Globalcompose.com sample paper on human prospect

1. Sample Paper on Human Prospect
globalcompose.com/philosophy-papers/sample-paper-on-human-prospect/
Introduction
Acts of horror are reported almost on a daily basis in the media. As we go through
such reports, we console ourselves that these acts of violence are outcomes of abnormal
perturbed minds. However, the same intelligent minds have been busy working on a
survival, especially on Boeing 747s and 707s for the specific civil and military leadership.
These devices are fixed in specified command centers to rescue a given number of people
in case of a World War III. Such practices denote the fallen pessimism on human
prospects. According to Prospect Team (2015), human refers to the animal that asks
questions. This definition suggests that human beings display biological and behavioral
features similar to the initial species, Homo sapiens. Behaviorally, human beings have a
complicated culture, abstract thought, and capability to assist in daily lifestyle. Prospect
refers to the possibility of success. Therefore, human prospect is a term that refers to the
possibility of success of human beings. In defining the human prospect, the study will draw
from the philosophical and scientific perspectives and find out whether there is hope for a
man. Previously, such a question would have resulted to man’s salvation. In the present
period however, the question arouses doubt on the issues of life and death due to the
limited ability to understand the future. The objective of the study is to find out whether the
future of human beings is better or whether it will be a continuation of darkness, cruelty, and
deterioration of things.
Movie: Soylent Green
Soylent Green is an American science fiction thriller, which was produced in 1973
and directed by Richard Fleischer (Staffors, 1973). The movie revolves around the
investigation conducted on the murder of an opulent businessperson who suffered from
pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, drying oceans and poverty. Due to the
greenhouse effects among other causes, no natural food is produced and people rely on
processed rations and Soylent Green.
Due to increased industrialization, people are made to live in homeless places,
while the fortunate ones have jobs that can sustain them. Homeless people thrive on the
streets, with majority of them being unemployed. Food and working technology is a rare
commodity as the majority of the population survives on soylent food. The wealthy
populations such as Simonson are the only people who can access natural foods. Due to
revealed truth of the main material used in the production of soylent, all witnesses are
killed. Initially, the food is made of ocean debris. However, when the oceans run dry, the
companies resort to making these products from human remains. Therefore, due to limited
resources, ethical standards of the people are compromised to the extent of humans eating
their fellow human beings. On discovering the truth, the detective, Thorn, resorts to commit
suicide. It is of great concern that government clinic at the time would willingly assist people
in suicide, which is unethical.
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2. As a police analyst, Sol may be a character whose name is derived from ‘Solomon’
to imply the wise one. Therefore, Sol represents wisdom, ethical values, power, and hope.
Being a police analyst, he could uncover mysteries and reveal truths. When Thorn decides
to commit suicide, he entrusts Sol with the truth and implores him to reveal the truth
(Shirley, 2007). By this move, Sol is shown to be trustworthy.
The idea of eating humans by humans in our culture is highly unacceptable. This is
because it violates human dignity, since human life is highly esteemed. Therefore, killing
and eating human beings is the highest form of deviant behavior in the society. According
to most of the human cultures, even the dead have to be respected and their happiness
and peace valued. Eating a dead human being is a breach of the societal values. Devaluing
of human life potentially generates negative long-term consequences. Cannibalism is a
violation against implicit trust among human beings and therefore it is wrong.
Soylent Green was a necessity in the movie. Due to industrialization, natural
resources were depleted whereas human beings demanded food for sustenance. Only the
opulent managed to enjoy natural foods such as fruits in that society. This greatly contrasts
the majority poor who had no room to call a home. As a product from the ocean, soylent
green had the best of the nutrients that would sustain human beings for the longest time.
The presence of the food, soylent green was a source of hope to the human species in the
movie. In this regard, when the ocean ran dry, the company had to examine a substitute
material for the sustenance of the living human beings.
Religious and Philosophical Values
It is speculative how human beings reached the point of hopelessness. Once
humans were full of hopeful struggle, now the same beings struggle to ruin the universe.
