Have we reached "Peak Human"?

[el_draco (Rom)]

We often hear discussions about Peak Oil, but has anyone ever thought we may have reached "Peak Human"?

Interesting concept and there is some evidence to suggest we may have reached our peak.

1/ Just about everyone I know struggles to maintain a conversation that does not involve Facebook, Simpsons, Family Man and the like...

2/Hardly anyone knows basic mathematics and the grasp of written language is failing.

3/ Most people cant maintain concentration beyond a 30 second video/sound grab.

4/ Life expectancy is falling

5/ Bogan is the new cool

6/ Leadership on most levels is sorely lacking.

Of course, we may know more about everything than ever before, but precious few of us are capable of understanding a microscopic amount of what we know.... Those that specialise often lose sight of big picture concepts...

Perhaps we are evolving into two species, a tiny intelligent class and a drone class??

Is this the classic Cat amongst the pigeons??

[BakerStreet (Allan)]

No, we have always been like that.

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Undoubtedly.

We are changing the planet far quicker that we are able to respond to those changes. I give us a hundred years (which is about 70 more than I need).

[xelasnave]

Maybe we have.
I have had to teach my daughter how to start a fire, use a spear and a sword something that once would have been taught in school
Let's face it give two kids a sword each and they just tap the blades together and never attempt to strike the heart or sever an artery in the leg or arm
Yet they mostly can read some even do some programming and have general knowledge about many subjects
I was taught 6 ways to kill an opponent with bare hands but in truth only 3 were reliable
And these days I don'tthink they cover this in PE classes

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

I was taught 6 ways to kill an opponent with bare hands but in truth only 3 were reliable
And these days I don't think they cover this in PE classes

Correct, that's now "Homegroup"

Why is it that 90% of people I meet, both here, on the mainland and elsewhere, have the intellect of an Amoeba?

[leon]

Technology has, and is changing us, and yes, some people cant give change out of 2 dollars without a calculator.
However I can say I am not one of the drones, as mentioned.

Leon

[White Rabbit]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Maybe we have.
I have had to teach my daughter how to start a fire, use a spear and a sword something that once would have been taught in school
Let's face it give two kids a sword each and they just tap the blades together and never attempt to strike the heart or sever an artery in the leg or arm
Yet they mostly can read some even do some programming and have general knowledge about many subjects
I was taught 6 ways to kill an opponent with bare hands but in truth only 3 were reliable
And these days I don'tthink they cover this in PE classes

Umm, there's probably a reason that they don't teach kids in school how to sever the artery on an apponant. It's probably because the school janitors would go on strike due to having to clean up all the blood. And thank god that at least three of the six ways to kill a man are reliable, I like to keep my options open.



Sandy

[xelasnave]

In spite of what people think hand to hand combat is about who is the smartest

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

Imagine if the people that put men on the moon had the skill set you profess is of value...we would never have got there..

Astronauts were generally combat pilots to start with and I believe Armstrong was shot down over North Korea. I suspect they delivered their fair share of curry to opponents.

However, that aside, its off topic. My observation was about the apparent collapse of everything that once was taken for granted, incuding literacy, numeracy, a love of learning, a sense of history and a belief in something that gave people a bit of spine and drive.. What happened??

Maybe I am getting old but I remember a time when people could converse about most things, could understand more than the most basic stuff and actually new a bit about the world, including where the continents are located. Even the 30+'s seem to struggle with stuff I knew in primary school..

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

Since the moderators won't step in I will have my 2 cents worth. Your post was offensive IMO and its not the first. I don't know what school, if any, you went to but teaching kids the skills you describe is heading in the direction of regressing the human race. Hand to Hand combat is not about being the smartest, it has more to do with whom is more skilled. Imagine if the people that put men on the moon had the skill set you profess is of value...we would never have got there.

The ability to taking someones life or severely injure or maim is the worst trait of human kind and should not be revered.

I am sorry that I have offended you.
It was my sad attempt at humour.
I should have realised it could have caused offence and not proceeded in this manner.
Also I aapologise for any other post that has offended you.
I thank you for making your view known to me.

