Modern Eschatology
Eschatology is a term that concerns itself with the end of the world. Historically, many religions have predicted some kind of end times, including the Abrahamic Judgement Day, the Norse Ragnarök, and the Hindu end of the Satya Yuga. While religious eschatology remains popular, the 20th century heralded in a kind of secular eschatology, based on developments in science and technology. Many of these beliefs in the end of the world are still common today.
Perhaps the most common form of eschatology in the 2060s is that involving climate change. Despite great geo-engineering efforts to slow the process, massive damage has been done to earth's biosphere. Human civilisation remains in a precarious balance, and failures in geo-engineering technology could easily thrust the planet back into a downward slope. However, for now, the rampant climate change of the early 21st century has, to some extent, been halted.
The development of the atomic bomb in July 1945 ushered in the nuclear age, where a political leader could end the world with the press of a button. Although politics have changed since the end of the Cold War, the United States, China, and the rump Russian Federation all maintain significant numbers of nuclear weapons. Nuclear terrorism is an ever-present threat, and some nuclear weapons (such as those from the Chita Missile Base in Russia) cannot be accounted for.
Modern communications infrastructure has enabled incredible advances in society and technology, but the world has come to rely on it to a great extent. While great effort is taken to protect the internet and digital infrastructure, the capture of the SoLong virus from the terrorist Global Resistance Movement shows how precarious digital infrastructure really is. There is also the old adage of "a random person in Nebraska" holding up the internet, referring to the reliance of digital infrastructure on half-century (or longer) old code that is maintained by volunteers.
As long as the concept of artificial intelligence has existed, so has the prospect of artificial beings taking control of the world. The term 'technological singularity' refers to an artificial intelligence that gains the ability to improve itself at an unstoppable rate, effectively becoming godlike as it exceeds the combined intelligence of humans. Scientists belive this to be unlikely, as the development of AI slowed down in the early 2030s due to hardware scaling issues. Still, this does not prevent it from being one of the more popular end-of-world scenarios in media.
While genetic engineering has improved the lives of billions around the world, treating hereditary conditions, it has also opened the door to new and more deadly bioweapons. Hypothetically, a rogue state or corporation could create a highly infective and highly lethal bioweapon and release it to target specific genetic codes, or even humanity as a whole. Even if it could be cured, millions or more could potentially die in such a scenario.
Ultimately, there is one end-of-world scenario that will come to pass. In approximately five billion years, the sun will exhaust its hydrogen fuel and become a red giant. In six billion years, it will expand to consume the Earth. The ultimate fate of the universe is unknown, but all models have it ceasing to exist (or effectively ceasing) in tens to hundreds to thousands of trillions of years.
Perhaps the most common form of eschatology in the 2060s is that involving climate change. Despite great geo-engineering efforts to slow the process, massive damage has been done to earth's biosphere. Human civilisation remains in a precarious balance, and failures in geo-engineering technology could easily thrust the planet back into a downward slope. However, for now, the rampant climate change of the early 21st century has, to some extent, been halted.
The development of the atomic bomb in July 1945 ushered in the nuclear age, where a political leader could end the world with the press of a button. Although politics have changed since the end of the Cold War, the United States, China, and the rump Russian Federation all maintain significant numbers of nuclear weapons. Nuclear terrorism is an ever-present threat, and some nuclear weapons (such as those from the Chita Missile Base in Russia) cannot be accounted for.
Modern communications infrastructure has enabled incredible advances in society and technology, but the world has come to rely on it to a great extent. While great effort is taken to protect the internet and digital infrastructure, the capture of the SoLong virus from the terrorist Global Resistance Movement shows how precarious digital infrastructure really is. There is also the old adage of "a random person in Nebraska" holding up the internet, referring to the reliance of digital infrastructure on half-century (or longer) old code that is maintained by volunteers.
As long as the concept of artificial intelligence has existed, so has the prospect of artificial beings taking control of the world. The term 'technological singularity' refers to an artificial intelligence that gains the ability to improve itself at an unstoppable rate, effectively becoming godlike as it exceeds the combined intelligence of humans. Scientists belive this to be unlikely, as the development of AI slowed down in the early 2030s due to hardware scaling issues. Still, this does not prevent it from being one of the more popular end-of-world scenarios in media.
While genetic engineering has improved the lives of billions around the world, treating hereditary conditions, it has also opened the door to new and more deadly bioweapons. Hypothetically, a rogue state or corporation could create a highly infective and highly lethal bioweapon and release it to target specific genetic codes, or even humanity as a whole. Even if it could be cured, millions or more could potentially die in such a scenario.
Ultimately, there is one end-of-world scenario that will come to pass. In approximately five billion years, the sun will exhaust its hydrogen fuel and become a red giant. In six billion years, it will expand to consume the Earth. The ultimate fate of the universe is unknown, but all models have it ceasing to exist (or effectively ceasing) in tens to hundreds to thousands of trillions of years.
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