A No-Nonsense Look at Our World and How Humanity Might Survive

Future Earth: Humans or No Humans? by Roy C Carriker

Well-researched and thorough, yet easy to understand for any reader.

There are some seriously pressing issues in our world today, and they only seem to be growing. Climate change, overpopulation, the threat of nuclear war. How much longer will humanity survive?

Roy C. Carriker — who holds a PhD in Physics and a Harvard MBA, along with over 60 years of experience as a scientist, entrepreneur and educator — addresses these pressing issues in his latest book, Future Earth: Humans or No Humans?

The book is inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s 1969 short book, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, in which Fuller uses a metaphor of life on a spaceship to address how humanity is to survive given Earth’s finite resources. But Future Earth is written in a modern context, which extends beyond Fuller’s initial concept of sustaining resources to include more dire and urgent consequences facing humanity.

Thorough Yet Easy to Understand

Future Earth is well-researched and thorough, yet easy to understand for any reader, broken down into orderly sections to tackle one (or two) topics at a time, from air quality and water quantity to overpopulation and global pandemics. These easily digestible sections make it so readers can come and go as they please.

Carriker spends a good portion, rightfully so, on the emergence of AI and social media over the years. He reveals the negative effects of social media on mental health (particularly on younger people) as well as the potential for cyber warfare, i.e., the clandestine use of social media to interfere with a nation, like influencing elections.

He speculates on the future potential for bad people to use AI to create havoc in communications, politics, banking and weaponry — and that’s not even assuming what AI will be able to do without human intervention.

Importance of Interdependence

Future Earth is filled with worrisome issues, from biological warfare to shifting landscapes, but Carriker argues the most pressing issues are climate change and nuclear war — and their deadly effects are looming a lot closer than people believe.

The root of all these issues? Human conflict. Which is why, amid a fragmented world with rising signs of fascism, Carriker emphasizes the importance of interdependence and democracy.

“Many of these problems deal with human inequality across the world. Inequality, real or perceived, is a great driving force for conflict,” Carriker says. “The greater the imbalance, the greater the potential for conflicts.”

Guidebook for an Optimistic Future

Future Earth presents a powerful message that will resonate with many concerned citizens aboard our metaphorical spaceship. Carriker draws on his extensive background to expand upon Fuller’s original concept in a way that brings it into the 21st century.

Carriker lays out the facts — as gruesome as they might be — and offers solutions. He addresses the urgency of our situation but doesn’t linger on the problems with a pessimistic attitude, instead being realistic and guiding readers toward a more optimistic future.

“Although it is filled with worrisome facts, this book is not about doom and gloom,” Carriker says. “It is about creating collective grassroots awareness of the difficulties ahead, without which, time is lost to right the ship.”

Future Earth is an educational read that will surely leave readers with a few new insights — and maybe, a new motivation for change.