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It’s true that filters abound but the idea that we’ve had to start all over again is Whig history. It’s been a continuum. That being said I agree with your ma
by JackFr 5y ago
It’s true that filters abound but the idea that we’ve had to start all over again is Whig history. It’s been a continuum.
That being said I agree with your main point. The difference in worldview, ethics, where man sees himself in the universe over the course of our history (let alone pre-history) has taken dramatic and difficult to model changes.
Imagine the worldview of the builders of the Great Pyramid vis a vis our own. (And then remember that Cleopatra was far closer in time to us than them.)
- QuesnayJr 5y agoIsn't it the opposite of Whig history? I thought Whig history was the idea of continual progress.
- throwaway316943 5y agoYes, thank you, that’s essentially what I’m arguing against. There’s no reason galactic civilizations should continually progress especially when each settled system is effectively cut off from its parent by light years of distance.
- stubish 5y agoI think it will depend on how stable the culture is when it gets that far. Will our language become static, now we have the printing press and Netflix? We are still changing, where books and films from 80 years ago have not aged well due to social attitudes. But if it stabilizes, maybe the culture stabilizes, and maybe it can be stable enough for million year time frames. It might not even happen here.... maybe in a million years after the first colony or three has happened one of them will develop a culture capable of becoming galaxy spanning. I think it is worth noting that a new settlement will not be completely cut off from its parent. I imagine a new settlement around Alpha Centauri will be greedily consuming Earth media for quite some time, delayed by just a few years, until it progresses far enough for its own exotic drammedys to be consumed by Earth.