Imagine we know the coming of doomsday and despite all of our efforts we cannot save ourselves. We can, however, evaluate the extent of the damage and design a capsule that can survive the damage. So in the final moments of our existence the worlds leading nations agree to make that capsule a containment of the best of what humanity has to offer....but...the nations are at a disagreement about what should be placed in that capsule so to prevent a war before the ultimate doom the world has agreed to let Sciforums members decide what will represent mankind in that capsule. Here is what is to be placed in the capsule. 3 works of philosophy by three authors who represent different points of view towards life and existence. Only and ONLY 3 different collection of studied sciences. These collections will include all that is presently known about these sciences but you can pick only 3... i.e Biology, Psychology, Geology or Psychology, cosmology, Astronomy etc etc etc..... Only one field of Math The information about Only one Era of our history. Make it a usable one. Complete specs and information of ONLY 2 technical inventions and 3 handmade tools. The Biography of Only 3 Historical figures and finally..... ONE and i stress only ONE sciforums members biography. Which member? Because that member will be the representative of the community who put together this collection. remember we do not know if life will start again and we do not if mammals will even rise again...infact some other intelligent form of life may rise so represent mankind the best possible way you can. *note* Explain your choices
philosophy Plato, Nietzsche, and John Stuart Mill(or possible Marx) for drastically different ways of looking at the world. For the sciences I'd say biology, as it would tell future people what life was like now, and psychology as it would tell them about how we thought. not sure about the third. don't know anything about math. can't single out a historical period...possibly the rennasiance, but that disregards non-western history. not sure about inventions... historical biographies will contain information about the period a person lived in in addition to information about the person themselves, so I'd suggest people from different eras whose biograpies would tell about thsoe eras( a way to cheat the one historical era in history requirement)
I would say I would only give my answers if sciforumers could transcribe the works personally onto scrolls, using a feather and some ink. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! 3 works of philosophy by three authors - The Matrix and that is the only one I can think of. ONLY 3 different collection of studied sciences- Botany (that is gardening isn't it?), 'Herbology' (the study of herbs and all other natural remedies), and Psychology, (although it's not actually a science). If not that last one then Astrology or Cosmology. Only one field of Math - I'd ask you to elaborate but for now (because I don't really know any others) I'll say Geometry (doesn't this include Trigonometry, or is that just tri-angles??) and Equations (but this may not be a branch) and something else. Only one Era of our history- World War Two, because this is a well documented period and it can be used to see the efect Adolph Hitler had on the world; also there will be lots of other useful documentations including World Maps, European maps as well as other maps of geographical usefulness, among other things! Complete specs and information of ONLY 2 technical inventions and 3 handmade tools- The Sand-timer and the Dynamo (from this they will be able to work out electricity (which is largely chemical, incidentally)) and the tools would be the knife, the saw, and the spoon (which comes from an egg, which incidentally is the most aerodynamic shape known to man!) The Biography [biographies Ed.] of Only 3 Historical figures- Hitler, Freud and Charles Darwin. ONE sciforums members biography- I don't know any so I would select leonardo DaVinci's complete works I wouldn't mind putting the two posessions below in too: the first is a astronomical chart and the second is a model of the milky way itself, though it is not as detailed as the model I have in mind. I have seen the kind I have in mind, before, and I consider carving one myself one day. It will have some kind of thin metal structure, holding each body in it's place, and these bars will allow them to spin on their own axis'. I also consider powering the whole thing electrically, with each ratio worked out with spin: orbit, and body:body, though all of this will take some time to do. I may do it, if I ever get enough time. I will do it professional like, or I will do it on computer, as a sort of presentation! Does any one know if there are already any ou there?? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Very true! This was a problem of mine, and it was something I spotted, but there was nothing I could do; I have not read much else, though I would like to one day.
If the early neo-humans happened to open the capsule and found these things, they could use it for a camp-fire or eat them out if they are more hungry except the tools. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Would they be literate when they open it..?
The Art of War - the foundation for human survival Biology - and understanding of who we were; Chemistry - an understanding of what made up our environment; Electro-dynamics - an understanding of electrical fundamentals and subtle properties of the EM field. Algebra - need i answer this? The Industrial Revolution - the key turning point in industrialized society Lightbulb - so you can see; Steam Engine - so you can manufacture Knife - to cut; Shovel - to move; Plow - to farm Einstein - to keep them busy; Thomas Edison - methods of logic; Bill Gates - inspiration for creativity My Biography - these were my ideas Here it is - keep it simple and keep it forward.
