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I used to think that the argument for geological time was comforting... one day, the ground you are standing on will be under the sea in another part of the planet. Seemed to put everything in perspective, including the frantic nonsense that the Humans spend their time getting up to and being so concerned about.
Now, it seems, the planet is becoming uninhabitable. Heat. More and more of it. Whether or not it's caused by humans. It could be that the Earth will simply end up like Mars, which used to have an atmosphere and seas of it's own. No reason for it. No way to avoid it. No time to do anything about it or escape in a spaceship to somewhere more congenial.
Just the inevitable churning of cosmic time and circumstance. Stars are born. Stars die. Planets too. There's nothing special about this one to suggest it's going to last any longer just because we're on it. Comet collisions. Earthquakes and volcanoes. Death of forests. Stripping away of the magnetosphere by cosmic rays and sun eruptions. The list is long.
Once upon a time the planet was a sea of boiling rock and chemicals. There's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't return to that state given suitable conditions. And that, right quick.
Here today, gone tomorrow. No reason, no meaning. No plan.
Oh well. Just enough time for a quick G&T, then. Bottoms up.
Conti Vert Pros?
love this space time episode
the thought that at the end of all things these stars will burst into life in a completely black universe for about 5 billion years.
The Earth and life on it will continue after the human race has gone.
Now, it seems, the planet is becoming uninhabitable. Heat. More and more of it.
You should move to the West of Scotland.
This will quickly disavow you of these silly notions.
Frankly, the heat death of the universe would be a pleasant change from the pissing rain and the howling wind we get for nine months of the year
Is this soon it's judt I have 2 weeks holiday coming up soon?
It could be that the Earth will simply end up like Mars, which used to have an atmosphere and seas of it’s own
I'm afraid the Earth won't end up like Mars. The problem with Mars was that it's Iron core cooled because its size was not large enough to keep it hot and molten, therefore when its core cooled it lost it's magnetic field and the solar winds blew its atmosphere away. That won't happen with the Earth. The Earth has more than enough mass to maintain its molten core and hold onto the magnetic forcefield that it protecting it from the solar winds.
But yes, the Earth will die one day, if a large comet or asteroid doesn't get us, or the collision with the Andromeda Galaxy in about 4 billion years, and if that doesn't get us our Sun will die in about 5 Billon years. So our planet is but a temporary lifeboat. And despite the mathematical inevitability that the universe is teaming with life, the chances are that much of that life being intelligent or being close enough for us to ever make contact or even meet, it seems that the Earth is pretty unique and therefore a rare and special thing in the universe.
But all these things happen way into the future so no point in worrying about it, and be comforted that the stuff you and I are made of is around 13 billion years old and has been continually recycled over that time...we were all, in all probability, stars at some time that lived and died and recycled into you and when you are gone will again be recycled into something else. So in that sense we live forever.
Once upon a time the planet was a sea of boiling rock and chemicals
Is The Planet not a nightclub in Stenhousemuir?
I approve of this thread wholeheartedly...
Of course, being made of the same stuff as the universe itself, surely in some way or other we can interact with space time n shizzle; shit, who knows, with a bit of training, we may even be able to get the whole unicorns and rainbows thing working a treat.
In the meantime:
You should move to the West of Scotland.
One day many will need to. Drought will cause the biggest mass migration of people this planet has ever seen.
Woppit brings wisdom and thought provoking ideas about this tiny rock we sit upon.
Bravo, definitely needs some perspective.
Certainly when your hotel room TV doesn’t work and you’re left contemplating what’s beyond the stars n shit, and an internet full of gossip and a beer out of the mini bar and some salt n vinegar crisps to munch on.
Hummm, yes. I often contemplate what’s gping on beneath my feet. And as I sit tapping start to wonder why I just don’t float off up into the sky..
Could be the painkillers/alcohol intake mind ☄️🚀🌚
Does it ever bother you that you can't spell buoy?
or
maybe
Boy?
Or maybe he's right.
Not really. Bouy is an American word for Bouy, as in Boooeeey, a sailing mark for navigation.
