David Attenborough at 99: 'I will not see how the story ends'

Climate Change, “Line Must Go Up,” and Human Short-Termism

• Many see capitalism’s growth imperative (“line must go up”) as fundamentally at odds with prevention: it rewards extracting value now and assumes someone else will handle the long-term fallout.
• Others argue markets will eventually adapt by making climate mitigation and adaptation profitable (e.g., Dutch sea walls), but critics say this ignores slow feedback loops and global coordination problems.
• There’s concern that rich countries and individuals will only insulate themselves, leaving the most vulnerable to suffer.

Prevention, Risk Perception, and COVID Analogies

• A recurring theme: humanity is bad at valuing disasters that don’t happen. Regulations, preparedness, and vaccinations are attacked precisely because they work “too well” and make threats invisible.
• COVID is used as an example of collective denial, conspiracy thinking, and people minimizing danger “for the average person,” even when hospital capacity was the real constraint.
• Debate emerges over how effective masks/vaccines were, excess mortality differences between countries, and whether long COVID is yet well-understood.

Optimism, Pessimism, and the Long View of Earth

• Some find bleak comfort in the idea that, even if humans crash, Earth will recover ecologically over millions of years.
• Others push back: mass extinctions and the loss of biodiversity are real harms, and humans may be the only shot at spreading life beyond Earth.
• The notion of a looming global population crash is discussed, with specific focus on Africa’s still-high but rapidly falling fertility rates.

Attenborough’s Role and Legacy

• Several comments interpret his “optimism” as strategic: people are more mobilized by hopeful visions than by pure doom.
• There’s anxiety about losing a uniquely trusted, widely recognized voice; suggestions are made for younger successors but none feel comparable.

Oceans, Bottom Trawling, and Action

• The film “Ocean” shocks viewers with footage of bottom trawling, likened to napalming or bulldozing underwater forests for a small catch.
• Discussion covers bans, subsidies, Greenpeace-style physical interference (boulders/reefs), and whether individuals should stop eating fish versus focusing on collective political action.

Philosophy of “Not Seeing the Ending”

• Many note that no one ever sees “how the story ends”; we live in the aftermath of others’ endings and before those of future generations.
• Some find this deeply sad; others see it as intrinsic to the human condition or speculate about non-material continuations of consciousness.