Mankind...Have we evolved beyond dependence on Nature?

[Aleph-Sama]

Here are some negative effects of (badly managed) technology.

Pollution of water with Chemicals, plastics.
Pollution of air
Endangerment of lower animal species
Increase of the temperature of the Earth aka Global Warming
The emergence of new difficultt to kill Bacteria and viruses

In my eyes these are not insurmountable problems though. Can any body else think of more negative side effects of Tech.

@tatsukai1990 : I love the Clickable world page. Can't wait to start clicking my world away.

Dependence on technology is already happening. There are people in the world who wouldn't know what to do without some sort of screen. People don't realize it, but we are more dependent on nature than we realize. We modify our food, lumber, and clothing materials, but that doesn't mean we aren't dependent on the plants to provide us with oxygen, the water cycle to provide us with water, and bees to pollinate our crops.

[L0ki]

Well... let's just wait 20 or so years until we destroy it completely and see what happens. My guess is that we'd be done for, at least the vast majority of us.

[Stev3child]

We can only manipulate nature, not create it. So destroying nature(water,climate,plantlife etc etc.) we will have to move to another hospitible planet(which we dont have that option as of yet) or simply diminish from this planet along with its creatures that have the same dependence as us. Basically, the more we advance in technology, the more effort we must put into conserving our essential, non-renewable resources.

[POW]

I dont think we have to choose one or the other as I think it is possible to build technology that works in harmony with nature and supports our growth. The problem with the world today is that most of the development is done from the focal point of greed and making money not how is this gonna effect humanity , enviromentaly including animal life, socially and long term.

Its more a matter of conideration and putting well being of people and enviroment before other short term goals like profit. The pursuit of profit is the reason we have so many problems with drugs rushed to market before the known health risks from a long list of side effects are known.

I believe we are smart enough if we wanted to we could figure out a way to feed & house every single person on the planet and still live in harmony with nature. Its only a matter of it not being a priroity is why it is not that way.

[Orpheu]

We can only manipulate nature, not create it. So destroying nature(water,climate,plantlife etc etc.) we will have to move to another hospitible planet(which we dont have that option as of yet) or simply diminish from this planet along with its creatures that have the same dependence as us. Basically, the more we advance in technology, the more effort we must put into conserving our essential, non-renewable resources.

not quite mate, although very new, terraforming is possible and as been tested on small scales successfully, it is merely too costly at the moment.
i think it's a matter of time, one day technology will advance to such a point that will offer us anything we need even if only indirectly. example:

we need oxigen to survive correct? thus trees are needed for a ever growing population on larger quantities, so maybe one day we will figure out how to speed up plant growth thus making such trees abundant.

like i stated before it's a matter of time, if we can preserve ourselfs until that point like perhaps in 100 years in the future or so then the only real threat will be the existance of countries and their independent interests that could lead to a war. like religion, products like oil or maybe water like some predict, who knows.

this is what i believe anyway.

[paulbee]

To my mind, if survival as a species is something we take seriously, then we will have to learn how to thrive with and without nature's support. I am certain we have a long way to go (as per Orpheu), but we have already started down that road.

The truth is that if we don't acquire the skills and Tech necessary, the we will eventually end up extinct along with the dinosaurs. Mother nature is not an intentional kind Mother, there is no loving Gaea that is carefully nurturing and supporting the species on the planet. Life exists in synchrony with nature, but nature changes as it will.

The next Ice-Age will almost certainly wipe us out just as will the next asteroid collision if we depend on Nature alone. We need technology that can exist alongside of nature, but does not rely on the uncertainty of nature.

[Tadashi Seiren]

I figure it'd be a good idea to keep some nature survival courses in schools for the future. I just have a feeling that down the road a day will come where some massive bombing will force a mass of people to live in the wild to survive or at least force them to rebuild their lands. And when I say people I mean people who depend on technology too much.

[paulbee]

Isn't it a shame that we humans are probably the largest danger to our own survival. There have been other less advanced human cicilizations that disapeared due to war, although other died out from natural disasters.

For us, our educational system, our manufacturing industries and our economic system that keeps manufacturing profitable are what underpin our modern civillisation, but Industrial know (ability to manufacture) how seems to be our weak point.

For example, the ability to create high strength steel, and the ability to make super microchips cannot be easily replicated if the companies that make then are destroyed. The cost of rebuilding would be extremely high, plus there are highly specialized skills involved.

In other words certain key industries are the Achilles' heel of modern society, and if they were interrupted, it will be difficult to resume even if the knowledge base were still intact.

I guess you caould add the global trade, communications, and transportation to the list of critical things.

[Itsu]

What a depressing thread this is.

The thing is... We're both increasing our lifespan with the help of modern medical treatments and shortening it as well by being less active, eating, drinking and putting in us all kinds of shit.

Some hundred years ago people actually had to work for their meal - today we just take the car to the local store.

I'd say physical activity is something we're getting less dependant on.

[paulbee]

What a depressing thread this is.

The thing is... We're both increasing our lifespan with the help of modern medical treatments and shortening it as well by being less active, eating, drinking and putting in us all kinds of shit.

Some hundred years ago people actually had to work for their meal - today we just take the car to the local store.

I'd say physical activity is something we're getting less dependant on.

Quite correct. I'd like to point out that as humans we haven't all had to work for our meals in millenia, it's just that today we can raise food far more efficiently than in the past. If you think about it, all cultures have had individuals who performed specialised tasks for society, and these people were rewarded, or "Paid" with food, so they didn't have to work for the food. You might include Shamans, Healers, and warriors among the ones mentioned.

Today the needs of society have grown so sofisticated that no one is able to provide their needs by themselves, hence we are far more specialised than we have ever been.

The main thought behind this thread is that humans have/are evolving to be more brain, and less brawn. If we tried to live by nature's provisions alone, we would die by the billions. We are physically weak compared with animals, and are barely able to provide for ourselves absent our brain power.

I think that humanity is at a crossroads where we could forge ahead and evolve into those space aliens we often see depicted with scrawny little bodies and huge heads.I think that absent our technological interventions nature is far too unpredictable and changeable for our needs. I think that even if we were able to restore the planet to a pristine state, and reverse global warming etc, nature by itself is too dangerous for us to rely upon. If it wasn't global warming it would be global cooling, or earthquakes, or storms, or giant solar flares,and more. I think that technology is our future, and we should embrace it and see where it takes us.