Assuming the worst, what would you say to distant future humans?

[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)

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. Destroy these tablets

We got nothing to tell you that you don't already know.

[Faygo Kid]

2. We turned the corner to the end when too many worshipped a false god of hate and profound ignorance.

[Speck Tater]

5. And here I was thinking along completely different lines...

like teaching them how to make a steam engine, a refrigeration compressor, or a hang glider.

[Recursion]

3. Share your things NT

[Warpy]

4. While I would apologize for the loss of medicine

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.

[phantom power]

6. "objects in mirror are closer than they appear"

[kristopher]

7. What a coffee bean looks like...

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.

[HeresyLives]

9. I agree. We've never had such an event, nor are we

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.

[Poll_Blind]

8. "Love freely. Hate sparingly. All things are made of smaller things until only energy remains."n/t

PB

[wtmusic]

10. Floss. nt

[notadmblnd]

11. Drink Brawndo! The thirst mutilator

it's got electrolytes. Electrolytes is what plants crave!

[NV Whino]

12. We fucked up.

Royally.

[GliderGuider]

13. "Everything is connected."

"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."

[guardian]

22. hmmm

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.

[GliderGuider]

24. So what would you say?

:shrug:

[guardian]

42. Nothing to say

I believe the OP promotes a false premise worshiped by the doomer cult.

[Wilber_Stool]

14. Not a fair question

You would probably have to use hand signals.

[pscot]

15. Are you gonna eat that last weed rat?

n/t

[NoNothing]

16. Already been done

EDIT: Fixed link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones

[NoNothing]

18. And if you're too lazy to click

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>

[madokie]

21. Sounds like a good plan to me

[stuntcat]

23. "be not a cancer on the Earth"

I've never heard of these, thank you!

[Delphinus]

43. But who's listening now? n/t

[hunter]

17. Those are not humans. Humans are extinct.

They are replicants. The Google is still experimenting, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with us.

[MineralMan]

19. Just one word: Sorry.

[Nederland]

20. I will say: Hi

"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..."

[Dead_Parrot]

25. If I wanted to be representive of the current generations:

"Fuck you. We got ours."

[GliderGuider]

26. I don't think they'll need porcelain tablets to tell them that...

[Dead_Parrot]

27. A porcelain bowl is more apropos.

[GliderGuider]

28. :-) Nice shot.

[phantom power]

29. "Oops."

[happyslug]

30. We can NOT return to a pre-coal/oil world

On the other hand we KNOW how things worked out in the days before extensive Coal and Oil usage, that was NOT that long ago (The First census that shown that we were using more mechanical power then Muscle power, both human and Animal, was 1870 thus any decline will stop while before any return to nomadic Hunter-gatherers.

This has been discussed before on DU, at various threads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x163827#163949
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x5570#5709
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=5570
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=6071
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=4500
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=1539#1732
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=4663
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=4467
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=4961#4970
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1036346
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3373256
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2314165#2314224
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3208660
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x52912#52944
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x204544
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x1539#1568
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x48057
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1626712
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2747696
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3317769
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3226295
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x128857
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4902675
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x147268

That just a short list of how often this topic or a related topic has come up

[TxRider]

31. E=MC^2

[tinrobot]

32. We consumed a lot more than we needed to consume...

...and we paid the price.

Be modest, take only what you need, and give back plenty for others.

It all connects.

[stuntcat]

33. If your parents weren't total morons they knew what future they were giving you when they had you.

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.

[Gregorian]

34. Know your limits. Know when to stop.

And treat everything with care.

[kestrel91316]

35. I'm sorry I drove so much by myself. Really.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

36. English is the Official Language!

If you don't like it, then leave!


Or, maybe something along the lines of what NoNothing posted.B-)

[jberryhill]

37. I know what grovelbot will say...

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.

[NeoGreen]

38. Don't Panic the Answer is 42

:)

[joshcryer]

39. "Sorry that the generation before mine caused this mess, I tried to do something about it."

"I failed."

[XemaSab]

40. As surely as common German people supported the destruction of the Jews

the common people of 2010 supported the destruction of the environment.

Not explicitly, through guns and rocks and gas, but through inattention and neglect.

[Kaleva]

41. Sci-fi movies show that everyone speaks English in the future.

[Odin2005]

44. Don't let greed destroy you. Trust Reason over superstition.

Don't be a cancer on the world.

[Dover]

45. I would leave them a Leonard Cohen CD (our western culture's Rosetta Stone)

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

[tom_paine]

47. "Rosetta Stone" - Ilike that very appropriate term. "Everybody Knows"...

"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

[stuntcat]

48. yes

:thumbsup: A few of his songs sound like clear warning

[Kablooie]

46. Hey, we've got two spacecraft with our pictures on them still flying out there. What've you got?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

49. I would freeze dry and seal a Bible to give to the future.

[GliderGuider]

50. Isn't that kind of like giving them a blanket infected with smallpox?

Harsh, man.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

51. Misery loves Company :P

[Dead_Parrot]

52. You evil bastard.

:spray:
:rofl:

[NNadir]

53. Solar PV will soon be competitive with grid power.

[Dead_Parrot]

55. He said "distant future", not "retarded"... nt

[NNadir]

56. Well, it depends on how distant. In 1976, Amory Lovins said "Solar will soon be competitive,"

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.

[tom_paine]

54. I don't think I could improve much over what Kurt Vonnegut suggested be carved

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)."

[Ready4Change]

57. How did you get here?

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.