Saxton (2011) notes that what makes humans the rulers of the Earth, makes them the
destructors of the same. Another cause of these developments in the recent past is the
failure of the present middle-aged generation to pass the morals and values to their
children. This has resulted to the high increase of drug abuse, extreme cases of sexual
violence and defiant mode of dress.
In defining the purposefulness of human life, Aristotle defines human being as a
rational animal (Pine, 2004). Similar to animals, humans have developed elements of
defense with cognitive ability. These developments have compelled human beings to
unlock exciting mechanisms of defending oneself, individual territory, and clan. It is,
however, puzzling why man would go to the extent of producing explosive devices that
would terminate the very existence of human species. If such philosophers as Aristotle
could perceive these developments, they would have declared immediately the end of
human species. Therefore, in light of the nuclear products from the world superpowers and,
increased policy of defensive aggression, coupled with developments in technology, it can
be said conclusively that human prospect is skeptical.
Hoffman (2012) mentions that the laws in religion, more so the monotheistic
traditions, are highly significant in the present ethical thoughts. These rules assist us in
understanding the evolution of ethical thoughts from the simplified assent to the
complicated societies. Our ancestors believed in the gods to answer some of the
mysteries. However, the present man is more of a maker and an inventor whereas the gods
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3. remain symbols of human strength and power. Religion in the past was, therefore, useful in
defining human beings and the creation of human values. Presently, scientific study of
religion is useful in tracing the progress of social and moral intelligence. It is additionally
useful in enabling humanity to chart the way forward by prompting where humanity has
been.
As a major index, religion defines moral intelligence since humanity is finite and
ever in danger of losing our bearings by the temptation of presentism. However, history
cautions on the risks of presentism and requires humanity to seek better answers to moral
challenges. For this reason, human prospect develops the future with the souvenirs of
religious past as components of moral intelligence. Religion therefore cautions humanity to
impede the selfish prayers to the gods for humanity to live. This defines our present
position, the moral outcomes of this awakening in humanity.
Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives
Philosophically, human beings are a paradox to evolution (Ehrlich, 2002). They are
the glory and shame, the greatest and the worst mistake of the universe. Expansion of
technology has led to the understanding of the atom and thus the production of the most
destructive nuclear devices for the World War III, while some humans are busy planning for
preservation of the human species in the event of World War IV. These drastic steps are
contradicting the present changes where the danger of nuclear has lessened and the world
is becoming a better place. Through human efforts, I am certain that our lives can improve
for the better. This is because the same advancements can be applied positively to derive
more scientists in varied fields such as in astronomy. This can be made possible by the
adoption of the larger outlook of the scientific culture to create a purpose. Through scientific
research, humans can be compelled to remain intimate to the world, discuss out myths, and
develop better ways of embracing the existing world. Science is, therefore, one of the best
given domains as it humbles us, preserves our childlike wonder and respect for the
universe.
Population
Population refers to all of the individuals of a single species in a given habitat at a
time, whereas population density refers to the number of people that reside in a defined
area at the same time (Bostron, 2009). According to UN (2017), at least 80 million of
people were added to the world population in 1980. There has been an increasing trend of
growing population, which raises concern over the amount of natural resources needed to
sustain the population. The main contributors have been enhanced policies on education,
health, nutrition, and income. The gap between the population increase and the resources
is more concentrated in the low-income countries, poor households and in the ecologically
disadvantaged areas. This has led to the concern of the human prospect because high
populations’ demands increase, while natural resources are becoming depleted at a high
rate.
It is likely that increased population in future will result to environmental threats, which will
cripple human progress. It is likely that in the future the brightness of the sun will increase
and result to reduced hydrogen and evaporation of the oceans. This will lead to limited
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4. forms of life on earth. Furthermore, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is likely to reduce to
the extent of destroying the basis of food chains. Presently, there are environmental
policies that seek to guide human beings on the desirable activities to participate in
reduction of environmental degradation. These policies are not adhered to, however. Case
in point, the stated carbon emission guide for every country has not yet been implemented
in most of the European nations. This implies that in future, substances such as
greenhouse gases will be on the increase and thus more environmental challenges. These
will further affect the ability of the environment to produce natural resources that can
sustain the environment. The result will be national policies that will seek to control the
number of births, thus population in every country. Besides this, human activities are more
likely to result to more health complications such as respiratory acidosis and physically and
mentally incapacitate human survival and reproduction. Therefore, if the present human
lifestyle continues in the near future, human prospect is likely to be affected negatively in
the long term.
