It has been awhile since Hollywood has come out with a really good “end of the world” type movie. Come to think of it, the last ones I can remember came out when I was still in high school. Movies like Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow, and Independence Day come to mind.
I would venture a guess that most human beings don’t think about the end of the world. Like death, I think we all know it will happen someday, but choose not to think about it. A problem for future generations to deal with.
The end may be sooner then you think, and worse it doesn’t look like the end of humanity will come by asteroid, alien invasion, or deadly storm. The end, it seems, will come at the hands of humanity itself.
In a recent interview Stephen Hawking theorizes that 1,000 years may be all humanity has left. He warns that with advances in science & technology bring with it “new ways that things can go wrong.”
I am inclined to believe Hawking, but maybe for different reasons. Humanity is becoming increasingly distracted to the realities of what is going on around them. Social media, TV, and cell phones have lowered our attention spans significantly. Obesity is at an all time high, and our schools and educational systems are eliminating the very things that make life worth living such as music, art, photography, theater, and more.
If humanity was to be wiped out tomorrow how would we want our species to be remembered? If we only have 1,000 years left we should focus on more important things besides how many Facebook friends we have, or how many “likes” we got on our last Instagram photo.
Life is to be lived, felt, believed, and remembered. If humanity only has 1,000 years left I hope we make those years ones of great significance and importance. And I truly hope, before the end, that we can put our differences behind us, and come together as one species united.
