Yes and no. Yes by the time it would likely be detected on a collision course with Earth, at present, even the greatest minds can't theorize a method to neutralize an asteroid => 5km in diameter that doesn't cause an extinction event with the technology available to us right now.

However, if it were detected soon enough there may be more tenable options for preventing an impact event that are not futile. The problem is we don't have nearly enough resources monitoring deep space for our inevitable destruction and with a lot of our space tech now being privatized in the US it will be more difficult because there's no profit incentive to being prepared for our doom. At least now that NASA is active again there will be an obvious taxpayer incentive to literally preventing our own annihilation...lol

Edit to add article about early detection: https://www.planetary.org/defending-the-earth-from-impacts#:~:text=We%20can%20stop%20asteroids%20from,tends%20to%20focus%20on%20asteroids.

[–] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The point is you aren't going to stop an asteroid if you're living in a tribe in the jungle.

[–] Croquette@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a dumb point. Might as well do nothing and continue to ravage the planet because there will be a meteorite somewhere in the next millions year.

[–] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago

That doesn't follow. If you care about whether or not humanity survives, those are not equivalent at all.

[–] stonedemoman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Sure, but my point is that capitalism may as well be George of the jungle with everything it does to trade our future for revenue growth.