Ok, I made similar to this thread initially around a year ago and it ended up getting trashed. It is however a thread that I am curious to know results of the poll. Hopefully this time we will be able to keep things in order.

As the title suggests which of the following do you feel poses the greatest thread to humanity. Poll attached.

I have to say over population, which leads to global warming. I think the two sort of go hand in hand. It's ok though, once we run out of oil we will have the big famine and most of the worlds population will die off.

I would agree with over population leading to global warming. Snook, the amount of traffic recently in Sheffield kills me :P, it can only get worse.

Lickszz did you vote for divine intervention, if so could you explain why you've chosen this?

I was surprised that fox hunting was left off the poll

Originally posted by Abdul
I was surprised that fox hunting was left off the poll

Comes under terrorism.

I'm afraid I haven't voted so yet.

I voted for terrorism. It's getting way out of hand.

Scarey.

I think I would probably vote for a combination of greed and stupidity - though I suppose most of the possibilities are outcomes of that...

Interesting poll...I'm intrigued as to who voted for Divine retribution...

I think the War on Terrorism will eventually lead to limited nuclear 'pre-emptive strikes'.

Retaliatory nuclear strikes will kick off World War 3 and the end of the world. Around the same time as this, the Antichrist and the Prophet Jesus will be making their appearances, so you've got your Divine retribution there.

And while that's making the headlines, the oil supplies of the world will be used up, accelerating Global Warming (not to mention the nuclear fallout).

The Aliens are coming...

The United States of America.

Disease in my opinion, so picked genetics.

Over poulation, errorism, all scare mongering I am afraid!

Some of choices serious issues perhaps, but we as a pseudo intelligent form generate problems, then solve them!

I picked genetic engineering because things like overpopulation, terrorism, etc. are either self-limiting (we starve and die off) or short term (well, with the possible excepetion of global nuclear war...)

But if we screw up big time with genetic engineering and release some highly resilient hybrids in to the ecosystems of the world then we're stuck with them.

The one that's missed out that I reckon should be in there are particle physicists. One of these days they'll be messing around smashing atoms in to each other and they'll do something very silly....:) And if it's REALLY silly it won't just be Earth that cops for it but the local Universe....and if the aliens reckon we're heading in that direction they'll probably invade and tell us off anyway...

Joe

You should've put an 'other' choice on there.

I'm going for over population... god damn theres annoying little brats everywhere, not to mention nobhead adults...

were devouring far too much of the world, as the Matrix movie says we're like a disease, we move to a place gobble all the resources and move on...

I mean I heard on the radio that the UK's population is actually decreasing, dunno if it's true, but seriously... thats a GOOD thing... with all these immigrants coming over here and loads of europeons and all these new europeans from Poland and Latvia and such... we dont have room to keep letting people in AND creating more of our own...

oh well, screw you all, once I've finished my degree I'm gonna go live and work in the Artic! then it'll be quiet and nobody to bug me... lol

I had to go for over population as passive smoking will soon be banned so everything will be ok as far as that goes.

I'm all for genetic engineering.

I watched that film last night, "The Day After Tomorrow". So I'm going for global warming and the disruption of the Gulf Stream which'll take us into the new Ice Age and killed-ed us all to death. Arggggghhhh!

Originally posted by BoroughGal
I watched that film last night, "The Day After Tomorrow". So I'm going for global warming and the disruption of the Gulf Stream which'll take us into the new Ice Age and killed-ed us all to death. Arggggghhhh!

I saw that too, isn't it amazing how natural disasters are drawn to famous landmarks ?

Special effects were good though.

plain old biological disease is missing from the poll. What's wrong with a highly infectious airborne version of HIV or ebola or something? Go for a 1 month incubation time during which you're highly infectious, then a very rapid decline into death. Most of the world would be infected before anyone even realised there was a problem, and most of the infected would be dead before anyone could even start working on a vacine or cure.
Maybe I should vote genetics, probably the kind of thing that would be engineered as a weapon, the only trick is to immunise or otherwise make safe your own population before spreading it far and wide.

"And the healthy shall inherit the earth, after they've finished off the few survivors in other countries".

in my mind there is only one possibility, and that is terrorism.

The way the world is today is quite appaling, personally i believe there is no need.

why cant we all just have a sit down with a friendly cup of tea/beer

We should'nt have to worry about bomb threats, or planes crashing in to places, but the sad reality has come that this is how the world is today, and its costing thousands of lives at a time.

Thankfully nobody in my family has suffered because of this mindless terrorism, but i do believe one day it will.

Originally posted by Callassa
The United States of America.

Yeah, I'm suprised there wasn't a Dubya option - I would've voted that.

