather than an environmental collapse in 2040, we are likely to have a fiscal crisis. By then the national debt will be sixty trillion dollars. Just paying the interest on that debt will take up the majority of all incoming tsx revenues, not leaving enough left to pay for everything else.
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^ exactly as I said. A societal collapse.
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