In 1972, This Computer Program Predicted How the World Will End ... and So Far, We're Right On Track

Alex

In the early 1970s, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a computer program to predict what will happen to planet Earth (and the humans who live on it).

The computer model, called World1, used data including pollution levels, population growth, the availability of natural resources and the overall quality of life. Here's what it found:

"At around 2020, the condition of the planet becomes highly critical. If we do nothing about it, the quality of life goes down to zero. Pollution becomes so seriously it will start to kill people, which in turn will cause the population to diminish, lower than it was in the 1900. At this stage, around 2040 to 2050, civilized life as we know it on this planet will cease to exist."

The bad news: according to the computer model, we're right on track to make that prediction come true.


Comments (5)

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Newest 5 Comments

We need to hope for the best, but keep fighting against climate change deniers and for the environment. Meanwhile, we need to prepare for the worst. Just. In. Case. I'm not talking about just the "preppers," I'm talking about ways to preserve our best achievements in the arts and sciences. We need to start building Knowledge Arks, storehouses of books and recordings so future generations don't have to start from scratch.
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they've been predicting the end of the world for what seems like forever

last I remember , I think Stephen Hawking (at last word) said we had at least 1000 yrs if that …… of course who knows what the future holds for us
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I'd like to think we have a little bit of time left before the world ends... like a couple hundred years? I should get to see alligators in my home state of New York first...
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Hello? Mob thievery is not a new phenomenon. What kind of idiot would write such a thing?

More importantly, what kind of lazy editor would allow such an obvious blunder to appear on their website?
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And I suspect the 10% of all business have been flash robbed statistic is a bit skewed by confusion,too. I bet lots of businesses who've been robbed by groups of people coming in at once to serve as a distraction for members of the group to steal might have mistakenly answered that they'd been flash robbed, too, if the question was asked vaguely enough or if they didn't really understand the flash mob concept. Like when I was a teen in the 90's, it was common enough for groups of 4 or 6 or so teens to go into a convenience store and make the group hard enough to watch all at once that a couple of them could steal while the cashier wasn't able to watch them all that several stores in areas with lots of teens around like near schools had to enact an "only two teens at a time" restriction. And while a bad thing, it's not nearly the same thing as a genuine flash mob robbery. But I could see some less web-savvy shop owners not understanding the difference and saying they'd been victim to flash robbery when it was really just old-school group distraction theft.
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Many decades ago, when I was a kid, the local kids (age: about 10) used to mob family stores in a small California town. Some distracted the clerk while other grabbed candy and dashed.
This is nothing new, except that the kids in my town grew up, while those in D.C. probably never will.
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These mass shoplifting events should not be called "flash robs" or "flash mob crimes." Flash mobs are not criminal acts: http://bit.ly/oz4Qwb. I'm a co-founder of Improv AZ, a flash mob troupe. Before every event, we look up the local laws to make sure that our events our legal.
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As a retail worker I haven't experienced a 'flash rob,' fortunately, but I have had my share of all the other types of thievery, prank and general tomfoolery. Some of it is harmless and cute (changing a display in a humorous way) but it gets annoying after a while. It makes me mad when these kids start stealing because it threatens my livelihood. I don't have their parents' fancy health insurance or financial security. Just leave us retail people alone. We are in a no-win situation. We can't restrain or otherwise discipline these crazy kids because we are terrified of being sued.
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2 solutions here.

1. Provide your store with a panic button that silent alarms the police, locks the doors so that it prevents exiting the store and 3 duck into a bolted back room. Shell gas stations have these for their gas stations.

2. This is of course for sole owners....shotgun under counter and start blasting...not stop theif...not hold it....just start firing...guaranteed whether they live or die they wont be back.
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