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> Just like the global food shortage that Malthusians assured us was bound to happen,

How many times can we get lucky with rapid, unforeseen advances in technology?

> the ozone layer fading away and UV rays destroying us all,

Avoided by being proactive

> Y2K breaking every computer on the planet.

Avoided by being proactive

"How many times can we get lucky with rapid, unforeseen advances in technology?"

An infinite number of times. There's no "luck" to it - there are people actively searching for solutions to this shit so we don't end up dead.

There is absolutely luck, it's in the timing. The Green Revolution happened to arrive before we hit Malthusian limits, but that wasn't guaranteed.

If an asteroid is going to strike tomorrow the only solutions that matter are the ones that are economically and technically feasible today.