What is the end of the world as we know it? Theorists warn humanity is teetering between collapse and progress

When will the end of mankind come? Whether it’s a nuclear holocaust caused by AI-powered robots, the result of exceeding critical climate thresholds, or “Don’t look up” Asteroids, that question haunts our minds, our research, and our Facebook rants.

Now, one theorist warns that human civilization of 8.2 billion people is at a critical juncture: teetering between what he predicts is authoritarian collapse and excess.

“Industrial civilization is facing an ‘inevitable’ decline as it is replaced by a more advanced ‘post-materialist’ civilization based on decentralized excess clean energy. The main challenge is that industrial civilization is facing such a rapid decline that it It may hinder the emergence of a new and superior “life cycle” for mankind. The Schumaker Institute for Sustainable Systems said in a statement.

Ahmed has spoken at United Nations summits in recent years and is the author of a paper recently published in the journal Foresight.

Gaya Herrington, a vice president at Schneider Electric who was not involved in the study, said independent She agreed with Ahmed on all of his important points.

“We are living in a historic moment and what we do over the next five years will determine our level of well-being for the rest of this century,” she said.

The study draws on scientific literature to develop theories on the rise and fall of civilizations, concluding that humanity is on the verge of the next “giant leap” in evolution, if progress is not hampered by authoritarianism.

The study concluded that civilizations evolve through a four-stage life cycle: growth, stability, decline and final transformation. He said that today’s industrial civilization is heading towards decline.

Ahmed said the rise in authoritarian politics and efforts to protect the fossil fuel industry, which produces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, are factors that could harm civilization. Declining global energy return on investment is the main reason for this decline.

Investing in engineered clean energy and new materials capabilities, such as industry, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and lab-grown agriculture, can create new forms of networked excess that—when vast amounts of resources are made available through the network—protect Earth systems. But they cannot be governed by old, centralized industrial hierarchies, Ahmed said.

Ultimately, he discovered that the rift between the so-called emerging new system and the “industrial operating system” was widening, leading to political and cultural chaos and a global crisis.

“An amazing new space of possibilities is emerging where humans can provide themselves with abundant energy, transportation, food and knowledge without harming the planet. This could be the next giant leap in human evolution. But if we can’t To truly evolve as humans and return to managing these emerging capabilities responsibly and for the benefit of all, they could lead to our demise,” he warned. “Instead of evolving, we will regress—if not collapse. The rise of authoritarian and far-right governments around the world increases the serious risk of such a collapse.

in his new book Darwin’s Survival Guide, Daniel Brooks, a professor at the University of Toronto, said that although the danger is great and the time is short, humans can make change happen.

He told us his point of view independent Via email, while utopia is out of reach, the end of the world will not happen even if there is a major collapse of technological humanity. He believes that the world has a “problem that cannot be solved by technology” and that if there is a collapse around 2050, people who continue business as usual “will be blamed – regardless of politics, economics or beliefs – while those who manage to become survivors and the rebuilders will all share in the credit.

“We agree with those who say we now have enough technology to solve the problem, and while technological progress helps, global climate change is accelerating faster than technological progress — the solution to maintaining the humanity of technology lies in changing our behavior (not electing anti-science dictators would be a good behavioral change at the electoral level, we agree with Dr. Ahmed),” Brooks wrote, referring to his co-author Salvador B. Agosta.

Ahmed’s paper comes after dire warnings of a rapidly warming planet in the future. Last year, an international team of scientists said six of Earth’s nine planetary boundaries – which define safe operating spaces for humans – had been crossed.

“The update on planetary boundaries clearly depicts an unwell patient as pressures on Earth continue to increase and important boundaries are being breached. We don’t know how we can continue until the combined stresses cause irreversible changes and damage How long does it take to exceed these critical boundaries,” said co-author Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

Research published earlier this year found that keeping greenhouse gas emissions at least net-zero — a level that can be absorbed by natural and other CO2 removal methods — by 2100 is critical to minimizing climate tipping point risks and ensuring planetary stability.

“Multiple wars, extreme inequality, looming climate breakdown and new technologies that could transform our existence have brought humanity to a crossroads,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said in September. “ There is no time for complacency or defeatism – we only have a shared responsibility to save the world as we owe it to future generations.”

We’ll have to wait and see if there are any other Hollywood-style studies predicting the end of the world through artificial intelligence systems.