Humanity's one unifying factor

[Privateer]

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I was having fun reading this topic until people were on the line of spoiling the book I'm reading (LotF).

[Moogy]

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And Simon did a lot of LSD and the killed him for it.

Exactly.

[jazzmosis]

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When the pig's head started talking to him.

[Tasselfoot]

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screw the environment. none of us will be around when that happens... so who cares?

don't give me the crap about... "what about your children, or their children?" my response? i'm not going to have children. and if i did... its their problem to deal with, not mine.

[User6773]

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screw the environment. none of us will be around when that happens... so who cares?

don't give me the crap about... "what about your children, or their children?" my response? i'm not going to have children. and if i did... its their problem to deal with, not mine.

What about my children?

By saying the future generation doesn't matter, you offend everyone who wants to bear young.

[Squeek]

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Really, the only thing I can think of that would unite the World is if we were to go to war with Aliens.

Basic premise behind Ender's Game +1.

Though, if you read the Bean series, you'll see what happens when the world is unified and is victorious in that war.

Of course every country is going to attempt seizure of the war heroes and fight among each other for those individuals. Though, in this book, there was a world government...slightly different from modern-day.

~Squeek

[The_Q]

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Simon went crazy all the time. He went alone into the little special place to have his seizures away from the boys.

Ender's Game rocked. I've read the quartet and the Bean series twice a piece. I figured that the idea of Ender's Game was a little harsher. The rivalries between countries still exist and racism is still present, but not so much so. Ageism, too. Lots of ageism. Sexism. It's basically all about judgement, ok? The humans judged the buggers wrong and the buggers judged the humans wrong. This lead to a rather awkward peace(books 2-4).

I digress. Anywho, Chardish, had I children, I'd still rack up a huge debt and make the pay for it when I die. I'll ruin the rainforests and pillage the living hell out of all the people I can find. I want to be rich. I don't give a damn about my kids, and they shouldn't give a damn about theirs. I just want to be happy. I hope they are too. If they know this is my intention, I'll rest in peace.

Q

[CypherToorima]

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No, Simon was normal. He was the most innocent of them all, though. That was his allegory. The fact that the boar's head was speaking to him was the sudden shock of him losing all that innocence.

The conch was order and justice. Ralph is democracy. Jack is communism through totalitarian government.

Q

Thank you sparknotes.com.

Anyways, there is a human urge to be better or to compete. But some control these urges. Like, if to be better than someone, you had to hurt feelings or whatever, some wouldn't and some would.

It's human nature.

[zildjian133]

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War is the only unifying factor I know of.

[Tasselfoot]

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I digress. Anywho, Chardish, had I children, I'd still rack up a huge debt and make the pay for it when I die. I'll ruin the rainforests and pillage the living hell out of all the people I can find. I want to be rich. I don't give a damn about my kids, and they shouldn't give a damn about theirs. I just want to be happy. I hope they are too. If they know this is my intention, I'll rest in peace.

AMEN!!!!!!! i am a selfish bastard. i don't care about anyone else's kids. screw um.

also... never read Ender's Game... but for unified worlds, try reading Asimov. the collection of short stories in I, Robot works well to show the unified Earth in the relative short future. i'd also recommend reading the entire Robot and Foundation series', but I, Robot would be a good start if your interest is a unified world. and, the Robot series would be better than the Foundation series...

[DracIV]

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jazzmosis, I think you misinterpret history. War is the only time we talk about country AS IF they were working as a whole. However, that's not the real situation. All during peace-time at all levels of society people are working together in political parties, in companies, as school-buddies. Humans actively help one-another, especially those in their active network of communication and interaction.

This is probably a bit insulting to you, but I have to honestly say you are blind to many aspects of the larger reality. Humans have worked together far more than any other species in existance; we have created technology, culture, civlization, unbelievable achievements throughout history. Few animal species get beyond the level of a monarchy where loyalty is forced and little occurs, our ancestors are the closest to being a speck compared to our achievements. And mind you, these achievements come from working together, not individuals. There is always conflict, friction, change, resistance, all of it everywhere in our creation, but we forge ahead and make new things.

Although the image has been popular during the recent decades, the world is NOT an environmental disaster. The temperature shift from global warming is not even close to dangerous yet, and the majority of the damaging factors have been removed already. Armies of people are working to imrpove efficiency, cleanliness, etc. in every part of our society. New concept cars are making huge improvements in ability (check out Challenge Bibendum), new power plants are ultra-efficient and solutions are possible for many of the old problems. All that keeps us from solving nearly every problem we face currently is time (in years, not decades or centuries) and the will. Many humans resist change, but many more work together to improve the world. However, few are ignorant enough to believe that they can cure world hunger alone, but many realize that every little bit helps and the projects of thousands can achieve great things. Examples of such projects or organizations are charities, Red Cross, companies, space programs, countries.

Being compassionate and a good leader does not make you weak; an unwillingness to stand up and do something does. Not that every person can't do a little bit to help, for we've done many things with just a penny a person (not speaking literally).

Yeah, sorry if that attacked you a bit. I really don't like pessimism. Human nature is to be what you want to be, and it's up to you to make that something useful, just trust everyone else to do their part and they will.

[SpookG]

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Even animals who work together do so to survive over their counterparts. You never see any single species working as a whole to promote their survival, and in the competition that flourishes internally, only then can the species become stronger.

Let's go with some examples. How about ants? They will kill any other group of ants without hesitation. They go off and invade their neighbors and wipe them out. Most animals are terroritorial, and will rough up anything that comes into it. Lions and hyenas only work in groups because it increases their chances of survival.

So let's take this idea and apply it to humans. Countries unite when invaded out of an act of self-preservation. There's no way for a single person to fend off an army right? That's why people unite together, and yes, we do it more often than you think, for social causes, etc. That's all there is to it, and you should be thankful deep down jazz that we are greedy jerks, because that is how we survived up until this point.

[User6773]

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never read Ender's Game

No. Ender's Game is one of the best books I've read in my life. Read it.

I don't give a damn about my kids

I hope they are [happy].

To quote CStarFlare: did I read this wrong, or did your story just totally change?

[The_Q]

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Yeah, let me clarify two things.

1. I'm pretty sure that Tass meant that he had not read the book yet. If anyone hasn't read it, please do. It's a modern classic.

2. That is confusing. Let's look deeper. I meant to say something along the lines of "I hope they are happy in knowing that I don't give a damn about how much debt I put on their shoulders, at least I'll be happy. I hope they get to experience the same thing." I do care about how they feel, and I hope to raise them. I just don't care about dumping all of my cares and worries on them. As long as I'm happy, It's ok with me. If they reflect that attitude, I think I'll be the happiest man alive.

Q

[DracIV]

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Not to be rude, The Q, but it's people who act like that who generally get shot in the head for making life horrible for other people.