Will we ever leave Earth?

There is some discussion in the media about this at the moment and I know there has been scientific speculation for many years. Will we survive our own 'apocalyptic' course to manage to get it together sufficiently to truly leave the earth for another world?

I wonder if any civilisation would make it, or is just us who look like we are in self-destruct mode. Could any civilisation sufficiently develop socially, culturally and scientifically to a point where the technology is available to achieve this. I'm afraid I'm not hopeful for our species; I just can't see us even keeping it together for more than another 50 to 60 years due to population pressures.

I don't mean to be misanthropic, just practical.

Thoughts.

Edit: I didn't want of post this in debates or spirituality, for obvious reasons.

Originally posted by divegeester
There is some discussion in the media about this at the moment and I know there has been scientific speculation for many years. Will we survive our own 'apocalyptic' course to manage to get it together sufficiently to truly leave the earth for another world?

I wonder if any civilisation would make it, or is just us who look like we are in self-destr ...[text shortened]...
Thoughts.

Edit: I didn't want of post this in debates or spirituality, for obvious reasons.

If you ask me, I would say no. Mankind is not mature enough to succeed just yet. We will be extinct before this point of maturement.

Perhaps with an effort we can colonize some planet or moon, but it is only a vain try to survive. The same thing will happen there after a while.

So I am pessimistic.

I just hope that the climate doesn't turn into a Venusian one so the rest of the biosphere can survive and restore the evolution.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
We will be extinct before this point of maturement.

.

What do you imagine could likely make us go extinct before then?

Originally posted by humy
What do you imagine could likely make us go extinct before then?

Well, a number of reasons, just pick one.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Well, a number of reasons, just pick one.

We don't have to go extinct to be kept from founding colonies on other planets. All it would take is the climate taking a real dump on humanity, sea level rising, oops there goes NYC, Florida, Burmuda, etc., loss of agricultural land world wide, all that would send us deep into a century long depression and there would be no spaceflights considering we would be fighting for the survival of the race.

We can become extinct and we can go into extinction, we may even be able to go extinctly, but we cannot go extinct it's a grammatical impossiblity.

Civilizations have fallen before without everyone perishing. Any self inflicted apocalypse will only be partial even in the face of nuclear war and relatively drastic climate change. A supervolcano eruption is more of a threat and I don't think that would end us all.

The problem with attempting to colonise other planets is that we evolved to live here. They have other environments which, in the case of sanely accessible ones, do not involve things like water and oxygen.

Humans in themselves aren't a great problem, we just build systems for ourselves with whacking great flaws in and the people who run the systems are tied to them and refuse change.

Originally posted by humy
What do you imagine could likely make us go extinct before then?

Us.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Well, a number of reasons, just pick one.

example? (I am sure you can give examples but the problem is that I would bet that, when I scrutinize them, I will find that they all would be unlikely to make humanity extinct within, say, the next million years -with only one possible exception that I can imagine that I don't know how to dismiss as 'unlikely'; genetic engineering making us artificially evolve into a different species that is tectonically 'none human' )

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
Us.

How could we creditably manage to do that?
I cannot imagin how even a global nuclear war would likely do that -not 'extinct' as in ALL humans extinct (but see my suggested exception to that in my last post to FabianFnas )

Originally posted by humy
example? (I am sure you can give examples but the problem is that I would bet that, when I scrutinize them, I will find that they all would be unlikely to make humanity extinct within, say, the next million years -with only one possible exception that I can imagine that I don't know how to dismiss as 'unlikely'; genetic engineering making us artificially evolve into a different species that is tectonically 'none human' )

Extinction is unlikely although who knows. But a major breakdown in global society is likely and history may say it's already happening. If one projects even our rapid technological advances of the last hundred years, we are nowhere near capable of producing the kind of technology required to take us safely to another planet. And even if we got to one how would be know that our biology would be compatible with the organic life there.

It's a glum outlook but think we are screwed to be honest.

Originally posted by divegeester
I just can't see us even keeping it together for more than another 50 to 60 years due to population pressures.

Although humans have some major challenges ahead, population pressure is not something that on its own is likely to cause an extinction level event, or even cause a major problem. The population as it stands is set to hit around 11 billion and then stabilize. The earth is more than capable of supporting that level of population.

Much more worrying is humanities tendency towards violence. I find it disturbing how many people are attracted to Isis by their displays of extreme violence.

Originally posted by divegeester
If one projects even our rapid technological advances of the last hundred years, we are nowhere near capable of producing the kind of technology required to take us safely to another planet.

Actually we are more than capable of getting to the Moon or Mars should we so choose. Its just a matter of cost and benefit. Lets wait and see how well the Mars colonization project goes.

And even if we got to one how would be know that our biology would be compatible with the organic life there.
We won't be going anywhere other than the Moon or Mars any time soon. If there is organic life on either, it is unlikely to be a threat to us.

We are unlikely to try to go to any other planetary system for a very very long time. It would require us to be capable of building a self sufficient space station first, and once we do that we might as well build them and keep them in orbit around the sun, as we would get the benefit of solar power. We might send robotic missions to other systems, but there is no point in sending colonization missions.

Or best bet is Mars which has reasonably good terraforming potential.

We would also do well to start utilizing our oceans better.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Although humans have some major challenges ahead, population pressure is not something that on its own is likely to cause an extinction level event, or even cause a major problem. The population as it stands is set to hit around 11 billion and then stabilize. The earth is more than capable of supporting that level of population.

Much more worrying is h ...[text shortened]... find it disturbing how many people are attracted to Isis by their displays of extreme violence.

Do you have info on the 11 billion number please? It seems unlikely we will get there in one piece, so to speak.

I agree with you on the violence thing; I am dismayed at the accounts of young people being radicalised by Muslims in the UK and heading out to join ISIS.

Originally posted by divegeester
Do you have info on the 11 billion number please? It seems unlikely we will get there in one piece, so to speak.

I agree with you on the violence thing; I am dismayed at the accounts of young people being radicalised by Muslims in the UK and heading out to join ISIS.

It's not the displays of violence by ISIS that attracts them. They have declared a Caliphate. To Sunni Muslims (I'm not sure about Shia's) it's as if someone has set up Utopia. It's an obvious draw. More so because if one is in existence Muslims are obliged to attempt to live there. There are obvious questions about whether it is legitimate or not, in the sense of whether it really is a Caliphate, but many Muslims, especially younger ones, won't ask that question.

Originally posted by divegeester
Extinction is unlikely although who knows. But a major breakdown in global society is likely and history may say it's already happening. If one projects even our rapid technological advances of the last hundred years, we are nowhere near capable of producing the kind of technology required to take us safely to another planet. And even if we got to one ho ...[text shortened]... ible with the organic life there.

It's a glum outlook but think we are screwed to be honest.

I think we are close to having the technology to get to other planets. NASA is building the worlds largest booster rocket, loosely based on the Apollo boosters but with 40 years of new technology, stronger metals, smart control electronics and so forth. The problem is surviving the next 100 or 200 years with our present growth of technology intact.
If we keep up our present growth of technology, it is certain we will have colonies on Mars and the moon. Countries like China have such population pressure they will maybe be the first to Mars. They just landed a probe on the moon and it is in good conditions, giving us new data on the properties of the moon, and its origin.

So barring major catastrophes in the next 200 years we will certainly have colonies on other planets and probes to Europa and other moons looking for life there.

But, we have to survive with our technology intact for the next 200 years for that to happen.