# The world is going to end in 2051. How soon does society go to pot? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2016, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219 "2016-06-01T09:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/41 "2016-06-02T05:33:17Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > I’m sure we could build some sort of colony on Moon or Mars in 35 years if that would be the only viable option for humanity’s survival. But for #notallpeople – only few thousand can be saved. And maybe a few million can survive on Earth. Then the drama will begin. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/42 "2016-06-03T20:15:04Z")
I think society is much less likely to collapse if everyone is going to die than the alternate scenario where a few will. Not many people are going to be willing to slave away the last few years of their lives setting things up for those who will live on afterwards. Best case for keeping people onboard is a lottery scenario where everyone works hard now and the survival lottery is held in June of 2051 and that would only work if there was confidence that the lottery was not rigged. Basically both situations appeal to all of our worst instincts as a herd and only calm reasonable leadership would get us through it. I don’t like the worlds chances overall right now. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/43 "2016-06-03T20:32:48Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > I think society is much less likely to collapse if everyone is going to die than the alternate scenario where a few will. Not many people are going to be willing to slave away the last few years of their lives setting things up for those who will live on afterwards. Moreover, a war will break out between the Superpowers over the issue of whose citizens should be saved. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/44 "2016-06-03T22:53:53Z")
Am I the only one who, upon first glance at the thread title, didn’t immediately recognize it as a hypothetical, and got a little worried? ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/45 "2016-06-03T23:11:07Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Am I the only one who, upon first glance at the thread title, didn’t immediately recognize it as a hypothetical, and got a little worried? I am 45, childless – thus I did not worry if it was hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/46 "2016-06-04T04:26:24Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > No! Antimatter in such quantities does not exist. Grey goo can be only produced by an advanced civilization. Fine, you just keep on yellin’ that, if that’s what gets you through the night. 😉 And, technically, the Grey Goo would produce _itself_. Y’know, possibly after _eating_ the advanced civilization. ('Hell of an answer to the Fermi Paradox…“they were delicious.”) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/47 "2016-06-04T04:30:28Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I am 45, childless – thus I did not worry if it was hypothetical. Heck, I was \*hoping \*it wasn’t a hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/48 "2016-06-04T18:06:04Z")
This scenario is played out in various ways in films like Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, On the Beach, Mad Max, Sunshine, Deep Impact, Melancholia and Children of Men. The general fictional portrayal of such a scenario tends to range from hedonism and indulgence to a sort of overwhelming melancholy permeating everything and an overall sense of society “winding down”. Usually a sharp rise in religious fanaticism as well. > [@CCitizen](#): > > A very likely possibility. Except that GRBs travel at the speed of light. The first indication that we were going to be hit with a GRB would be getting hit by the burst itself. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/49 "2016-06-04T18:07:39Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Just to wipe out all life on Earth, it would have to be at least the size of the moon, perhaps larger. To significantly disrupt the orbits of the inner planets, it would have to be much larger than that. And there’s no such object that’s likely to do either in the next 35 years. > > You know, it’s not like we don’t look out into space. Any such object would show up long before it would come close to the Earth. It’d have to come from interstellar space and it would take much longer than 35 years just to fall into the inner Solar System from far enough away that we can’t see it. > > Besides which, we have it on [good authority](http://www.openculture.com/2015/10/in-1704-isaac-newton-predicts-the-world-will-end-in-2060.html) that the world will not end before 2060. Actually, [something as small as 60 miles in diameter](https://www.insidescience.org/content/how-big-does-asteroid-have-be-destroy-all-life/3301) is speculated to be life ending on earth. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/50 "2016-06-04T21:26:31Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > Actually, [something as small as 60 miles in diameter](https://www.insidescience.org/content/how-big-does-asteroid-have-be-destroy-all-life/3301) is speculated to be life ending on earth. Your link has nothing to back up that assertion. And I’d be surprised if something that small will kill all the bacteria on Earth as well as all the life at various hydrothermal vents on the bottom of the ocean. You’re going to have to pretty much boil the oceans to make sure you get everything. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/51 "2016-06-05T02:12:14Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And, technically, the Grey Goo would produce _itself_. Y’know, possibly after _eating_ the advanced civilization. ('Hell of an answer to the Fermi Paradox…“they were delicious.”) It can produce itself only after an advanced civilization has produced a few of these self – replicating robots. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/52 "2016-06-05T02:14:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Except that GRBs travel at the speed of light. The first indication that we were going to be hit with a GRB would be getting hit by the burst itself. WOW – Gamma Ray Bursts do in fact send gamma rays which travel at the speed of light. But astronomers can detect a star which will undergo a Gamma Ray Burst soon. