Why the Internet Plays a Crucial Role in Saving Humanity

We adults have done poorly in the climate crisis. Today's youth are more aware of global warming than their elders. Will they do better than us on climate change? I don't know, because our ability to overcome all the existential threats to humanity depends critically on human intelligence.

Given that useless information has dominated the internet and will certainly be produced at an ever-increasing rate, it is unrealistic to expect young people to make major advances in science and technology when they are fed fake news, misinformation, self-confirming information bubbles, and conspiracy theories. Even if the internet were suddenly filled with truths and facts now, it would take a decade for young people to absorb the knowledge, a second decade to make scientific and technological breakthroughs, and a third decade to deploy new applications at scale.

Since it is impossible to make a sudden leap in human intelligence or morality overnight, our CO2 emissions and global temperatures will continue to rise. When will the future be bright? My realistic and optimistic estimate would be when most people have enjoyed 30 years of quality content like books on the Internet.