[Just thinking (OP)]

Why do we have world problems is it due to smart people not being as smart as is needed or is it due to the population of less than smart people. Why haven't the powers to be had a Handel on world trouble is the world doomed to fail and are we prepared to let this hapen? So many great solutions get thrown around but every year there seems moor and moor difficulties. Is there a fast fix?

[Kryptid]

The simplest way I think I could answer this question is to say that humans are physically and mentally imperfect.

[alancalverd]

Every living thing poisons its environment. Most species have evolved a symbiotic relationship with something else so there's an ecological cycle that maintains reasonable longterm equilibrium until the climate changes or the world is hit by a meteorite. Humans are currently outbreeding their symbionts, poisoning their environment faster than it can recover, and establishing territorial stasis so they can't migrate while recovery takes place, or resile against small changes in climate. We are victims of our own success.

[Zer0]

Nationalism...is an Extended Extreme form of Tribalism.

We Identify with a Specific Group/Flag/Club to be a part of it, to be innit...to feel Secure.

But this whole Grouping into different Groups is Divisive in nature.

And Divisions & Differences then promote or promulgate Friction.

Be it Rocks, Sticks, Spears, Arrows, Swords, Guns, Tanks, Jets, Missiles or the Atombomb...History keeps on playing like a dull record on loop.

Ps - Stray dogs fight fiercely.
But surprisingly, next day, they are playing n licking each other.
A Man fights...& Somehow it is taught & expected to be remembered for generations to come.
✌️

[Petrochemicals]

Because colonialism is looked on in a bad light, especially by America, who half colonialised Japan and interfered in various places. What you are suggesting is. Collonialism, going into countries, taking it over and running it for them. Aid is all very well but much is misappropriated or squandered, so aid is limited to grain Sacks and polythene sheeting. If America colonialised Central America and Haiti the way it has Puerto Rico those people would have a much nicer time. If Afghanistan had joined Japan on the American colonies they  may now be making computer consoles and riding on bullet trains.

[alancalverd]

Just returned from a brief sortie to a medical equipment company in Denmark, where I worked with Danish, German, Indian, Turkish, Lithuanian, and Polish colleagues. Thanks to colonialism, everyone understood everyone else  and we finished the job ahead of schedule, whereupon a Malaysian secretary organised my return flight  with a Dutch airline. Next week, a worldwide Zoom meeting with maybe 30 participants from anywhere that people try to heal the sick. Colonial oppression and armed invasion has given the world a robust common language (English) and a universal clock (Greenwich).

G20, COP99, etc will of course achieve nothing but political posturing, but at least it will all be in English, and people with proper jobs will continue to communicate and work with one another whatever the parasites say about "national" interests.

[Bored chemist]

Because colonialism is looked on in a bad light, especially by America,

They were still doing it earlier this year in Afghanistan (didn't that  go well?).
And they have been doing it pretty much continuously.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_interventions_by_the_United_States

They aren't the only ones.

"Why do we have world problems?"
Greed?

[Zer0]

"Why do we have world problems?"
Greed?

Perhaps it's the continuous attempt to Think & Falsify what We are Not.

Greedy, Selfish, Self-centred, Violent, Cruel etc etc.

I'd Like to present a personal accord... I've Never missed an Opportunity to Promote Veganism.

But Realising certain Truths, made me stop it abruptly.

Prey have eyes at sides, to watch out for danger.
Predators have eyes infront, to track n catch prey.
Humans have frontal eyesight & Canine Teeth.

Slavery, Rape Strangulation & Murder are terms used for Human vs Human interactions.
Animals Cannot charge or sue Humans for any of the above in a Court of Law.

& Steak really really tastes Good!
(Whether you like it or not)

Ps - We seem to suffer our own Intellect & Goodness.
We are perhaps Demons, trying hard to Act like Angels!
😈
(I Believe WE are good, I have Faith in US becoming better, But Reality begs to differ)

[hamdani yusuf]

problem : a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome.

We still have them because
- we didn't see it coming
- we didn't have correct model of reality to accurately predict the effects of our actions so we can anticipate those problems before they happen.
- we had incorrect priorities of which problems to solve first.

[alancalverd]

We need to distinguish between two classes of world problem: those made by nature, for which there may be a technical fix, and those made human endoparasites - the obvious fix being to remove the parasites.

Time was that famine and flood killed most people. But religion and politics are catching up. 

[hamdani yusuf]

and those made human endoparasites - the obvious fix being to remove the parasites.

It turns out that there may be a technical fix for that too. By contraception, we can prevent some of them from existing in the first place. Neuroscience is revealing how brains work, which can give access to read them, and even modify them in not so distant future.

