Speck Tater
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:13 PM
Original message |
Assuming the worst, what would you say to distant future humans? |
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Edited on Fri Feb-05-10 02:14 PM by Speck Tater
Suppose that between peak oil, global warming, and financial meltdown that modern civilization suffered a sudden and irreversible collapse, and that all the alternative energy, relocalization, and clean technology in the world could do nothing to prevent or even cushion the collapse.
Suppose that the human race experienced a severe die-off and returned to an existence of nomadic hunter-gatherers.
Suppose that it was as little as a thousand years from now, or as long as ten thousand years before the first glimmerings of civilization and technology began to reappear as surviving bands of human reached a level of advancement on a par with ancient Rome, with government, cities, chariots, and roads.
Suppose that the English language was long since erased from the face of the earth and surviving humans speak languages nothing like those in existence today.
Suppose that someone in this distant future time uncovered a collection of fired porcelain tiles or plaques covered with deeply incised lettering or glyphs and simple line drawings, perhaps as much as 10,000 words of text, along with some kind of "Rosetta Stone" that made it possible for them to decipher the writings.
Now suppose that YOU wrote the text on that collection of tiles. What would you say to your distant descendants of five to ten thousand years in the future?
It may be too late for us to save our own sorry asses, and it may be pointless for us to become "rugged individuals" and to barricade ourselves in doom shelters packed with freeze dried food, guns and ammo, but maybe there is still something meaningful that we could do for our distant descendants. Something as low-tech as fired porcelain tiles with whatever knowledge and wisdom we could preserve and pass down.
What would you tell the distant future if you had the chance?
(on edit: typos)
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Cronus Protagonist
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:15 PM
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We got nothing to tell you that you don't already know.
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Faygo Kid
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:16 PM
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2. We turned the corner to the end when too many worshipped a false god of hate and profound ignorance. |
Speck Tater
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:20 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
5. And here I was thinking along completely different lines... |
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like teaching them how to make a steam engine, a refrigeration compressor, or a hang glider.
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Recursion
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:18 PM
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Warpy
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:19 PM
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4. While I would apologize for the loss of medicine |
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and especially dentistry, I'd tell them that we'd lost sight of the fact that we're all connected to each other and with nature and that the world we lived in was a very harsh place except for a lucky few.
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phantom power
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:23 PM
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6. "objects in mirror are closer than they appear" |
kristopher
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:24 PM
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7. What a coffee bean looks like... |
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and how to turn it into a cup of coffee.
Do you seriously think that scenario is possible?
I can' think of any historic example of a loss of knowledge on that scale. If you are going to point to the Dark Ages, I counter with Asia at the same point in time.
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HeresyLives
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:33 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
9. I agree. We've never had such an event, nor are we |
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likely to. Wouldn't become hunter-gatherers again either.
But if people are so concerned then it would be a wise idea to put large accessible archives with all current knowledge in various places on the planet. Update them regularly.
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Poll_Blind
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:27 PM
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8. "Love freely. Hate sparingly. All things are made of smaller things until only energy remains."n/t |
wtmusic
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:35 PM
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notadmblnd
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:39 PM
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11. Drink Brawndo! The thirst mutilator |
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Edited on Fri Feb-05-10 02:40 PM by notadmblnd
it's got electrolytes. Electrolytes is what plants crave!
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NV Whino
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:40 PM
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GliderGuider
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:42 PM
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13. "Everything is connected." |
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"Doing is not the same as being." "Infinite growth in a finite environment is impossible." "Compassion is more important than revenge." "Be nice to each other." "We're sorry."
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guardian
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Fri Feb-05-10 04:59 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
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I was expecting you to say
"If it weren't for people of our time living extravagantly and having an Ecological Footprint of 4.4 gha then the people of your time would be better off."
I guess "We're sorry" is about the same....at least the result is the same.
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GliderGuider
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #22 |
24. So what would you say? |
guardian
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Sat Feb-06-10 12:04 PM
Response to Reply #24 |
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I believe the OP promotes a false premise worshiped by the doomer cult.
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Wilber_Stool
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:45 PM
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You would probably have to use hand signals.
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pscot
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:46 PM
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15. Are you gonna eat that last weed rat? |
NoNothing
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:47 PM
Response to Original message |
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Edited on Fri Feb-05-10 02:48 PM by NoNothing
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NoNothing
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #16 |
18. And if you're too lazy to click |
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The following commandments are carved into the granite in multiple languages. Who commissioned them, and why, remains a total mystery.
