The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 42: MIT Computer Predicts the World Will End in 2040 - First Signs Appear in 2020

Episode Date: June 26, 2022

COMPUTER PREDICTS WORLD WILL END IN 2040   In 1704, using a series of calculations, Isaac Newton predicted the world would end sometime around the year 2060.   Almost 300 years later, in 1973, a computer at MIT made the prediction that life as we know it will end around the year 2040.   It also predicted that some of the first signs would be seen in the year 2020.   Some of its predictions have come true and scientists are taking this seriously.   But can we trust the study? Can we trust ANY study?   Probably not.   Let's find out why. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

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You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down? I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial.

I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This would go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. In 1704, using a series of calculations, Isaac Newton predicted the world would end sometime around the year 2060. Almost 300 years later, in 1973, a computer at MIT made the prediction that life as we know it will end around the year 2040.

It also predicted that some of the first signs would be seen in the year 2020. Some of its predictions have come true, and scientists are taking this seriously. Let's find out why. In the 300 years since Isaac Newton's ominous prediction, there have been plenty of doomsayers announcing the end of the world. Usually these folks are religious zealots, false prophets, frauds, or all the above. But in the 1970s, computer scientists said, hold my beer. Their scientific predictions aren't based on ancient texts or interpretation of scripture. Instead, they use data models. Computer scientists have come to the same apocalyptic conclusion as Newton, right down to the date. Now, to be clear, the end of the world

in this context doesn't mean the end of the planet, or even the end of life on the planet. It just means the collapse of society. The model's based on the work of J. Wright Forrester, who's considered the father of system dynamics. Which is? Well, system dynamics is a methodology and mathematical modeling technique used to understand complex issues and problems. Oh, thanks. Very helpful.

Okay, a little less slogany. Systems are pretty much everything. System dynamics is how pieces of the system relate to each other. For example, the deer population is a system. The resulting calculation using system dynamics is called a stock. The number of deer born is a dynamic piece of that data that adds to the population. The number of deer that die subtracts from the population. Okay. But to that model, we start adding more and more complexities, like the birth rate of the deer, which takes into account how many deer there are, what percentage of those deer are female, and what percentage of those are likely to have offspring. We calculate their death rate by

knowing how many deer there are and what is their average lifespan. Now that's a simple way to calculate deer population, but you can do all kinds of complexities to this model. Like is hunting affecting the population? And if so, what percentage of deer are killed? How often are deer killed in accidents? Do weather conditions affect the population? What about local food sources or what kinds of predators are present? You can then fine tune all these different input variables. And if your model is accurate, you can get pretty good results. MIT researchers developed the program, which they called World 3, to simulate global sustainability, and it was built using system dynamics. The study

looked at the five factors thought most likely to affect growth on Earth. Population increase, agricultural production, non-renewable resource depletion, industrial output, and pollution generation. The scientists who participated in this research were excited to see a bright future in the results. Instead, the program predicted the end of the world. If it's a flat or a squeal, a wobble or peel, your tread's worn down or you need a new wheel, wherever you go, you can get a pro at Tread Experts.

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From tires to auto repair, we're always there. Tread Experts.ca You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. To predict what the future of worldwide growth looks like given finite planetary resources, the MIT researchers who developed the doomsday model

were commissioned by an elite organization called the Club of Rome. The Club of Rome sounds like an Illuminati group. Oh yeah, there are plenty of fun conspiracies about these guys. No, can we? Well, that's not really the point of this video. Please? Please, please, please, please, please. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.

Thank you. The Club of Rome was created in 1968 by the Morgenthau Group during a secret meeting at Rockefeller's private estate, Bellagio. Yeah, this sounds right. The meeting was organized by Aurelio Pace, an Italian industrialist who had close ties to the Olivetti Corporation and Fiat. Now, Pace claimed to have solutions for world peace and prosperity, which could be accomplished through a new world order.

There it is! The Club of Rome was established with 75 prominent industrialists, economists, and scientists from 25 nations. The Bilderberg Group and the Club of Rome are the most important foreign policy arms of the Roundtable, which is led by the Committee of 300. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Roundtable? Committee of 300? Well, the Roundtable is a secret society that, if you believe the theory, is building the New World Order.

