Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-6078851-20130415204132/@comment-6078851-20130503164553

if or when the next ice age hits, yeah, modern society will be destroyed but humans will survive it - we've survived at least 1 and that was with the technological pinacle of caves, fur clothing and sharp stones attached to sticks.

i also see a coming clash between the observant and the ignorant (most likely instigated by governments and corporations) and a case could easily be made to say that it's already started. the problem here though is numbers - the ignorant are by far the majority.

i would like to think that an even distribution of the world's populace would help but i'm not sure because 'inately aggressive and territorial' doesn't just apply to heavily populated areas, it applies to humans as a species. human migratory patterns across the globe weren't started due to inquisitiveness or wanderlust, humans are animals and when a tribe/clan/pack had too many members the surplus were aggressively forced out because of their territorial nature. these are aspects of homo-sapian that are deeply imbedded in our genetic code but as we have progressed as a civilisation people have tried to rationalise these impulses by claiming genetic superiority over people of a different colour, or thinking they have a 'divine right' to invade a nation and wipe out the inhabitants. there are 3 things that no human ever needs to be taught - how to eat, how to reproduce, and how to be violent. these are things we all know at an instinctual level. you said yourself - "almost an instinct to punch them", well there's no 'almost' about it, it is an instinct, without these instincts we wouldn't have survived as a fledgling species. these traits can easily be managed in a peaceful society, if the first thing people do is acknowledge these traits. i myself know from experience that i am dangerous in regards to physical violence. i don't like knowing this but i had to defend myself from 6 people one time and 10+ another time, and i'm still amazed at how well i did defend myself. now i'm not a violent person, if in an aggressive situation i do what i can to avoid violence, i actually despise unwarrented violence and feel the only time real world violence is justified is in self defence, and when i had to defend myself my instincts rose to the occasion (for which i am actually thankful). however, i fully accept that part of my being is violent and so my release for that is violent media - videogames, watching boxing and ufc etc, and our beloved 40k. while i, and many others, may not be overtly violent there are plenty who are - boxers, ufc fighters etc, and those who love 'casual violence' (the people who jumped me), and as our societies try to get rid of 'bloodsports' violence related incidents will increase. i believe there should be more institutions to cater for those who like being violent, they could fight others who want to fight, consentually, and accidental injuries, or even deaths, would be significantly mitigated, it could also prevent people becoming involved in violent crime organisations.

as for the fragility of life, while you may disagree on the point i'm afraid that your example actually agrees with me :) yup, there's multiple occasions where most life on earth has been destroyed and while it has bounced back repeatedly this speaks more to the resilient or tenacious nature of life. plus all life that we know of can only be sustained within a very small, and easily blown away (by galactic standards) ecosphere.

if the solar storm you mention is the same one i'm thinking of then it only took less than 1 hour to wipe out nearly all life on earth. the one i'm thinking of, while not technically a solar storm, is this, bear with me....

in british summertime the earths axial tilt faces away from the sun, but the axial tilt has a rotational cycle (like everything else in the galaxy) that takes somewhere between 20-50 thousand years: so in time the axial tilt during british summertime will face 90 degrees towards the sun, then towards the sun, then away etc. stars also have an axial tilt, which also have rotational cycles. now, don't ask me where or how far 'cause i don't know but it's too close anyhow, there's a pulsar that emits a ridiculous amount of solar radiation, at intersteller distances, from its poles and as it works through its axial tilt cycle there's a very brief period (about an hour) where a straight line can be drawn through its poles to earth, where it bathes the world in the warm glow of terminal radiation. this axial tilt cycle is also believed to coincide with most, if not all, of earths major extinction events. this is another reason i support 'vacating the premises' quite soon, asteroids and such can be moved into harmless orbits when we have the tech, but there is absolutely no defence whatsoever against events like this pulsar other than not being where it hits. not to mention that even our own sun, if enough solar storms happen to head in earths direction relatively close together, can strip the planets atmosphere clean.

okay i think i've rambled on enough for now :)