Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Have you ever wondered if our civilization might have been here before? Since childhood I've been teased by the idea that, maybe, all of our tech is not a new discovery, but maybe a rediscovery, and somehow (the flood? nuclear war?) we sent ourselves back to start from scratch.

Absolutely I do.

I think that society periodically collapses upon itself and anyone left standing goes feral and reverts to survival mode.

Warfare, plague, asteroids or some combination of catastrophic events push the big 'reset' button on mankind.

There are still millions of people in the world who live basic, sustenance level existences who would just carry on without us.

Maybe our dependence on electronic file keeping is our undoing.

The sum total of advanced technical knowledge erased and, post collapse, leaving books as the only chance of rebuilding.

After a time we could rebuild up to a point similar to the industrial revolution, but having reinvented the wheel, could we reinvent the digital processor?

Oh, I bet we could. Well, I couldn't, but somebody could and would.

I'd probably devote my time to recreating Cheetos or diet Coke.

Lol

I'm not sure what I'd miss most if I were suddenly to find myself in a collapsed world. I guess you'd have to find yourself allies in a great big hurry. Access to clean water would probably be the first hurdle.

You'd still need people to teach children how to read, so that the remaining books could be deciphered. How-to books would become paramount.

Fortunately there are still thousands of physical libraries.

Yes, although even those have embraced lots of digital copies. But I don't see them doing away with their physical volumes anytime soon.

If one of those electronic pulses were to happen, erasing our digital stiff, would tv still work? Would we be able to see live broadcasts, or hear live radio announcements? Would lights still turn on?

No, no, no and, no.

Well, that's comforting, lol. Back to what? The 18th century? Even the Victorians had gas lighting, I think. Printing presses would become popular. But where would the paper come from? I guess all our factories run on electricity.

Elbow grease and time.

Besides, eventually, the population would be greatly diminished and there wouldn't be a need for so many copies of newspapers or books.

Sadly, the number one priority is going to be the removal and disposal of literally billions of corpses before anything else gets done.

Yes, I suppose you're right. Like those Black Death cemeteries. Or maybe, they'd burn them.

Cremation is the most efficient and hygienic route but even post-disaster you need to factor in people's feelings and/or spiritual beliefs.

What's the point of rebuilding civilization if you can't factor in civility.

Wow, we've gotten dark! Then again, we are on a Halloween forum.

11 months 'til Christmas.

That's happy, right?

Yes, Christmas is happy. Unless you've been watching The Holdovers, in which case it is somewhat less than that.

At church we're getting ready for Lent. In the broader culture, I'm thinking about Valentine's Day. It's sort of a Hallmark holiday, but I'll take what I can get at the end of winter.