Created for a class on the social impact of technology. Depicts the relationship between resources and technology and how we can change our fate through social change.

1. Technology will destroy the world!
Adam Grickites

2. This presentation will consider some of the
ways technology may destroy the earth by:
• Highlighting Earth’s natural lifespan
• Deriving a goal from the knowledge of
our natural lifespan Image?
• Turning to technology for the answer
• Showing that technology requires
resources
• Discussing balance, catabolic
collapse, and human related issues Image?
• Coming to a conclusion

3. How long do we have?
Sun becomes a red giant and Increased solar temperatures kill
encompasses Earth’s orbit: all but the smallest of life
forms:
7.5 billion years 0.5 billion years
Even though we are naturally doomed there must be hope to be found through the
powers of technology!
Let’s get to it!
(Cain, 2009)

4. We Have a Goal!
Now that we know we have a finite time on Earth
specified by the lifetime of our sun we have a
goal!
Get off the planet!
…
How do we do this?

5. The Answer!
Technology!

6. What We Know So Far
• The Earth and all of human kind will perish
naturally unless we change our fate
• Technology is required to achieve this change
Except:
We almost forgot!
Technology requires resources!

7. Technology Requires Resources
Technology is wonderful but it requires one
thing that exists in finite amounts:
natural resources!

8. So What Do We Have Left?
An article posted on Gizmodo specifies the timeline
that current resources on Earth will last:
At current consumption rates: If the rest of the world consumes at the
rate of the US:
58 Years 20 Years
Oops… So much for “technology the savior”!
(Diaz, 2009)

9. Now we know that we have a very short period
of time while we still have enough resources
available to work towards saving life on Earth
by expanding ourselves throughout the galaxy.

10. The Cold Hard
Truth
We must change the way we
live our lives and take an
example from primitive
societies. These societies
display a balance with the
natural world that we
must learn from.
We must learn to balance
technology with
conservation. Without this
balance we are headed
towards what is called a
catabolic collapse.
What is that?

11. Catabolic Collapse
Have you ever wondered what happened to the great civilizations of the past?
Catabolic collapse is a process where a society builds up a mass of stuff , the
maintenance required by the infrastructure is a burden, and the resources
required to fulfill the maintenance requirements are insufficient. This is
the point in time where the society collapses because it does not have the
resources to continue.
A society experiencing catabolic collapse is analogous to a starving person. An
example of a way in which our society could experience catabolic collapse
is if oil supplies proved insufficient.
This is the way past civilizations have perished…
(Greer, 2011)

12. Additional Problems
Due to the nature of humankind we have some
other hurdles to overcome as resources
become less abundant. Namely:
•War
•Pollution

13. Additional Problems
Even before our resources are actually gone we
will have to deal with human reactions to
lowered lifestyle.
Result:
War
Going out with a bang?

14. Interesting Point!
Current nuclear weapons are unable to destroy
the earth. In fact if we detonated them all at a
single point on the earth we may be able to
shift the earth all of one-quarter inch! That
considered, detonating 26,000 nuclear
warheads would probably do a good job of
destroying the world as we know it.
(Carpentier, 2009)

15. Pollution
Knowing that we are running out of resources at an
incredible rate means that we are causing an amazing
amount of pollution and waste.
In Canada we produce more than 22 tonnes of
greenhouse gases per capita and we are trending
towards increasing that number. The main cause being
power generation. This is clearly at least damaging the
planet.
One way the world (or at least us!) could die is if we reach
a theoretical critical greenhouse gas tipping point. This
is the point at which there is no return from and the
greenhouse heating of the world is unstoppable.

16. The Bottom Line
Even if:
• Our resources don’t run out
• We don’t blow ourselves up
• We don’t poison ourselves and our world with
pollution
If we followed the current trajectory of energy
consumption we would be consuming 100% of the
total energy output from the sun in 1,350 years and
100% of the total energy output from the galaxy in
2,500 years.
And further to that…
(Murphy, 2011)

17. The Bottom Line Continued
Earth surface temperature if we generate the energy levels needed to sustain our level of
growth.
In a couple hundred years the temperature is unbearable. Note that this is not a greenhouse
warming effect but the total heat caused by power generation.
This proves that we can not sustain the growth of society (and
technology) at current rates.
(Murphy, 2011)

18. Conclusion
It is impossible for humans to destroy the
world utilizing current and foreseeable
technologies. In science fiction we always
harness some infinite source of power but
in reality we are confined by the
resources available on earth. While we
may waste and deplete these resources
we will not amass enough energy to
destroy the Earth while we are confined
to it. Our demise is more likely than the
Earth’s.
If we end up destroying ourselves with
technology the Earth will heal and the
miracle of life will continue where we
failed.
In that case did technology end up
saving the world?

19. References
Cain, F. (2009, February 13). How Long Will Life Survive on Earth?
Retrieved from http://www.universetoday.com/25367/how-long-
will-life-survive-on-earth/
Carpentier, M. (2009, June 3). Could Our Nuclear Arsenal Really
Destroy The World? Retrieved from http://io9.com/5277702/could-
our-nuclear-arsenal-really-destroy-the-world
Diaz, J. (2009, April 20). How Long Will Our World Last? (Yes, We Are
Screwed). Retrieved from http://gizmodo.com/5219598/how-long-
will-our-world-last-yes-we-are-screwed
Greer, J. M. (2011, January 19). The onset of catabolic collapse.
Retrieved from http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-01-
20/onset-catabolic-collapse
Murphy, T. (2011, July 12). Galactic-Scale Energy. Retrieved from
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/galactic-scale-
energy/