January 16, 2026
Final exam? Final existential crisis
On Being a Human Being in the Time of Collapse (2022) [pdf]
Professor’s final class turns doomsday pep talk — students split between panic, purpose, and prep
TLDR: A UC Davis prof swapped the last discrete math lecture for a reality check on collapse and tech’s moral duty. Comments erupted: some cried “doomer,” others demanded accountability—skip surveillance work, fight propaganda, and point coding skills at climate and the public good, not just bigger paychecks.
A UC Davis computer science professor used his last 80-minute discrete math class to ditch graph theory and cryptography for a soul-searching talk about “civilizational and environmental collapse.” And the internet did what it does best: argue loudly while making jokes. Some cheered the detour as overdue reflection, others called it a stress-bomb tossed right before exams. One early voice said they’d be “frustrated” to sit through a sermon when they needed a review, even while agreeing reflection matters. Cue the drama.
The mood swung between doomer alarm and optimist pushback. One commenter called the lecture “pessimistic,” pointing to past scares—Y2K, the ozone hole, killer comets—that didn’t end us, while warning about “survivor bias.” Meanwhile, the guilt-and-accountability camp came in hot: tech workers, they argued, are part of today’s mess—privacy invasions, addictive feeds, surveillance capitalism—and a fat paycheck isn’t a moral alibi. Another faction refused despair, insisting that “helping” means saying no to surveillance gigs, pushing back inside institutions, and redirecting skills to climate and civic tech.
Then came the democracy bomb: a commenter blamed the crisis on minds being “hijacked” by propaganda, sparking side-eyes and sighs about media literacy and manipulation. The memes? “Is this on the exam?” “Pass/fail: Civilization Edition.” And a wink at the prof’s 100% on the “P” (perceiving) personality trait: “P is for Procrastinating the Apocalypse,” joked one wag. Whether you call it a pep talk or panic button, the thread turned a math class finale into a moral melee.
Key Points
- •The essay is an edited transcript of an 80‑minute final lecture for ECS 20 at UC Davis, delivered on March 10, 2022.
- •The abstract states concern about civilizational and environmental collapse and questions the role of computer scientists in addressing it.
- •The lecturer chose reflection over covering graph theory, a review session, or cryptography.
- •Course rigor aimed to develop thinking like mathematicians or theoretical computer scientists rather than rote learning.
- •The speaker reflects on personal traits and career in cryptography, including extensive teaching, speaking, and travel to about 65 countries.