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>Weird to think that a kid born today could easily live to 2100.

Indeed! It's also quite possible that some of the humans that will live forever (or until they choose not to) may already be around us.




That's possible assuming the pace of medicinal science continues. Someone living until 2100 means they'd be 76. That only requires they don't have an accident. Most people born today will live that long.

And, rather sadly, if climate change happens as predicted it is going to make for a pretty bleak existence. It's one reason I'm fairly happy not to have had kids.


Yes, I feel fortunate to have never wanted children; it's something that's actually brought me a lot of peace as I've gotten older. It's taken me a long time to come to some acceptance of the likely future of humanity and the Earth, and I can understand why it's so hard for those with children to do so themselves.


Just curious. If someone asked you whether you wanted to exist or not, before coming here? Would you have chosen being born?


It is interesting that you don't get to consent to being created, isn't it? If you want my thoughts on the matter, Tolstoy pretty much nailed it (and obviously wrote it far better than I could) over a century before I was born in "A Confession" - essentially saying that life is like being stuck holding onto the edge of well with a dragon at the bottom; knowing that eventually you will lose your grip and be consumed by the dragon. I do resent that I was put in that well a bit and am not looking to put anyone else in a well of their own.


Thanks, I read that book as well (which is remarkable for me as I've only read like four books ever in life), can recommend.

What do you think of Emil Cioran, btw? It may pique your interest.


Why bleak? What effects other than milder winters and sea level rising a few mm a decade?


Events like this become more frequent:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-african-he...

If you shift a normal distribution to the right even a little bit, the frequency of tail events above a fixed threshold (in this case, wet bulb temperatures exceeding the human survivability limit of 35 degrees celcius) increases more than linearly.

This is especially an issue near the equator, which will lead to climate refugees seeking colder climates, north and south.


If that's all that happens then humanity has been lucky. At the other end of the scale, billions die of starvation, wars over resources, etc.


This comment feels very out of place in a thread about the planet's on-going and rapidly accelerating climate decline.




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