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.<3>
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madokie
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Fri Feb-05-10 03:51 PM
Response to Reply #18 |
21. Sounds like a good plan to me |
stuntcat
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:10 PM
Response to Reply #18 |
23. "be not a cancer on the Earth" |
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I've never heard of these, thank you!
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Delphinus
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Sun Feb-07-10 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #18 |
43. But who's listening now? n/t |
hunter
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Fri Feb-05-10 02:49 PM
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17. Those are not humans. Humans are extinct. |
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They are replicants. The Google is still experimenting, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with us.
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MineralMan
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Fri Feb-05-10 03:17 PM
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19. Just one word: Sorry. |
Nederland
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Fri Feb-05-10 03:44 PM
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"I'm one of those of humans that lived during the time period when people didn't live forever. Let me tell you about this thing we called dying..."
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Dead_Parrot
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:27 PM
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25. If I wanted to be representive of the current generations: |
GliderGuider
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:29 PM
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26. I don't think they'll need porcelain tablets to tell them that... |
Dead_Parrot
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:51 PM
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27. A porcelain bowl is more apropos. |
GliderGuider
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Fri Feb-05-10 05:53 PM
Response to Reply #27 |
phantom power
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Fri Feb-05-10 06:04 PM
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happyslug
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Fri Feb-05-10 06:27 PM
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30. We can NOT return to a pre-coal/oil world |
TxRider
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Fri Feb-05-10 07:20 PM
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tinrobot
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Fri Feb-05-10 08:28 PM
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32. We consumed a lot more than we needed to consume... |
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Edited on Fri Feb-05-10 08:29 PM by tinrobot
...and we paid the price.
Be modest, take only what you need, and give back plenty for others.
It all connects.
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stuntcat
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Fri Feb-05-10 08:57 PM
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33. If your parents weren't total morons they knew what future they were giving you when they had you. |
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my neighbors seem like intelligent folks, the lady even works for the Nature Conservancy, but they have a 3-year-old. It is nothing but Selfish for people like that to feel they're the ones so entitled. Of course their little Owen will grow up comfortable and well-fed and well-clothed, he'll always be a comfy American, but that's not the point, it was just SELFISH to think that of all the 7 billion people THEY were the ones who needed to make the cute little old-fashioned family of 1st-world consumers. I hope little Owen doesn't grow up to care about animals and all that.. poor kid will be here in 2090.
I hope I can move out away from the crowd when I'm older, they make me sicker every day.
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Gregorian
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Fri Feb-05-10 10:56 PM
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34. Know your limits. Know when to stop. |
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And treat everything with care.
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kestrel91316
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Fri Feb-05-10 10:59 PM
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35. I'm sorry I drove so much by myself. Really. |
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Edited on Fri Feb-05-10 10:59 PM by kestrel91316
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HCE SuiGeneris
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Fri Feb-05-10 11:23 PM
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36. English is the Official Language! |
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If you don't like it, then leave!
Or, maybe something along the lines of what NoNothing posted.B-)
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jberryhill
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Fri Feb-05-10 11:25 PM
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37. I know what grovelbot will say... |
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But has anyone wondered whether grovelbot will outlive them?
Maybe grovelbot will live on like that boy robot in that insipid movie... You know, the one with that kid who could see dead people in that other movie. But not that movie, the one where he was a robot.
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NeoGreen
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Fri Feb-05-10 11:25 PM
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38. Don't Panic the Answer is 42 |
joshcryer
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Sat Feb-06-10 12:53 AM
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39. "Sorry that the generation before mine caused this mess, I tried to do something about it." |
XemaSab
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Sat Feb-06-10 02:03 AM
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40. As surely as common German people supported the destruction of the Jews |
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the common people of 2010 supported the destruction of the environment.
Not explicitly, through guns and rocks and gas, but through inattention and neglect.
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Kaleva
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Sat Feb-06-10 03:30 AM
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41. Sci-fi movies show that everyone speaks English in the future. |
Odin2005
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Sun Feb-07-10 07:30 PM
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44. Don't let greed destroy you. Trust Reason over superstition. |
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Edited on Sun Feb-07-10 07:33 PM by Odin2005
Don't be a cancer on the world.
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Dover
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Mon Feb-08-10 12:41 AM
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45. I would leave them a Leonard Cohen CD (our western culture's Rosetta Stone) |
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I've seen the future, brother it is murder.