Originally posted by Cyclone
plain old biological disease is missing from the poll. What's wrong with a highly infectious airborne version of HIV or ebola or something? Go for a 1 month incubation time during which you're highly infectious, then a very rapid decline into death. Most of the world would be infected before anyone even realised there was a problem, and most of the infected would be dead before anyone could even start working on a vacine or cure.

Natural disease tend to be self limiting - either they are very infectious OR very lethal - other wise you get the case where everyone in a given area is infected and dies and the disease dies out! Of course there are some disease variants (particulaly those that hop species like avian flu) which are particulaly nasty - the influenza pandemic after WW1 killed more people than the bombs and guns.

Originally posted by evildrneil
Natural disease tend to be self limiting - either they are very infectious OR very lethal - other wise you get the case where everyone in a given area is infected and dies and the disease dies out! Of course there are some disease variants (particulaly those that hop species like avian flu) which are particulaly nasty - the influenza pandemic after WW1 killed more people than the bombs and guns.

If Bubonic Plague reappeared would that be as bad as last time, as there are plenty of rats/fleas around still ?
Do we have a cure for it now ?
And, how long does it live ?
I'm only asking becasue I saw a program about the Jubilee tube line in London where they said they had to dig round a plague cemetary and I wondered what would happen if they dug someone up who had died from it.

Bubonic plague is bacterial so should be treatable with antibiotics - also as its not been around for the past few years it wont have hed the time to mutate into a antibiotic resistant form.

I voted rogue asteroid (or comet) as the greatest threat because if one did just wander up and collide with the planet, very little could be done to avoid it (if it was sufficiently large) and a mass extcinction would be upon us.

I don't believe it's a significant threat though. I'm not sure there are many significant threats to humanity, in terms of extinguishing the species, but if there is one that has the potential to seriously trouble humanity in great number, it is global climate change, without question.

Originally posted by evildrneil
Bubonic plague is bacterial so should be treatable with antibiotics - also as its not been around for the past few years it wont have hed the time to mutate into a antibiotic resistant form.

Cool, I can stop worrying about Lodon Underground digging-up plague bodies then.

Just watch out for people covered with black blotches and buboes (hence the name) coughing lots!!!

Originally posted by evildrneil
Just watch out for people covered with black blotches and buboes (hence the name) coughing lots!!!

So, avoid the markets and the bottom of the Moor ?

def over population some people i used to visit had five and six kids, parents on benefits or single parents - dont know how they cope. i cant even afford my self sometimes, never mind kids. dont china have a thing where you can only have one kid or Something?

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
def over population some people i used to visit had five and six kids, parents on benefits or single parents - dont know how they cope. i cant even afford my self sometimes, never mind kids. dont china have a thing where you can only have one kid or Something?


over population will never be a problem as i see, there loads of space in the world!!

China do have a problem though yes, and i believe they get extra benefits if they have 2 kids or under

maybe we should do that in UK? you read horror stories of people fostering so they get extra money, (read it in womens own i think, must be true!) i think government should concentrate on protection, sex ed etc..

i don't think 1 family with many children is particularly an example of overpopulation, but i'm intrigued as to where this 'loads of space' is that's apparently around.

Overpopulation could be a problem, and by most standards we have vastly overpopulated the world. But the worst that would happen would be a population crash, not extinction. Overpopulation tends to cause a boom, crash cycle, normally being precisely opposite to that of the prey or food source of the over populating species.

I don't see how terrorists could be the largest threat to humanity. In fact i don't really see how they threaten 'humanity' as a species at all, unless you think they might trigger a nuclear war (but there's another option for that...).

The asteroid would be a serious problem, and the resulting climate changes from anything that size would leave the surviving remanants (assuming that the planet wasn't rendered uninhabitable) with ongoing problems for millenia.

I'll agree on natural disease, and i did vote genetics in the end, it would be possible to engineer a disease that doesn't fit the normal model of trying to spread itself indefinitely, but instead tries to spread itself and then kill it's host very quickly.

I think our biggest threat is much closer to home than that half wit Dubya.

Its Chav's.

Im serious, not those arse's who are now wearing Burberry because the Sun say's it's now cool. the proper toe rags that the word was invented for that cause all the low level nuicence crime around the city.

look at this for instance

another thread (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21348)

Those toe rags on that bus are the adults of tomorrow. These are the people that wont be getting a job and wont be contributing to the country and if they are left to get away with it the whole country will come crashing down on us.

They have no respect for anything or anyone but belive that we should respect them. Why? what have they done to earn my respect.

I hate them.

hardly spells the end of humanity, just it's imminent descent into chavdom.

Originally posted by Cyclone
hardly spells the end of humanity, just it's imminent descent into chavdom.

would you class chavs as human though?


hehe "The Chavinator" :P