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You might be interested in reading “The Silurian Hypothesis”. If previous civilizations existed, would we be able to tell? https://www.cambridge.org/core/servi

by adolph 5y ago

You might be interested in reading “The Silurian Hypothesis”. If previous civilizations existed, would we be able to tell? https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/77818514AA6907750B8F4339F7C70EC6/S1473550418000095a.pdf/div-class-title-the-silurian-hypothesis-would-it-be-possible-to-detect-an-industrial-civilization-in-the-geological-record-div.pdf https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/c...

mc32 5y ago
I don't see how we wouldn't be able to --unless they were able to perfectly able to reprocess everything back into semi-original form. I guess another possibility is if the civilization were so small that coming across artifacts by pure change is very low. We have evidence of Dinosaurs from over 200MM ya --and even older fossils originally made of perfectly compostable matter.
- adolph 5y ago
  The paper addresses these points: As an example, for all the dinosaurs that ever lived, there are only a few thousand near-complete specimens, or equivalently only a handful of individual animals across thousands of taxa per 100,000 years. Conceptually see also: dematerialization refers to the absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society. In common terms, dematerialization means doing more with less. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dematerialization_(economics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dematerialization_(economics) Also: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822733-more-from-less https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822733-more-from-less
  - mc32 5y ago
    But try dinosaurs are over 200MM ya. Humanoids nog more than a few million years.
    - adolph 5y ago
      Not quite, no. The Mesozoic Era lasted from 251 to 66 million years ago. While 66 my is a long time, there may be human processes which "recycle" materials of previous civilizations in ways that make the previous ones harder to discern.

by adolph 5y ago

mc32 5y ago

I don't see how we wouldn't be able to --unless they were able to perfectly able to reprocess everything back into semi-original form. I guess another possibility is if the civilization were so small that coming across artifacts by pure change is very low. We have evidence of Dinosaurs from over 200MM ya --and even older fossils originally made of perfectly compostable matter.

adolph 5y ago
The paper addresses these points: As an example, for all the dinosaurs that ever lived, there are only a few thousand near-complete specimens, or equivalently only a handful of individual animals across thousands of taxa per 100,000 years. Conceptually see also: dematerialization refers to the absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society. In common terms, dematerialization means doing more with less. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dematerialization_(economics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dematerialization_(economics) Also: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822733-more-from-less https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43822733-more-from-less
- mc32 5y ago
  But try dinosaurs are over 200MM ya. Humanoids nog more than a few million years.
  - adolph 5y ago
    Not quite, no. The Mesozoic Era lasted from 251 to 66 million years ago. While 66 my is a long time, there may be human processes which "recycle" materials of previous civilizations in ways that make the previous ones harder to discern.