[Zer0]

Reminds me of Elon's Neuralink Project.

& The conspiracy theories associated with it.

Which mention, Once the implantation is done, then the individual would lose their individuality and become a Slave.

Rather, it would be a progressive step towards collective consciousness or a hive mind.

Ps - As time passes, one thing keeps becoming clearer than ever...
It's not the Coal, CO2, Methane etc etc that's harmful & dangerous...
It's US!

[hamdani yusuf]

Ray Kurzweil has pointed out that we are already in collective consciousness and forming hybrid minds with our cloud computers and smart phones. We don't have to remember our own address, or bank accounts, for example.  Wearable computers just make it more convenient, and become intermediate step before direct brain interface.

[alancalverd]

You just have to remember a dozen different passwords, some of which you will only use once. Or risk losing your car and all your money in five seconds.

[Bored chemist]

You just have to remember a dozen different passwords, some of which you will only use once. Or risk losing your car and all your money in five seconds.

Most of the world doesn't have those problems.
Mobile phone ownership is high (about 80%) and rising.
Car ownership... not so much.

[Halc]

Why do we have world problems is it due to smart people not being as smart as is needed or is it due to the population of less than smart people.

I can argue that people are probably smart enough, but their priorities do not include the problems of 'the world'.
On the other hand, perhaps we're not smart enough, because while I see no end of topics identifying world problems, I don't see any with real solutions to them. At best, they posit ways to delay the inevitable. If we were smart, we'd suggest real solutions, however unlikely they are to be implemented. I don't see that happening.

We still have them because
- - -
- we had incorrect priorities of which problems to solve first.

Exactly

[Bored chemist]

If we were smart, we'd suggest real solutions, however unlikely they are to be implemented. I don't see that happening.

In fairness, you have to accept that Alan Calverd has been doing that.
He has been saying we should curtail population growth.

He hasn't quite got round the fact that it's essentially impossible- but that's not actually his fault.
Essentially the problem is greed.

In much of the world, the only "guarantee" you have that anyone will look after you when you are old is that your children will feel obliged to.
So it makes perfect sense to have lots (the biological drive goes along with this)

If the rich western world decided to underwrite pensions for the developing world, we would remove the actual concrete justification for having large families.
And if we did that, I have little doubt that most of them would recognise the merit of small families.
If we also agreed to fund family planning, we could address the biggest single problem that humanity faces- essentially exponential growth and a finite planet; Malthus was right.

But the rich westerners are too greedy to do themselves a favour. They blame the poor for being poor.

[hamdani yusuf]

Is greed the root cause? Is it just intermediary?
What caused greed?
IMO, greed is caused by fear and uncertainty of the future. We assume that deficiency in the future can be compensated by present surplus. Hence we accumulate resources as much as we can at the moment to prepare for our future. But we tend to underestimate side effects of overexploitation and grabbing resources more than we currently need.

[Zer0]

Maybe it's not entirely Greed...
But a lack of Generosity.

I've watched freaky folks go after Bill Gates n the Elite Club on Utube.

Mocking & treating the wealthiest business persons as if they were all crooks & cons & dacoits.

I doubt if such SJWs donate even 5% of their profits/salaries towards charity.
But they clearly expected all the Richest folks to simply surrender 50% of their wealth to the public in general.

Also, on the topic of Population Control...

Someone should perhaps collect Data on how many Millionaires there are world over, how many out of them have Educational Degrees, & how many of them have more than 2 children.

Poor financial condition might be an excuse to bear more children, but so could excellent financial status.

Education & contraceptives do yhe trick well.
Education keeps folks buzy for awhile & contras cover them during leisure time.


I've heard that there are labs all over the world, similar to the one in wuhan, which test out various viruses.

I also heard, unlike covid19 which has a 1% to 2% mortality ratio, there are viruses which have higher ratios say from about 15% to as high as 50%.

All it will take, is an environmental SJW fanatical extremist who works in any one of these labs to curb population.
(Not saying it's Bound to happen, but cannot negate the possibility of it happening ever)
🤞

Ps - i used to promote & support Green Peace, but backed off when they started promoting vigilantism.
✌️

[Halc]

In fairness, you have to accept that Alan Calverd has been doing that.
He has been saying we should curtail population growth.

That's a viable suggestion if it can be implemented with cooperation, but as @vhfpmr named in the climate thread, it is a prisoner's dilemma and only benefits everyone in the absence of defectors. Like all solutions, it only works if there is a global authority enforcing whatever policy is put into effect to combat a given 'world problem'. The 'world' is completely unrepresented in any of the places where such decisions might be made today.