Stereotype posted:

This isn't the first time that someone has strolled into this thread, easily the most depressing and fatalistic on the internet, and asked those who spend their time reading and discussing the ongoing and accelerating collapse of the biosphere: "why?" while the answer assuredly varies from poster to poster, the primary motivation seems to be that it seems wrong to look away. whether that wrongness stems from a moral responsibility to know and understand our surroundings, or just one of grim curiosity, everyone who consistently follows the perpetually increasing stream of unexpectedly worse consequences of a century of arrogantly ostentatious consumption and purely theatrical mitigations is comforted that they, at the very least, are aware and informed. one never seems to question why people do things when there is a concrete and achievable result that is attained through the action, however in this case we all seem quite convinced that there is little or nothing that we can do to stop the exponential fall of the basic ecology of the planet itself. on the contrary however, the simple act of observing and discussing is in itself a result. the more prescient question is "how can you not?"

mark immune posted:

i just keep tabs on this poo poo to see how many years of gaming i can comfortably expect. decade plus at this point. not my problem yet

mark immune posted:

not my problem yet

Zodium posted:

he's a troll, but he's also smart and knowledgeable. it would be good if he participated in the thread.

Blockade posted:

Oh, most importantly, the reason i read this thread

I have some savings, and I want to know the exact moment I can stop working and coast till im dead

If i spend 1 extra second more than i need to working ill be mad !

Stereotype posted:

This isn't the first time that someone has strolled into this thread, easily the most depressing and fatalistic on the internet, and asked those who spend their time reading and discussing the ongoing and accelerating collapse of the biosphere: "why?" while the answer assuredly varies from poster to poster, the primary motivation seems to be that it seems wrong to look away. whether that wrongness stems from a moral responsibility to know and understand our surroundings, or just one of grim curiosity, everyone who consistently follows the perpetually increasing stream of unexpectedly worse consequences of a century of arrogantly ostentatious consumption and purely theatrical mitigations is comforted that they, at the very least, are aware and informed. one never seems to question why people do things when there is a concrete and achievable result that is attained through the action, however in this case we all seem quite convinced that there is little or nothing that we can do to stop the exponential fall of the basic ecology of the planet itself. on the contrary however, the simple act of observing and discussing is in itself a result. the more prescient question is "how can you not?"

celadon posted:

gaming while periodically glancing at the giant hourglass emblazoned with a symbol of the earth i keep ominously displayed in the living room corner

4d3d3d posted:

Why do you game though? What do you get out of it? Explain it to me like I'm a child please. And whatever you answer I will just question it too

Zodium posted:

he's a troll, but he's also smart and knowledgeable. it would be good if he participated in the thread.

celadon posted:

Also once you learn about things you can’t unlearn them. If you are familiar with the dynamics of climate change, having access to a group of people who also understand will make it easier to process the information that comes in through normal media without feeling like you are insane.

If you see an article about a carbon capture plant that can remove the equivalent of a thousand cars and it’s being treated like the solution to all the problems, and you actually know something about the magnitude of what’s going on, you’re gonna feel like the world is gaslighting you. So some community is nice.

I think similar dynamics exist for many of the threads in cspam, certainly for plaguethread at least.

Puppy Burner posted:

I won't, I don't own a car

OIL PANIC posted:

Wait, you’re allowed to not own a car?

And if you don’t, you’re allowed to just... not buy gas?!

Blockade posted:

Ssthalar posted:

Amusingly, according to quantum mechanics, we're technically changing the world simply by observing it.
... Of course, whether that change is for better or worse, who can tell.

Now where did i put those boxes of cats...
I should get an Orb to ponder, that would be dope.

Mayor Dave posted:

https://twitter.com/agingdoc1/status/1651261926503063552?t=SDOU506_b0l1vphHknFZLQ&s=19

Hubbert posted:

croup coughfield posted:

i do have a serious question for the doomers while im here though: what are you getting out of spending so much time and energy focused on catastrophe? like what purpose is this serving for you?

Stereotype posted:

This isn't the first time that someone has strolled into this thread, easily the most depressing and fatalistic on the internet, and asked those who spend their time reading and discussing the ongoing and accelerating collapse of the biosphere: "why?" while the answer assuredly varies from poster to poster, the primary motivation seems to be that it seems wrong to look away. whether that wrongness stems from a moral responsibility to know and understand our surroundings, or just one of grim curiosity, everyone who consistently follows the perpetually increasing stream of unexpectedly worse consequences of a century of arrogantly ostentatious consumption and purely theatrical mitigations is comforted that they, at the very least, are aware and informed. one never seems to question why people do things when there is a concrete and achievable result that is attained through the action, however in this case we all seem quite convinced that there is little or nothing that we can do to stop the exponential fall of the basic ecology of the planet itself. on the contrary however, the simple act of observing and discussing is in itself a result. the more prescient question is "how can you not?"

christmas boots posted:

The way I figure is that the odds of life evolving are really really loving tiny and space is really really loving big. maybe there's life somewhere out there but if so they're so far away that we have no means of communicating or interacting with them. Functionally I guess that's the same as being alone in the universe

Mayor Dave posted:

https://twitter.com/agingdoc1/status/1651261926503063552?t=SDOU506_b0l1vphHknFZLQ&s=19

croup coughfield posted:

i do have a serious question for the doomers while im here though: what are you getting out of spending so much time and energy focused on catastrophe? like what purpose is this serving for you?

BIG HEADLINE posted:

Can't wait for "pray (and torture) away the gay/trans" camps to turn into "plastic detox boot camps" once the right wing media gloms onto plastic contamination being ~the only cause~ of the "uptick" in the LGBTQIA+ population.

Of course, it'll be that evil *Chinese* plastic, not good *American* plastic.

Mola Yam posted:

me at the window where we can act:

BIG HEADLINE posted:

I can't remember - if we were to disappear tomorrow, is there still enough time for complex/sentient life (of some sort) to evolve before the sun makes life on Earth untenable?

croup coughfield posted:

i do have a serious question for the doomers while im here though: what are you getting out of spending so much time and energy focused on catastrophe? like what purpose is this serving for you?

BIG HEADLINE posted:

I can't remember - if we were to disappear tomorrow, is there still enough time for complex/sentient life (of some sort) to evolve before the sun makes life on Earth untenable?

Stereotype posted:

of course there's still hope! hope that some time in the next billion years some other intelligent life form will develop and do a good job. not for us, we hosed up. maybe we could build some big monuments about what not to do