ThirstyFish

Mime artists can be seen performing street theater and busking in many Turkish cities. For effect, they usually paint themselves in metallic gold or silver.

The Greek word apocalypse is literally translated as un-covering, disclosure of knowledge, lifting of the veil or revelation. Today, it is more commonly understood as universal or widespread destruction or disaster, or, end of the world. Most religions include some sort of an eschatology outlining what they believe to be "the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity". Apocalypticism, the belief that the "world will come to an end imminently", has littered history with many predictions that have turned out to be wrong. Yet every new generation comes up with new dates or depictions of an imminent apocalypse. In recent history, the End of the Mayan calendar in 2012, the 2011 Rapture, the Y2K Problem, or the numerous nuclear holocaust stories we've been told, come to mind.

Many point to these past failed apocalypticisms to dismiss or downplay global catastrophic risks such as climate change, ecological disasters or wars over resources. Some argue to "do nothing" while others believe that human innovation and technology will solve these problems before they manifest. And some apologists of the status-quo even go as far as labeling those who bring up these concerns as "[false] prophets and moral entrepreneurs out to gain fame and respect".

In the last century or so, we have reached a unique point in human history. We now have the capability to globally alter whole ecosystems and the climate, to annihilate the whole world with weapons of mass destruction - a capability we never had in the past. We're breaking new ground. Despite all the plain evidence of pollution, resource depletion, species extinction, climate change, global warming, overpopulation - any one of which is a global catastrophic risk - we continue to be obsessed with economic growth. So, you might call me a "false prophet out to gain fame and respect", but using past failed apocalypticisms to dismiss or downplay this unique point in history is either dishonest or idiotic. I truly can't understand how someone like Steven Pinker can be a Harvard Professor. How delusional must one be to actually claim: "It's really hard to think of any war fought over resources". It must be rewarding to pretend that exploitation colonialism did not happen and is not happening...