Its why I chose it, nostalgic reasons in the main along with annoying pedantic British who think there is only one form of language.
Makes no difference to my life.
A thoroughly worrying idea...
What if we're the highest intelligence in the universe?
As in the stw “we”? Holy shit we’re doooooomed!
Depends on what you mean by 'intelligence' and 'highest'.
Johnny Morris (ancient British anthropologist) once opined that "Animals are intelligent. Humans are clever".
Depends on what you mean by ‘intelligence’ and ‘highest
I do know at least one forumite who is 6' 5".
Thinking about stuff like this just makes me realise how futile our existence is. Thinking about this brings about many emotions:
- What is the point? My actions don't have real consequences, not in the grand scheme of things, so why bother trying.
- Does it matter that there's no point to it all? Should that not make my mind freer to enjoy the small irrelevant life that I have and make the most of it? To take pleasure in things and not to worry about the little things.
Then I realise that I've sent a spreadsheet out with the wrong vlookup column index number in and the depressing reality of my existence comes crashing down....
Awww never mind,cheer up brakes 😉
My actions don’t have real consequences, not in the grand scheme of things, so why bother trying.
But they do, everything you do contributes to the entropy that will be the end of all things. No human who ever lived will leave more than you do, their contribution to the end of everything. The less you do the better, lie down in a dark room and think of nothing, not of nothing but nothing and you will be doing more than anyone else to extend the existence of the universe.
why should I strive to extend the existence of the universe?
why should I not seek to end the universe?
both are of no real consequence.
This will quickly disavow you of these silly notions.
I think you mean "disabuse".
brakes I just wanted to make you feel important, that you could make a difference one way or another. The outlook is bleak, can we not just offer some random stranger a little hope and light on an ultimately futile journey to absolute darkness 🙂
<p>
</p><p></p><p>Not according to Webster it isn't</p><p></p><p> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bouy?utm_campaign=sd&utm_medium=serp&utm_source=jsonld</p><p></p><p>If you're going to be smart, try getting the spelling right. It's buoy, it's just the pronunciation that's different.</p><p></p><p>Bouy is a commune in northeast France.</p>Not really. Bouy is an American word for Bouy, as in Boooeeey, a sailing mark for navigation
The problem with Mars was that it’s Iron core cooled because its size was not large enough to keep it hot and molten, therefore when its core cooled it lost it’s magnetic field and the solar winds blew its atmosphere away
How does that work if magnets remain magnetic in their solid state, like the ones you can buy in shops?
Here's another view on perspective. I'm recovering from Bell's Palsy which saw half my face being completely paralysed. Unable to work my mouth properly, I struggled to communicate, eating without slobbering was difficult, drinking usually involved wearing a fair amount of what I was trying to drink and one eye didn't close which meant wearing an eye patch (looking back that part was pretty cool). As if this isn't bad enough, one of the side effects of the drug I was given was "depression, including suicidal tendencies" and it certainly delivered on that front. I was also told that it's a temporary condition and a couple of months should see me back to normal. That didn't help much and it was a difficult thing to deal with, so I went for a pint. In the pub I met a friend who, being blind and my voice having changed due to my mouth not working properly, didn't recognise me. So he asked who I was, then how's it going? I was going to tell him how it was going when I remembered a recent conversation in which he'd told me about scuba diving, going to Timbuktu getting thrown in jail due a dispute over previous medical expenses then having his passport and money taken off him and thrown out of jail, and walking in the Himalayas. All after he'd lost his sight and now lives in a world of complete darkness. At the time I asked him how he coped with these things and his answer was he's blind and no amount of complaining about it is going to make him any less blind so just get on with things. So
"How's it going?"
"Can't complain"
how do you teach such humility though?
blind scubadiving? is that a thing? sounds terrifying!
I have a spreadsheet.
It puts together values. When the end result is a certain I will kill myself.
You soon learn humility and get good at analysing the result of actions before you carry them out.
Thought it was larger and peanuts before hitching a ride on a Vogon ship
why should I strive to extend the existence of the universe?
why should I not seek to end the universe?
both are of no real consequence.
Well that clears that one up, thanks.