Armageddon

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by ytzk, Jul 25, 2014.

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  1. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    Are we there yet?

    Through an unusual sequence of events, I once spent a week on a fundamentalist pumpkin farm/pregnant teen refuge in Washington state prepping for Y2K and further toured North America, staying with a fantastic variety of religious whackos an old family friend had met during a six month discipleship training camp in Texas.

    Anyway, from what I learned then, I'm pretty sure all the boxes have been ticked for Revelations style Armageddon, which may be self fulfilling given all the whackos who vote, but my question is more about realpolitik than religion.

    Is the Old World about to explode? Seems like it, but then it always does to me. What's the buzz on the ground?
     
  2. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    One could certainly come away with the impression that the world is teetering on the edge after watching a 30 minute news segment these days. Planes in pieces on the ground, black smoke billowing over Gaza, alarming rhetoric from Russia, Kim Jong Un dancing, etcetera. But there are a lot of alarmists out there, and they are usually the ones who get the most time in front of a camera or behind a microphone. To hear them tell it, if the climate doesn't kill us all in the next decade, it will be GMO crops and processed food. People have been pronouncing that the end of the world is just around the corner ever since there were people.

    On the other hand: thanks to massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the U.S. and Russia, we have been just a few poor decisions away from nuclear apocalypse since the 1960s. So in that sense, yes; we're almost there.
     
  3. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Nope, sorry old chum, everything is fine and life is still, on the whole, improving for everyone.

    A civilian plane being shot down is alarming, but mainly because that kind of thing is vanishingly rare, so when it does happen people freak out. We're treating it as a one-off though, rather than as an excuse to get drawn into a greater conflict.

    Hah, I'm sure going to look like a chump if this whole thing escalates though.
     
  4. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    Well that's a relief, for a given value of 'everyone'. I wouldn't want to be in East Africa right now, let alone the Middle East.

    As you know, my money is on Pestilence for the win, but all the War sure makes for an interesting race.

    I must be autistic or something because 300 plane passengers doesn't seem any more or less tragic to me than all the other needless deaths every day, except that it's a neat cassus beli for the maniacs with more power than morals.
     
  5. Vorak

    Vorak Administrator Staff Member

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    It is a greater tragedy when you think that 6 of the leading researchers looking for a cure to AIDS/HIV were on that plane.

    Not as bad as the 108 experts initial reports claimed but still these were people that were working to make the world a far less terrible place.
     
  6. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    That's true, I suppose.

    In other news, the lead researcher on the latest Ebola outbreak, which is spreading unusually fast, caught it.

    As I said, pestilence for the win, and plenty of tragedy to choose from. I just can't seem to empathise any more with the white middle class passengers than I do for diseased africans or bombed muslims. I suppose that's part of the whole tribal identity social cohesion thing I've read about in books but never really mastered.

    If anyone needs me I'll be in my bunker.
     
  7. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Re:

    By 'everyone' I'm referring to all the humans on this planet. Apologies if that wasn't clear.

    If you really want to have this argument, I'd recommend you quibble over the timescale instead.
     
  8. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    I do not wish to have this argument, old bean, but here it is.

    I have a broader definition of everyone, so thanks for clarifying. I assume you don't include chimpanzees as hominids or humans.

    As to quality of life, I believe in education and civilisation making things a lot better for 'everyone' overall but, as you know, I believe there are limits which we are fast approaching, such as pathogen evolution and food security, to say nothing of climate catastrophe or nuclear politics. Writing checks which you can't cash may temporarily make life better but doesn't really add up to a bright future.

    Anyway whatever. NASA seems to agree that we are doing what every failed civ has always done: using up the ecology and wasting resources feathering the nests of the elite minority, except now on a global scale. WAKE UP SHEEPLE! Lol, jk. I'm not that fervent. But seriously, canned food and shotguns, and hug your family.

    On a more personal note, I like you, Smuel. Sorry for being such as misanthropic narcissist towards you. You're alright. England is cool too. I like the way you guys make subtle jokes and negotiate crowded streets at speed. I hope that being instinctive enemies doesn't mean we can't be friends.
     
  9. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    Can't wait for Civ: Beyond Earth!
     
  10. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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  11. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Wasn't that called Alpha Centauri?

    I like you too, ytzk. If you're ever in London let me know, so I can pretend to be unavailable and avoid going for a drink with you. In my culture that is one of our highest honours.
     
  12. Yuki

    Yuki Well-Known Member

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    Before the world ends, you must make another rap, at the very least.
     
  13. Ruda

    Ruda Active Member

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    Alpha Centauri was great. And the end of the world wasn't even worthy of discussion there. As far as I remember it was was unavoidable.

    Oh, and isn't the sound played before Urquhart's Cyprus related flashbacks in House of Cards the same as that of an attacking mindworm in Alpha Centauri?
     
  14. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    I loved Alpha Centauri too. In civ(s) I always went the spaceship win and AC was a worthy successor. That is perhaps my second favourite game of all time, if you add the hours, Arcanum being the first of course.
     
  15. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    Which is why I'm looking forward to Civ: Beyond Earth!
     
  16. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    No time for C:BE too busy still playing AC.

    I noticed the laser sounds from there in lots of things.

    That game could easily become a sacred text in five hundred years.
     
  17. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    As the inspiration for Civ: Beyond Earth!
     
  18. Grossenschwamm

    Grossenschwamm Well-Known Member

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    With a title like Armageddon, I was hoping for more pirates in this thread.
     
  19. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    The title is Armageddon, not ARRRRmageddon.
     
  20. Yuki

    Yuki Well-Known Member

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    Pirate princess here. You won't be surprised to know I won't be buying anything that comes out in the future.
     
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