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/53 "2016-06-05T02:15:20Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > Actually, [something as small as 60 miles in diameter](https://www.insidescience.org/content/how-big-does-asteroid-have-be-destroy-all-life/3301) is speculated to be life ending on earth. Definitely. But it could be easily destroyed by modern civilization on its way here. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/54 "2016-06-05T19:45:36Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > WOW – Gamma Ray Bursts do in fact send gamma rays which travel at the speed of light. But astronomers can detect a star which will undergo a Gamma Ray Burst soon. What are you “wowing” as if you know what you’re talking about? The Swift satellite can detect GRBs as they happen. And maybe scientists can predict what stars might become a supernova in the next century or so. But there is no way scientist can accurately predict that in a certain amount of time, a given star is going to emit a GRB, it will be pointed at Earth at that exact moment and will be of sufficient duration and intensity to actually kill everything. > [@CCitizen](#): > > Definitely. But it could be easily destroyed by modern civilization on its way here. We have nothing beyond high level speculation with the capability to destroy or alter the trajectory of a 60 mile wide asteroid traveling at orbital velocities. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/55 "2016-06-05T20:30:01Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > [Gamma-ray burst?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst) From what I’ve read, a GRB is hypothesised to have cause an earlier mass extinction but life survived so a GRB won’t actually cut it for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/56 "2016-06-05T20:41:31Z")
Unless it’s close enough to vaporize the entire planet, a GRB wouldn’t even kill off all of humanity. One hemisphere of the Earth would be flash-sterilized, but GRBs last for only a few seconds at most, so the other hemisphere would be completely untouched, at least at first. Now, killing off everything on one half of the planet is certainly going to have devastating consequences for the other half in the long run, but those consequences are all things that we know of ways to deal with. And if we somehow had 35 years of advance warning on a GRB, we could probably even arrange to move most people to an extreme enough latitude that nobody would be caught in the initial flash. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/57 "2016-06-05T20:49:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Unless it’s close enough to vaporize the entire planet, a GRB wouldn’t even kill off all of humanity. One hemisphere of the Earth would be flash-sterilized, Not even [that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst#Effects_on_Earth): > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Earth’s atmosphere is very effective at absorbing high energy electromagnetic radiation such as x-rays and gamma rays, so these types of radiation would not reach any dangerous levels at the surface during the burst event itself. The immediate effect on life on Earth from a GRB within a few parsecs would only be a short increase in ultraviolet radiation at ground level, lasting from less than a second to 10s of seconds. This ultraviolet radiation could potentially reach dangerous levels depending on the exact nature and distance of the burst, but it seems unlikely to be able to cause a global catastrophe for life on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![heartsplayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@heartsplayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heartsplayer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/58 "2016-06-05T21:56:31Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Some scientists discover through SCIENCE!!! that there will be a massive instantaneous event that will destroy all life in the Sol System. They have precisely narrowed the time to July 23, 2051 14:55:07 BST. Although the actual SCIENCE!!! that led them to the conclusion was difficult and time consuming, now the’ve discovered it, there’s an easy way to verify it that your average high school physics teacher will have no problem setting up. > > Although governments tried to keep it under wraps, it has leaked out, and now virtually everybody knows about it. There’s no plausible way to stop it or ameliorate its effects. It will not have any effect at all until the exact second that it kills everybody. When does society collapse? Oh good lord. How many times have I heard things about the world supposedly ending? Wasn’t it supposed to happen back in 2012? It never happened… In my humble opinion: the world will not end in 2051. Unless I actually see something spectacular, which is going to destroy everything, this will purely be a myth, and remain a myth. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/59 "2016-06-05T22:18:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > And maybe scientists can predict what stars might become a supernova in the next century or so. But there is no way scientist can accurately predict that in a certain amount of time, a given star is going to emit a GRB, it will be pointed at Earth at that exact moment and will be of sufficient duration and intensity to actually kill everything Scientists can not predict far stars which will become supernovas, but they will see unusual activity if a star a few light years from us will become a Gamma Ray Burst. They will predict the time it explodes. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219/60 "2016-06-05T22:20:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > We have nothing beyond high level speculation with the capability to destroy or alter the trajectory of a 60 mile wide asteroid traveling at orbital velocities. It can be easily set off course by a nuclear explosion on its surface. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-is-going-to-end-in-2051-how-soon-does-society-go-to-pot/756219.md?page=4)