Things are going to slide, slide in all directions Won't be nothing Nothing you can measure anymore The blizzard, the blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it has overturned the order of the soul When they said REPENT REPENT I wonder what they meant When they said REPENT REPENT I wonder what they meant When they said REPENT REPENT I wonder what they meant
You don't know me from the wind you never will, you never did I'm the little jew who wrote the Bible I've seen the nations rise and fall I've heard their stories, heard them all but love's the only engine of survival Your servant here, he has been told to say it clear, to say it cold: It's over, it ain't going any further And now the wheels of heaven stop you feel the devil's riding crop Get ready for the future: it is murder
Things are going to slide ...
There'll be the breaking of the ancient western code Your private life will suddenly explode There'll be phantoms There'll be fires on the road and the white man dancing You'll see a woman hanging upside down her features covered by her fallen gown and all the lousy little poets coming round tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson and the white man dancin'
-- lyrics from The Future
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tom_paine
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Mon Feb-08-10 12:55 PM
Response to Reply #45 |
47. "Rosetta Stone" - Ilike that very appropriate term. "Everybody Knows"... |
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"Everybody Knows"
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long stem rose Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that you've been faithful Ah give or take a night or two Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows
And everybody knows that it's now or never Everybody knows that it's me or you And everybody knows that you live forever Ah when you've done a line or two Everybody knows the deal is rotten Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton For your ribbons and bows And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the Plague is coming Everybody knows that it's moving fast Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past Everybody knows the scene is dead But there's gonna be a meter on your bed That will disclose What everybody knows
And everybody knows that you're in trouble Everybody knows what you've been through From the bloody cross on top of Calvary To the beach of Malibu Everybody knows it's coming apart Take one last look at this Sacred Heart Before it blows And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows
Everybody knows
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stuntcat
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Mon Feb-08-10 02:09 PM
Response to Reply #45 |
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:thumbsup: A few of his songs sound like clear warning
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Kablooie
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Mon Feb-08-10 02:52 AM
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46. Hey, we've got two spacecraft with our pictures on them still flying out there. What've you got? |
OneTenthofOnePercent
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Mon Feb-08-10 03:46 PM
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49. I would freeze dry and seal a Bible to give to the future. |
GliderGuider
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Mon Feb-08-10 05:28 PM
Response to Reply #49 |
50. Isn't that kind of like giving them a blanket infected with smallpox? |
OneTenthofOnePercent
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Mon Feb-08-10 05:29 PM
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51. Misery loves Company :P |
Dead_Parrot
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Mon Feb-08-10 05:35 PM
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NNadir
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Mon Feb-08-10 05:55 PM
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53. Solar PV will soon be competitive with grid power. |
Dead_Parrot
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Mon Feb-08-10 06:16 PM
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55. He said "distant future", not "retarded"... nt |
NNadir
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Mon Feb-08-10 06:58 PM
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56. Well, it depends on how distant. In 1976, Amory Lovins said "Solar will soon be competitive," |
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Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 06:59 PM by NNadir
in 2002 we had here lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of "solar will soon be competitive" threads.
We still have, in 2010, many threads saying the same thing.
Suppose, to the the disappointment of E&E anti-nukes, I live, say, another 30 years. I'm sure I'll be responding to the same thing, should I be alive.
I'm sure they'll still be people posting "solar will soon be competitive with the grid" in the 22nd century as well.
And of course, people will believe them, since cadmium is a neurotoxin and by then the effort to make solar cells will have resulted in some wonderful leaching into ground water from all those landfills where the burned out solar cells will end up.
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tom_paine
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Mon Feb-08-10 05:55 PM
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54. I don't think I could improve much over what Kurt Vonnegut suggested be carved |
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in 100 foot tall letters on the wall of the Grand Canyon:
"We could have saved it, but we were too darn cheap (and lazy)."
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Ready4Change
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Mon Feb-08-10 08:33 PM
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57. How did you get here? |
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I can assume a lot of worse things that result in there being no humans at all. All out eggs are in one basket here on this Earth. And even with several known EXTERNAL sources of our own demise (planet killer asteroids, nearby gamma ray bursting stars...) we continue to create methods of doing ourselves in.
Now, I do think we overestimate our powers. We keep tossing around the idea that our actions could destroy all life on the planet. For the most part I doubt that. I sense that life, once started, is really difficult to eradicate in total. But what IS in our power is altering the environment in ways that WE, as a species, can't continue.
So, worse case, I would say nothing to future humans, because there wont be any.
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Fri May 03rd 2024, 08:41 AM
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