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Hypothetical question

The question is if for some foreseen or unforeseen reason our species goes extinct , what could we do as a species to pass on knowledge to the next species of humans to fast track their knowledge ? ( providing there could be another variation to our species ) or have we plateaued as a species?

AJimboShep82 7 Apr 20
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But if by chance our planet gets covered with nothing but lava our chances would diminish.

has it not happened before ( lava covered earth ) during the development of our planet , it could happen again .

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Or even something similar to even hieroglyphics

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But was also thinking of something similar nature as tin types but onto rocks on a larger scale:

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The chimpanzee is our likely eventual hominid successor, but the limited range of the species makes it unlikely that they could survive an environmental apocalypse. It would be millions of years before another species arose to our level of dominance. It's hard to imagine that any medium we could use to transmit our knowledge would be viable by the time they could make use of it.

Maybe acquiring that knowledge is a necessary part of the process.

JimG Level 8 Apr 21, 2020

Let’s say it does take over a million years for the process to start anew and when they get their hands on that large pool of knowledge we would have to break it down for them knowing how we came up and knowing what we know from evolution we should plan accordingly, eg: primitive apes find our pool of knowledge how could we teach that to them in the most simplest of ways I’m thinking Pa lov’s operant conditioning could help the way we train gerbil’s to press on the steel ball to get water.

@AJimboShep82 I was thinking something more along the lines of pictograms.

@JimG not a bad idea , it does remind me of how back in the Wild West they would use tin types ( as in pictures of Billy the kid as an example ) with similar technology to print images on cave walls ( as they probably would go towards cave dwellings as our species probably did originally.)

Absolutely

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Homo superduperious might not come about if you consider what happened to Jesus character doing purported supernatural activity. If Jesus character really existed and could do superduperious activity because of advanced genetics, then him being kill with out reportedly having any genetic children would mean the superduperious gene mutation or change did not get passed on to spread into the rest of the human genetics bringing more decendents to have the superduperious genetics.

Word Level 8 Apr 21, 2020

We already know that to be a fairytale

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There will be at least one paradigm shift and “they” will see “our” time as we see the Dark Ages.

Exactly; only direction is up

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Passing knowledge to the next up-and-coming species would confer an unfair advantage. Let them struggle as we have; let them figure it out on their own--no short cuts! Giving a boost only weakens them, in the long run. What makes a species strong are the challenges, questions and paradoxes in life. No one is ever improved by being handed the answers to a test, prior to taking it.

I can agree that struggle can promote growth ; what if they could improve on what we found and maybe even figure out the next level of super particles that scientists have already found

And ultimately advancing science all together

@AJimboShep82 This is an interesting discussion. Consider that the human species is gone, and that a new species evolves to the top of the food chain. At what point would we "interfere" with their evolution?

If we were to ignore the "Prime Directive" how would we choose to alter the development of this new species? Do we allow the hundreds of thousands of years of disease, war and pestilence? Do we prevent ignorant superstition and religion from taking hold? Do we give them reason and science and the keys to technology at an early period in their history? Or, do we remain 'hidden' until they approach the point at which we were lost to history?

In other words, if we had the choice, would we reveal ourselves as gods or bury the evidence only to be discovered by an advanced society who would view as as primitives?

@p-nullifidian I agree that we need to take into account of our primitive nature and teach them incrementally and accordingly

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The most durable method of recording information so far is clay tablets. Maybe use the figures from warning labels as language. That might work for the really basic stuff. The Library of Congress written on ceramic sheets and buried in Yucca Mountain for when whoever it is has time left over.

I agree would could be in a very good position to weed out war , segregation, hatred , violence and the list goes on and on really even weeding out religion and the concept of a god and carrying on where we left off and I do agree that introducing it to them incrementally and encourage to press on in the field of science .

@AJimboShep82 Basic sanitation and hygene, the scientific method and that the volcano doesn't care about your virgins would be a good start. It'd be nice if we get that across to everyone now.

@burnhippiesfor very true however in such an event I think it would be wise to prepare as if it were a possibility what do we pass on and what do we weed out if our species does somehow reach a golden age of human we are still technically in the silver ; and yes hygiene would be a fundamental thing we would need to teach them ( and providing the method in which we record knowledge onto does last no less than a million years )

And I would have to agree that clay tablets would be the way to go ( unless there is a more reliable method ) that could survive any natural disaster including volcanic eruptions, space debris , nuclear bomb , fire , tsunami etc.

@AJimboShep82 There are some really amazing modern ceramics that would be ideal. Pretty much what you get when you develop baked clay technology for ten thousand years.

@burnhippiesfor I see where you are going with that and if clay pots with designs have lasted for a very long time through the course of our current species

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I think instead of plateaued we devolved. is that a word. not even sure anymore. se I am devolving too.

We may be moving backwards or are we stagnant?

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Build pyramids? The likelihood of anything written being useful is miniscule... ever tried to read Chaucer?

Was thinking more like preserved knowledge

To be honest I haven’t read that yet

@AJimboShep82 but preserve it how?

@AnneWimsey and that itself is the fundamental question ; computers would not last long at all and even clay is susceptible to breaking and potentially knowledge lost just as so with time capsules , paper would not last long at all either maybe sometime as “ simple “ as cave paintings/carvings ?

@AJimboShep82 not only that, but things become twisted in both meaning & interpretation, even pronunciation, over as little as a few hundred years

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Reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light."

I will have to find that one to watch.

@gigihein My favorite episode. Patrick Stewart has said it's his favorite. His actual son plays his son in the episode.

@bingst I recently noticed hulu had The Next Generation, which I loved.I planned to bring watch it when I had time. I guess will jump to Season 5 to watch it now.

You and I share this episode as our favorite. So beautifully told, and superbly acted, and winner of a Hugo award. Even the cast considers this episode as one of the best. I love how Picard's ability to play the flute is reprised years later in the episode, "Lessons." Peace.

And to be honest what we considered sci fi of yesteryear a few of those had been made a reality

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Maybe it would be better to start over. We suck. 😒

That’s if we get another go with our species ; who knows this could be the last time that our species does evolve

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I doubt anything will get us all.. There will be pockets of surviving humans. We might consider various post-apocalyptic scenarios ..for which you can take your pick, or make up more. We remain the cleverest of Apes..

Varn Level 8 Apr 20, 2020

hope your right. Not sure its evidence based. It is however what I hope for my sweet little Ruby.

@gigihein Humans, rats and cockroaches are on every continent. We're giving bacteria a run for it's money on survivability.

@burnhippiesfor but let’s say an asteroid hit the earth the way it did and wiped out the dinosaurs

@AJimboShep82 The chances the meteor hitting Yucca Mountain, or anywhere the archive was kept are low enough to ignore. The whole plan would be hail mary that Brett Favre would think twice about. Some humans would survive a similar impact, and make babies like the soldiers after WWII.

@gigihein trying to be as logical as possible

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