Perhaps a more daunting idea, other than a mysterious
disease that may curtain humanity, is the possibility of
human creations overtaking humans themselves. We
are far more technologically advanced than we give
ourselves credit for, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) and
robotics researchers, along with physicists and scientific scholars, are all starting to come to one conclusion:
AI is making
leaps
&
bounds
,
and the projected
decades
“
before
AI existence and influence”
are becoming
mere years.
The open letter on autonomous weapons that was announced in the summer of 2015 by the Future of Life Institute, and signed by over 20,000 scientific doctorates
and award winning physicists, such as Stephen Hawking, was a successful attempt at bringing awareness to
the arms race.
In turn, the Doomsday Clock (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) has maintained the 2015-2016 prediction of an insanely close “three minutes to midnight.” The only time it
was any closer (2 minutes to midnight) was in 1953, after
the U.S. decided to pursue the hydrogen bomb.
The ideas that swirl together with AI and the Doomsday
Clock are a haunting mixture of being too intelligent for
our own good, and/or simply not intelligent enough to
overpower natural selection and evolution.
Another topic of doomsday discussion is extraterrestrial invasion. But, let’s face it, there isn’t enough time in
a century to come to a solidified consensus about what
exists and what doesn’t, what is a real threat and what
isn’t; And that’s not why we’re here.
This checklist is a simple set of guidelines for what to
stock up on. Should there ever come a day where you
will need it, then you’ll be prepared. If not, well then at
least you’ve got a great little stockpile. We hope for the
latter, and no matter how you’re preparing, or what
you’re preparing for, these things are essential to maintaining life in any situation.
82 Summer 2016 Adventure Outdoors