[xelasnave]

ROM I find similar but I put it down to old age in my case.
What I think is funny is lost on many but times have changed.
There are things that just are not funny as they once were.
I was surprised the other day when a contestant on a TV show took a long time over what ..spawn.. meant. And so many simple general knowledge questions stop folk in their tracks.
My childhood was pretty close to the end of WW2 and certainly I grew up in an era so different to today.
One other thing I notice these days is folk don't seem to handle set backs very well. They must be happy all the time as if that was the only state we are to experience.
I think that civilisations reach a point where they start to go downhill. History tells us as much.
Hopefully it is not happening.
These days a lot of kids don't seem to get outside.
We were always outdoors building tree houses forts billy cart tracks and of course fighting.
We never came in until the Sun was setting.
I really can't form an opinion on this matter other than to be tolerant to those who follow.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

Umm, there's probably a reason that they don't teach kids in school how to sever the artery on an apponant. It's probably because the school janitors would go on strike due to having to clean up all the blood. And thank god that at least three of the six ways to kill a man are reliable, I like to keep my options open.



Sandy

I should have mentioned the swords are to be wooden.
We had many books both from Army and the Police books showing self defence stuff.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

No disrespect to Armstrong and the like but the Astronauts were the button pushing payload of a much bigger grander program. Maybe I am jaded from the years of strapping in student military pilots at the training squadrons and years at fighter squadrons but I really don't find pilots that intelligent, yes they have a very unique skill set and they are smart for the environment they work in. I was referring to the likes of Wernher Von Braun, Tom Kelley and the team at grumman, Thomas Dolan, the people at North American Aviation and the many others that actual conceived and developed the idea that landed a man on the moon.

As for the answer to your questions...I think Leon has given it...technology.

From the little I know of that period in time, the astronauts had to do a lot more of the operations than these days. I gather that right to the point of landing on the moon it was all pretty much an act of determination as much as one of technology.. but that aside, i wonder how much we can blame the technology.

I regularly see people whack numbers in to a calculator and blindly accept an answer that's out by a factor of 100. I always thought technology was meant to be a tool to support, rather than replace thinking

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

You may be correct...if you look at population trends and their demographics we may be near peak human in terms of numbers. Like others I see my share of dumbing down of society but I am still optimistic. While the "developed world" in some places may be losing it's edge/hunger I have watched first hand the drive, energy and innovation the "still developing world" is introducing. As a species we ain't licked just yet...

[Eden (Brett)]

5/ Bogan is the new cool

LOL! Seriously though, I think what you're seeing is a disturbing overlap between the bogan, pseudo-bogan, emo and hipster sub-cultural archetypes...in other words, Brogans!

I agree with all the other observations though, apart from the decrease in life expectancy. Unless, of course, you're suggesting that we expect less from life than we used to? ;-) I mean, why would I want to <insert action here>, anyway? I can just Google it!

[clive milne]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

In spite of what people think hand to hand combat is about who is the smartest

Oh, I don't know about that.
I reckon Sarah Palin could take Steven hawking if she played her cards right.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by clive milne

Oh, I don't know about that.
I reckon Sarah Palin could take Steven hawking if she played her cards right.

I feel guilty laughing about that but I will

[xelasnave]

Hans I think fencing is taught in elite schools.
And I think it is an Olympic sport.
Certainly it is a sport well subscribed and in view of your words I can not see why it is at all acceptable ...for it is all about hitting a target on the chest there to represent the heart.
It is strange how it is accepted given the underlying concept.

[clive milne]

Originally Posted by el_draco

We often hear discussions about Peak Oil, but has anyone ever thought we may have reached "Peak Human"?

John Anthony West contends that the best metric by which to measure the relative degree of cultural advancement of any given society is to look at what they do (or have done) with their spare time and surplus resources. If that is a reasonable premise, then it could be fairly argued that we reached our zenith in the pre dynastic epoch at Luxor. The trend has been towards the inane and profane more or less ever since.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

....... The trend has been towards the inane and profane more or less ever since.

Does that include amateur astronomy?