4 ms·

Honestly, reading this, I kept thinking to myself, "Man, this is just waiting to be turned into science fiction short story." It could go in different direction

by korethr 10y ago

Honestly, reading this, I kept thinking to myself, "Man, this is just waiting to be turned into science fiction short story." It could go in different directions, future humans discover such a site, humans discover an alien analogue of such a site on $planet, aliens discover such a site crafted by humans on $planet, etc. Either way, there's potential for a good story there.

djsumdog 10y ago
I think the most interesting thing about this is the underlying assumption that warnings and containment must survive .. the death of our current civilization and States. These researchers are talking the long path .. how do we warn people who make not have any knowledge our civilization exists in its current form? Too many people today think this will last forever; that we're in a golden age that we cannot easily return from.
- korethr 10y ago
  It's a very sobering but realistic thought. Plenty of past human civilizations that were powerful and dominant in their day are now but decayed ruins of varying levels of mysteriousness. I do very much enjoy and benefit from being part of this civilization in this time and place, but I have no delusions that hundreds or thousands of generations from now, assuming the species survives, the works of here and now will similarly be puzzling ruins.
- PhasmaFelis 10y ago
  It's especially interesting to see a government body doing this sort of thing. Politicians don't usually care much about what kind of world they're leaving for their own children, let alone random citizens of the far future. Is anyone actually following these suggestions? My cynical assumption is that they'd be laughed out of the house by the people who actually hold the construction purse-strings.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Politicians don't usually care much about what kind of world they're leaving for their own children, let alone random citizens of the far future. Politicians probably care about this a lot much than they are given credit for; while plenty are actually short-sighted and narrowly selfish (just like plenty of non-politicians), no doubt a lot of the perception of that comes from people who disagree with them on what is best for the future portraying the politicians disagreement as disinterest. (This frequently happens when the disagreeing parties are not politicians, as well.)
hardmath123 10y ago
In the full report [1], there actually is a sample short story or "scenario" (page F-139, "5.1 Scenario for the marking system (MFK)"). Extract: > Jo climbed down and walked over, the sand squeaking beneath her boots. She followed Steve’s head around the shape, only to find another shape behind it. The sand had shifted in between the two, but the writing was still clear. She stood next to Steve and looked. There were faces, two of them. And there was writing, in many different forms. “Hey, I think that’s Chinese -- I saw something like it in my ancient history class,” said Steve as he knelt to get a closer look. > “So send a picture to Cindy in Remote -- you know she likes that old stuff,” shrugged Jo. “What did they want around here? Those faces aren’t scary. That one looks scared and that one looks sick, I’m not impressed. ” She stepped out between the pillars and looked around. They had stopped just before the center. There was nothing there but sand and scrub. She squinted and saw that every passage way was blocked by these little shapes sticking up in the middle. She sighed. All this stuff for... nothing? [1] http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/921382.pdf http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/92138...
- thebrainkid 10y ago
  Thanks for the link! The story really helps to show how some future people might regard such a site and all the warnings we might place on/in it.
ubernostrum 10y ago
You might enjoy the short story "The Man Who Walked Home" by Alice Sheldon (usually published under her pen name of James Tiptree, Jr.).
xzzx77 10y ago
Not exactly the same set up, but "the Engines of God" by Jack McDevitt is a great example of that idea of future archaeologists trying to decipher an ancient message.
Already__Taken 10y ago
The plot/premise of the mmo anarchy online is actually pretty close to this.
tome 10y ago
It's not completely unlike Roadside Picnic, which I highly recommend.
jcl 10y ago
It's actually not that dissimilar from the plot of "Alien". Or "Prometheus". Or "At the Mountains of Madness".
- feralmoan 10y ago
  Or 'The Mummy', loosely based on the legendary Curse of the Pharaohs

by korethr 10y ago

djsumdog 10y ago

I think the most interesting thing about this is the underlying assumption that warnings and containment must survive .. the death of our current civilization and States. These researchers are talking the long path .. how do we warn people who make not have any knowledge our civilization exists in its current form? Too many people today think this will last forever; that we're in a golden age that we cannot easily return from.

korethr 10y ago
It's a very sobering but realistic thought. Plenty of past human civilizations that were powerful and dominant in their day are now but decayed ruins of varying levels of mysteriousness. I do very much enjoy and benefit from being part of this civilization in this time and place, but I have no delusions that hundreds or thousands of generations from now, assuming the species survives, the works of here and now will similarly be puzzling ruins.
PhasmaFelis 10y ago
It's especially interesting to see a government body doing this sort of thing. Politicians don't usually care much about what kind of world they're leaving for their own children, let alone random citizens of the far future. Is anyone actually following these suggestions? My cynical assumption is that they'd be laughed out of the house by the people who actually hold the construction purse-strings.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Politicians don't usually care much about what kind of world they're leaving for their own children, let alone random citizens of the far future. Politicians probably care about this a lot much than they are given credit for; while plenty are actually short-sighted and narrowly selfish (just like plenty of non-politicians), no doubt a lot of the perception of that comes from people who disagree with them on what is best for the future portraying the politicians disagreement as disinterest. (This frequently happens when the disagreeing parties are not politicians, as well.)

hardmath123 10y ago

In the full report [1], there actually is a sample short story or "scenario" (page F-139, "5.1 Scenario for the marking system (MFK)"). Extract: > Jo climbed down and walked over, the sand squeaking beneath her boots. She followed Steve’s head around the shape, only to find another shape behind it. The sand had shifted in between the two, but the writing was still clear. She stood next to Steve and looked. There were faces, two of them. And there was writing, in many different forms. “Hey, I think that’s Chinese -- I saw something like it in my ancient history class,” said Steve as he knelt to get a closer look. > “So send a picture to Cindy in Remote -- you know she likes that old stuff,” shrugged Jo. “What did they want around here? Those faces aren’t scary. That one looks scared and that one looks sick, I’m not impressed. ” She stepped out between the pillars and looked around. They had stopped just before the center. There was nothing there but sand and scrub. She squinted and saw that every passage way was blocked by these little shapes sticking up in the middle. She sighed. All this stuff for... nothing? [1] http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/921382.pdf http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/92138...

thebrainkid 10y ago
Thanks for the link! The story really helps to show how some future people might regard such a site and all the warnings we might place on/in it.

ubernostrum 10y ago

You might enjoy the short story "The Man Who Walked Home" by Alice Sheldon (usually published under her pen name of James Tiptree, Jr.).

xzzx77 10y ago

Not exactly the same set up, but "the Engines of God" by Jack McDevitt is a great example of that idea of future archaeologists trying to decipher an ancient message.

Already__Taken 10y ago

The plot/premise of the mmo anarchy online is actually pretty close to this.

tome 10y ago

It's not completely unlike Roadside Picnic, which I highly recommend.

jcl 10y ago

It's actually not that dissimilar from the plot of "Alien". Or "Prometheus". Or "At the Mountains of Madness".

feralmoan 10y ago
Or 'The Mummy', loosely based on the legendary Curse of the Pharaohs