Podcast: 15,000 Year Death Wish Will Rule The Day
Posted by Editor on March 29th, 2011
Andrew is very excited that his first science fiction book The Grendel’s Shadow is released. Brian favorably compares the human race to ants and wonders aloud if we will survive an unknowable cosmic disaster. After having his curiosity piqued by an email from a French listener, Andrew explains what life will be like in a post-Singularity economy where no one wants for anything. Justin calls one of his favorite authors “full of butts” during a conversation about overpopulation.
BONUS: Listen to the end of the podcast for an audio presentation of the prologue and first chapter from Andrew’s new ebook The Grendel’s Shadow. Then buy it for only .99 at Amazon.com by clicking the image below!
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March 30th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Thank you for debating on my questions! I know it’s not much, but you have no idea how exited I was.
March 31st, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Does Andrew have a paypal account? I feel like I got more value out of Grendel’s Shadow then I paid for it, and would like to send him the difference.
March 31st, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Just write a nice review on Amazon and we’ll call it even!
April 1st, 2011 at 12:20 am
Another great show. Just a couple comments. Because of different things I have read about, couldn’t the artifacts found in Texas be from a civilization that died became more advanced and died off? Most belief is that humans weren’t on the American continents until about 12-13 thousand years ago. Could these be from a non-human civilization?
And there is plenty of evidence that older civilizations were more advanced or as advanced as we are. And they disappeared. Couldn’t this have happened multiple times. Cocaine in Egyptian mummies shows that there was possible trade between Africa and South America. So at least their boats were more advanced than it is believed they were. Then there are the pyramids. Today’s engineers say they couldn’t repeat the feat. From what I have read, there are no signs of damage from tool marks, or even the stones used to build the pyramids banging together.
And if these ancients had technology similar to our computers, wouldn’t their records have been there instead of written down? Depending on what it is written on, it wouldn’t last long.
I see two possibilities, First is that they had space travel, the most powerful, and most intelligent, would have left before some disaster. With enough of the lower class to take care of them. Could be a possibility for some of the UFOs. But that is a different topic.
Second is that there was a disaster, and the people most likely to survive would be those least likely to understand technology. I heard that one of the theories of 2012 is that a solar flare will behave like an EMP and destroy our electronics. If that happened, it would be the people who can provide food for themselves who will survive. Not the people who design computers. That doesn’t mean these people won’t overlap. But in the years after-wards, teaching your children how to help survive will take over. Knowledge that isn’t as important will be forgotten.
Imagine what could have been in the Library at Alexandria before it was destroyed. No telling what knowledge could have been there that we would understand now with our advanced knowledge.
And I find it easier to believe in ancient advanced civilizations, than for us to exist for 10+ thousand years and a lower tech level. And then have our knowledge practically explode in the last 1000 years, if even that.
April 1st, 2011 at 5:55 am
You guys are dead right about humanity being able to bounce back. As a global society, the majority of our history and accomplishments will be preserved as long as a singe modern city survives somewhere. And even if every bit modern infrastructure and knowledge was to magically evaporate over night, there are still a plenty of isolated tribes in the middle of the Amazon that survive with only sticks and stone tools.
We are literally living in every nook and cranny on earth, so no matter what happens, there will probably always be enough humans left around to rebuild. Pretty much the only thing that can drive humans to extinction would be the complete and total destruction of the earth, and that’s only a problem until we start to colonize other worlds.
April 1st, 2011 at 5:58 am
An advanced civilization, that existed thousands of years ago, decided to escape a disaster by flying out into space, rather than flying to other parts of the planet where humanity was obviously unphased by any such disaster? That sounds like someone escaping a burning building by moving to another country.
April 2nd, 2011 at 4:09 am
Well I was thinking more along the lines of an advanced civilization that covered the entire world. And a threat that they thought could effect the entire world.