The dangers threatening mankind

Abstract

From his very beginning the outside world has threatened man’s existence. Lacking the natural protection of fur, having no great strength or claws, with poor eyesight, a poor runner, climber, and swimmer, and unable to fly, he has had to answer the challenges of nature by using his brains. Acquisition and transfer of wisdom and knowledge, and making and using tools, are his most important means of defence. His need to respond to all the challenges was described by Toynbee as one of the most important incentives to human development. But particularly in recent years man himself is proving to be the greatest threat to the survival of his own species. This is reflected in its most extreme form in the technical and military apparatus he has built up. Sparing neither cost nor effort, he has succeeded in building the means of wiping out the human race, himself included. A solution to this problem is being sought through international talks. The study embodies a number of measures which may diminish the causes of conflict situations, such as better income distribution.