Energy
Energy is essential for the sustainability of the environment and living things. A lot
has been done to reverse the inclination of environmental degradation all over the world
(Orr, 2003). This has been in a bid to reduce wastage of resources and protect the
available resources for production of energy. Laws have been passed, habitats and
species have been protected, and energy conservation has been developed. The major
source of energy, fossil fuels have been depleted at a high rate. These developments have
been geared towards sustainable energy transition. However, a lot needs to be done to
sustain the remaining sources of energy. Projects are now focused on producing
renewable energies that can sustain humanity and the environment. This is however, a
challenge that the present generation needs to face since production of such energy is
costly, as it requires additional knowledge and expertise that is missing in some of the
regions in the world. The move is great, since it is expected to reduce global warming,
which has profoundly affected the sources of energy on planet Earth. The major solution
towards energy conservation for sustenance of humanity is continuous education and the
awareness that all people should act towards reducing carbon emission among the
greenhouse gases. Through this approach, success of humanity is likely to be experienced.
Human Prospects and Biodiversity
Previous scholars have raised several arguments with regard to the different approaches
that can be adopted for a positive relationship between enhanced human prosperity and
biodiversity. For instance, when there is no radical change in human behavior, individuals
can expect to have positive changes in biodiversity as well as ecosystem services in the
three decades moving onwards. By 2050, in search of human prospects, scientists predict
on the occurrence of species extinctions. The current vast blocks of forests will drop and
fragmented, thought the temperate and tropical forests will stabilize an increase in some
areas as well. There will be a change in marine ecosystems, with a severe reduction in
some marine predators. Below is a detailed relationship between the two:
Nutritional Prospects and Social Structure
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5. According to Perry & Primrose (2015), late industrial societies, among them, including the
19 and 21 century societies, are characterized with technological advancements,
increased computer usage among other information technologies (IT). In order to realize
food security, advanced technologies have been adopted in the agricultural sector with the
goal of increasing production efficiency, and entails the use of specialized farm equipment
and highly productive fertilizers. Other means adopted in the same include the use of
appropriate methods for controlling weeds and scientific crop breeding. Individuals have
gone as far as using technology to construct dams among other complex irrigation systems
to support agricultural production.
According to Vihervaara, Rönkä & Walls (2010), with an aim of improving human
prosperity and improved living conditions, the 21 century industrial society has been
characterized by the abundant use of electricity among other forms of energy, all indicating
high levels of resource consumption. The increased spread of wealth and other resources
for success have led to improved education rates with the establishment of governments
that respect democracy and people’s rights. However, the increased spread of wealth and
resources among other consumerism requires vast amounts of natural resources, which in
turn has adverse effects on both natural systems and wildlife.
In other societies like Israel and other Middle East nations, agricultural activities
have proven to be more efficient, alongside an increase in human population. However, the
pattern has been changing in the current century, with regions like Western Europe and
Japan recording very low birth rates. This implies that these nations will have to increase
immigration or less start to shrink in size. Other nations like the United States (US) have
embarked on such measures that will see them having a stabilized population, and as a
result improving their per capita income and quality of life among their citizens.
However, nations reporting low birth rates are exposed to increased environmental
impacts, resulting from high levels of immigration and subsequent consumption of
resources at an advanced rate. It is therefore important for the human population to
stabilize across the world, alongside reduced per capita consumption of the available
natural resources. This is the only effective way of ensuring that the wildlife survives,
natural places are preserved, and eventually a continued prosperity of human beings
around the globe.
The voluntary reduction in the previously evident birthrates is basically attributed to
human prospects. Among the factors behind human prospects, leading to the reduced
birthrates is the increased demand for education by women in the society. Increased
women education has provided the members of this gender with a lot of opportunities for
coming up with reproductive choices by adopting reliable methods in controlling birth.