sargentlard 3 handmade tools. --- the computer is a hand made tool! and that can contain all the information without the need to reduce it to a few corner creed tainted concepts so only one tool is needed yes i am being philisophical to that end and a little cheeky Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! but are you maybe trying to inspire a debate between a shovel and a spade? yes im bored whats your point Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! groove on Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Plato, Quinn, Confucius Plato starts you off in a pretty good direction of how a nice society should be. Quinn explains civilization and the destruction it causes. Confucius tells you to chill the f*ck out (based on my extraordinarily limited knowledge of him). Couldn't we just give them a freshman science textbook and call it good? If there is yet another civilization, it won't take them that long to figure out a great deal of what we already have. I think a lot of the math we study in school comes from the Greeks and Egyptians. So then I'd give them E=mc2. For later use. By far I think the 20th century was not only the most interesting period in history but also the most well documented of any period in history ever. You see the ascension of the United States and the Soviet Union, of the Soviet Union's fall, of China going from empire to US-backed dictatorship to communist dictatorship. You see Britain and France, two powers who had dominated the world for hundreds of years fall under the shadow of the US. And at the very, very end, you see hints of the US decline. So much can be learned from our century, so much can be learned about how you conquer the world and how you don't. How you treat others. How you govern, and run a civilization. You just need the right sources. Think of it, fellow sciforumers--the time we're living in now will be looked upon with enthusiastic interest by schoolchildren and historians alike. With good reason. Iron plow, internal combustion engine. Ballpoint pen, paper, rifle of some sort to give us domination over the terrors of the post-apocalypse. Hitler, FDR, George W. Bush Why, my own, of course. non-western history shmistory. It all kind of comes together as you get toward the end. Like a good Star Wars movie...
Philosophers: Plato-Plato is my hero Confucius-Teaches the essentials of life Marx-Should this new civilization turn out to be more moral and perfect than we, communism might actually work. Sciences: Biology-One must know one's self inside and out Chemistry-it compliments all other sciences; once they understand chemistry and biology the other sciences will begin to manifest themselves. :bugeye: Quantum Mechanics-Just to fuck with their heads...Working backwards, they could discover the fundamentals of physics, and perhaps other areas that we had not. Math: Whatever the highest level of math we know. History: The Russian civilization from the time of the Byzantines to Catherine. This will teach the new civilization all of the things that can mess up your country. -Or- 1990-Now (or roughly ten years prior to this apocalyptic event occurs) So they see that even with the stuff we have, extinction is a more than possible. Besides, chances are we will cause our own demise, this way they can learn from our most cataclysmic mistakes. Technical Inventions: Boeing 747- It is a plane that basically flies itself A Nuclear Submarine-The equipment on a sub can give insight into all kinds of our technology. Historical Figures: William Shakespeare-Tragedy Mohandas Gandhi-Humanity Ludwig von Beethoven-Life and Death Sciforum Member: Xev-She is very intelligent, strong, stoically opinionated, sardonic, crass, though, tactful, and still mildly uncertain. What better way to represent people than in such a gamut of qualities.
While we're at it, we should give them religious texts on each major religion and let them pick for themselves.
I have limited knowledge of philosophy, but I'd definitely include Plato, specifically "The Republic". Sort of bending the rules, for the other two I'd put in the Bible and Bhagavad-Gita. Physics, Chemistry, Biology. All the rest are some combination of these. Calculus. With careful study, they would be able to infer all the basics and come to understand the calculus itself. Of course I'm assuming a limited amount of intelligence in this new civilization, to the point where they already understand numbers and such. 20th century. Many significant events, incredible advances in technology. Hmm...this is tough... 2 Inventions: Combustion engine, Dynamo/Generator 3 tools: Crosscut saw, wheel, abacus (hey, they've got some work to do figuring out all that calculus Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ) Hmm... Gandhi, Galileo, Confucius As for the sciforum member, I don't know most people well enough, so I'll just say Porfiry for being in charge of the place.
Perhaps... maybe our studies of psychology might not apply to the new society? You have to make sure they have a basic understanding of algebra.
Life, the universe and everything by Douglas Adams. The Kama Sutra. Viz comic. Because they're all good for a laugh and you've got to have a sense of humour if you're going to leave all this for NOBODY to find... I will assume therefore that there may be some human survivors left to benefit from this capsule. Botany, Biology, Pathology Because it would aid survival Simple arithmetic Because it's simple and needed for simple survival The most documented era... the 20th century Because it's probably more accurate than other periods. Windmill and water induced electricity generator Hammer, saw and fire sticks (with instructions) Because they would aid survival Ghandi, Hitler and Mother Theresa Because the good has to shine, but you can't pretend evil doesn't exist Impossible to have ONE representative of ALL mankind--especially from the alienated ranks of SciForums posters. Rats and cockroaches will inherit the Earth.
Hmm, good point! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! A transcription of some point that showed the earliest 'alphbet' through to modern day. They should be able to work that out. If not that, then this: My First ABC By Jane Bunting! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The first thing you'd teach them is war??! And for human survival? That's questionable. I'm sure they could figure war out for theirselves if they wanted. I can see some faults with your selections straight away (not that there are rights and wrongs here, just that going by the reasons for your selections, it could be done very differently). Can I see your biography please Dribbler? For a start would you really want to give primitive society a computer?? What use would it be when they have no houses, no steady source of food, and not even any electricity! I can't see it being any use for them, and as well as this they wouldn't be able to use it, or understand it!! What about the keyboard?? Someone has already pointed out that they won't be able to read or understand any signs yet. Aside from all of this they will no source of power (as I have said), and even with a battery, that have no way of re-creating their own power! Dribbler, I see you've said this already. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Oh no, not a Douglas Adams fan!