No, I believe it. I know you do. The Committee of 300 is a council that creates policy for groups like the Club of Rome and the Trilateral Commission. Trilateral Commission? Yeah, it's a rabbit hole. Each of these groups deserves its own video. Back to the Club of Rome and the MIT experiment. The Club of Rome acts as a research institute on political, social, and economic issues, and supposedly NATO economic and military policy comes directly from this group. The Club of Rome claims that the future survival of mankind

depends on a new global community under a single form of government. New world order. Right. And the biggest threat to this new world order and the biggest threat to mankind is overpopulation. Now, it's been alleged that the Club of Rome supports massive depopulation using

any means necessary. Any means? Any means. In August 1980, Howard Odom, who was a member of the Club of Rome, was quoted saying, it's necessary that the U.S. cut its population by two-thirds within the next 50 years. Now, he failed to mention how this would be accomplished. So that's when the Club of Rome found unlikely but effective partners, four scientists from MIT. The MIT computer program was designed to look at the current projected trends around pollution, natural resources, consumption, and population growth, and see what would happen. The results were published by the Club of Rome in a book called The Limits to Growth, released in 1973. Some immediately criticized the data being inaccurate, but supporters claimed this was Western society avoiding responsibility. The program's

results show that once all factors converge, quality of life will quickly decline, ultimately leading to collapse of society. This convergence was predicted to occur in 2020. 2020 was a rough year. Yeah, you ain't just whistling Dixie. According to the Club of Rome's report, the collapse could only be prevented if nations like the USA and China stop devouring global resources. You're not going to stop, Artie. They're not.

But carbon emissions in the US are actually going down. And even China claims their carbon emissions are down slightly from a year or two ago. Fake news. Probably. But what the limits to growth model failed to predict is the explosion of growth in emerging countries. India, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, North Korea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Ukraine. Carbon emissions are up between 5 and 20% in those countries. And over 2 billion people live there.

That's a quarter of the world's population. Now, those economies are not going to slow down anytime soon. And their carbon emissions are only going up. So clearly, at least according to this model, we're still at risk. Okay, some perspective. Is climate change and overpopulation dangerous? I don't know. There's debate on this.

And I don't know who's right. You don't either. These debates are so full of noise and emotion that it's hard to know who to trust. Now, instinctively, I would trust scientists from MIT about just about anything. And I think that was intentional. The Club of Rome already had come to the conclusion that there is a threat of imminent global collapse. They arrived at this conclusion before hiring the scientists at MIT,

who coincidentally came up with this exact conclusion that fits the agenda. So can we trust this research? I don't think so. I don't either. For a long time, tobacco companies paid scientists to publish misleading information. The most famous of these was called A Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers, which was published in over 400 newspapers in 1954. And the study said there is no proof that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.

Tens of thousands of doctors, general practitioners, surgeons, specialists, doctors in every branch of medicine were included. And according to this nationwide survey, more doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette. Oh, boy. In 1981, a Japanese study proved the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke. Again, Big Tobacco bought themselves some science that said otherwise. In the 90s, they sponsored studies saying that dirty air filters were more dangerous to the lungs than cigarettes.

Oh, come on. And in the 60s, sugar companies paid scientists at Harvard to report that sugar doesn't make you fat and doesn't have a role in heart disease. And as recently as 2017, Coca-Cola and the Mars Candy Company funded research to divert attention away from their products connected to obesity and diabetes. The fact is, 70% of all scientific research is funded by private companies. And that money often comes with strings. Of the most recent 50 food industry-sponsored studies, 70% of them yielded results that were favorable to the sponsor. Twenty five percent of them were neutral and less than five percent of the studies came to conclusions that did not favor the sponsor's product. Consider the messenger. That's right. We're constantly bombarded by scientific

studies on everything. Which ones can we trust? None of them. None of them. Now, the next time the media throws data at you that they got from a scientific paper, take a minute to look at who paid for the research. More often than not, there's an agenda. Unfortunately, most people, including the media, won't take the time to find out who benefits. I think that's the point. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms.

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while curled up on the couch with your cat there's more to imagine when you listen discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. helps the channel. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth while curled up on the couch with your cat there's more to imagine when you listen discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible