If doomsday were to happen at midnight, mankind is two minutes away from it, primarily because of climate change and the threat of nuclearization.
The non-profit group Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said this week this is where we are on the Doomsday Clock, an indicator of the dangers faced by civilization, Agence France Presse reported.
Amplifying the dangers brought by these factors are information wars, which allow fake news to thrive and sow deep divisions among people.
"Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention," the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group, said fake news “generates rage and polarization across the globe at a time when we need calm and unity to solve the globe's greatest problems."
Bronson added that information warfare and fake news have flourished because “the velocity of information has increased by orders of magnitude.”
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a group of scholars and international experts in security, nuclear, environmental and science fields. It first unveiled the Doomsday Clock in 1947.
This is the closest the world has been to midnight since 1953, at the height of the Cold War.
Most pertinent of this recent announcement is the role being played by the use and misuse of information. Perhaps Filipinos could feel far removed from the issue of climate change—except when extraordinarily strong typhoons batter homes and flatten communities—and feel completely powerless about nuclearization. But every consumer of information has the power and the responsibility to ensure that he or she does not become a purveyor of lies, even unwittingly.
The speed with which information can travel is astounding now. We can only imagine how much faster and more powerful it can get in the next few years. The question is, will it facilitate goodwill and cooperation, or will it only fan mindless chatter, hysteria, intolerance, ignorance and hatred?
Technology provides boundless opportunities for its users. The biggest challenge is ensuring it works for good more than for bad.