Truthfully, one of the largest issues that could bring about the end of the world as we know it, is humanity itself. Most people agree that with the nuclear weapons, resistant strains of disease, technological advances that are out of control, and other controversial issues, it is not hard to fathom that humanity could eventually become it’s own doomsday device. Although by looking at humanity as a whole, it would still be impossible to predict if, and when, the world would end and who would push the button, it is not an unreasonable concept.
Societal Collapse
One of the views for a “man-made” end of the world senario is a complete societal collapse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse), or a shut-down in the society as we know it, whether it be only temporary or permanent. There is a multitude of happenings and factors that can help to promote a societal collapse today, which can include anything from a natural disaster of major proportions, an artificial factor (like technological submission), or any combination of natural, artificial, or political factors. For example, if there were to come a major natural disaster which affected a whole continent and those people decided to relocate to another part of the world, the society that they left behind would, in essence, collapse. So, if this were to happen on an even larger, or global scale, society as we know it would collapse on itself.
Due to the fact that many societies have collapsed over the history of man, it is not intangible that our society could possibly collapse as well. Some such societies that have collapsed include: the former Soviet Union, the Roman Empire, and the Mayan civilization. There is also further evidence that other societies have collapsed and we do not have a historical record of the civilization at all. Some scientists believe that Easter Island, Malden Island, and the Norse colony on Greenland all are representations of societies that have collapsed, leaving only architecture behind to prove their existence.
In the next blog post, we’ll take a look at the different versions of wars that scientists, movie makers, and people in general have envisioned with all of our new technologies.