Furthermore, the degree of socialization in the current century demands many years of
schooling, hence devaluing labor of children. During the agrarian society, labor of children
was highly valued, with the same diminishing in the late industrial society.
One of the strategies considered to be facilitating human prosperity is reduced child
rearing, since it reduces one’s economic costs. Together with the urge for education and
inclusion of women in the work force, reduced child rearing has significantly contributed to
the reduced birth rates. Women’s education is further a more effective way of ensuring
th st
st
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6. economic security, with a subsequent human prosperity. Further implications have been
realized through reduced infant mortality, since parents are able to provide their best for the
smaller family size.
Belief towards Biodiversity
According to Rao et al (2013), in order to ensure human prosperity, individuals
have utilized technology and the prevailing capitalist market economy in establishing an
environment that will maintain human populations. Individuals feed themselves and
manage to gather further resources by engaging in economic activities. During the agrarian
society, drought is one of the natural calamities that may pose individuals to fear and
frustrations when thinking of their survival. This is contrary to the modern society where
people are scared of recession, and other geographical factors like weather addressed in a
polite conversation. This is basically due to the fact that agricultural failures in a given
region can be compensated with high levels of production in the other part of the
hemisphere.
With this kind of disjuncture coming in between human beings and natural worlds,
individuals have developed different worldviews towards nature. The first view is the notion
that both nature and wildlife are resources meant for exploitation in the market-based
system (Khan, 2014). The second view is that there are those considering nature to be
irrelevant to them, hence the reason for being less concerned with it. Individuals have
therefore embarked on establishing human-altered environments as well as material
abundance so as to make the dream of human prosperity a reality through a comfortable
urban life. This has further led to loss of contact between human beings and wildlife, natural
ecosystem and biodiversity as a whole.
However, the overreliance on the social and economic system, which has proved to
be complex, is based on how integral the natural ecosystems are. This fact has paved way
for a third view with regard to nature, which is valuing both ecosystem and wildlife, so as to
create economic significance from the same. Some of the modern environmental
movements have been motivated by the need to have a prosperous human life, through a
better health. The pioneers and founder of these movements had been taken note of the
fact that better health can be realized through preservation of wild region both for their
aesthetic and recreational reasons.
Some of the policies motivated for a better human health have pioneered the rise of
different agencies, with some taking part in pollutant regulation. Considerable progress has
been realized with respect to protecting wilderness and biodiversity in general, although
there are a lot yet to be done to see the future generations accessing similar natural
heritage enjoyed in the 21 century. The increased urge for human towards ensuring a
prosperous life has resulted in alteration of the natural world with the subsequent view that
biodiversity can be destroyed and not destroying human beings.
Conclusion
Human beings have been known to have the most complicated culture and abstract
thoughts. Using philosophical, religious, social, and scientific perspectives, the study
confirms that there is hope for man on the issues of life on this planet. The study offered
s
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7. applicable strategies that if applied human beings will no longer live on a planet marked by
continuation of darkness, cruelty, and deterioration of things. There is a possibility of
humanity to remain successful. This proof negates the fact that human extinction may take
place through human causes and not through natural causes.
References
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https://rjosephhoffmann.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/religion-and-the-human-
prospect/Saxton, A. (2011). Religion and the Human Prospect. Journal of the Research
Group on Socialism and Democracy online. NY: Monthly Review Press.
Khan, T. (2014). Kalimantan’s biodiversity: Developing accounting models to prevent its
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doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-07-2013-1392
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Environment. http://www.peace.ca/educationenvironmentandhumanprospect.htm
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http://www2.hawaii.edu/~pine/book1qts/chapter10qts.html
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human-homo-naledi-human-like-discovery.
Rao, M., Htun, S., Platt, S. G., Tizard, R., Poole, C., Myint, T., . . . M. (2013). Biodiversity
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8. UN Documents. (2017). Our Common Future, Chapter 4: Population and Human
Resources.
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Available at
http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-04.htm
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