What if…
I like to look up “stuff.”
It’s usually stuff I’ve already looked up 50 times before but forgotten — like the length of time that creatures called Homo Sapiens have lived on this Earth.
The more that is uncovered about those who lived 7000 years ago, the greater our understanding that we weren’t mindless cave dwellers whose vocabulary consisted of, “Ugh.”
There were civilizations, and trade routes.
As of 2020, it is believed that Homo sapiens began 300,000 years ago during a time of great climate change.
An article in 2019 talks about fossils found in Greece. Encased in rock that was more than 150,000 years old were a Neanderthal skull around 170,000 years old and a 210,000 year old Homo sapiens skull.
In 2011, it was believed that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago.
My SciFi mind goes in more directions than the routes humans took to get from one continent to another.
What if…
- It only takes Homo Sapiens 7000 years to go from the simple life to space ships?
- Every 7 or 8 thousand years we get to the point that we can nuke our planet into oblivion?
- Greece had been the origination point for Homo sapiens?
- The only safe place when oblivion happens is the South African caves where we might have started civilization over…and over…again?
- When we get to our present level of technology, all information is digital and nothing of it survives during a world-wide catastrophe (Name one thing that has been built in the last 100 years that would survive as long as a cathedral)?
The Etchmiadzin cathedral built between 301 and 303 AD
You’ve probably noticed that cathedrals and pyramids survive for thousands of years, but modern buildings might not last 100. We still don’t know who made the pyramids, how it was done, or why.
We don’t know how many times invaders tore down anything they didn’t like in an effort to re-imagine history. Hey, we’re seeing it happen in our own time — all over the world.
How much knowledge has been gained and lost, gained and lost, time and time again?
And I wonder what keeps me up at night?
I’m amazed, we both think alike, and I have that tons of questions in my head too, which I often zone out thinking😐. Homosapiens, Neanderthal and What if? A greater species exist before Neanderthal and our own species made them extinct? ,🤔 Which is highly possible, and the questions unanswered like Pyramids and caves, and the current generation makes everything saying long lasting and nothing lasts in this fast generation. loved this post… These What If’s are quiet complicated 😎
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It’s good to know that I’m not the only one. 😂
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The Roman concrete was made from volcanic ash and has lasted 2000 years in many places. We are lucky if our concrete lasts 50 years.
I think there are plenty of documentaries on how the pyramids were built. Plus the fact that the workers were not slaves but paid and thought of as elite artisans.
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Every time I hear another new explanation about how the pyramids were built, I remember that the explanations science offers aren’t always accurate. Here are 2 examples; I was taught that dinosaurs were stupid and slow, which was shown to be inaccurate. During the late 19th century, Joseph Lister was laughed at because he told other doctors that you had to sanitize your hands and the area of surgery to minimize infection.
There are so many examples, but it would take pages to list them.
Africa has many pyramids, but pyramids aren’t just in Africa. Some have been unearthed or discovered in Asia, Europe, and the Americas — with an eerily similar design. The north-south axis of the Great Pyramid of Giza is nearly aligned to true north (deviation 2′ 28”). It took great precision to align it.
When I see yet another explanation about how the pyramids were built, my first question is, “What are we missing?”
Given the back-track record of science in everything from dinosaurs to dimensional theories, I have to believe that we have passed through the infancy of science and we are now toddlers. Sometimes we walk, other times we fall. Scientific theories that are — if you’ll excuse the pun — believed to be written in stone sometimes crumble under the weight of truth. And sometimes a discovery serves as a stepping stone.
That begs another question, “Which will be the next ‘truth’ to crumble?”
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The only thing that disproves science is better science. 🙂
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BTW, there is a comment waiting for moderation from last night from me.
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It was in spam. I followed the link to Amazon. What a great topic for a book!
When I started blogging, I was getting tons of spam. I’ve had to add restrictions to messages and (knock on plastic) I’ve received very few spam replies since that time.
There are certain parameters that send a reply to spam or to “moderation.” Any time I receive links without asking for them, the AI suspects that it’s spam.
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Those ‘what ifs’ hurt my brain too much so I’m glad I’ve got you to think about them on my behalf. Thank you 🙂
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I loved your answer. 💜
My brain seems hardwired to question. I’ve had 3 IQ tests in my lifetime. One was thrown out immediately (it was given by a psychology student who didn’t know what she was doing). I thought the 2nd one was too high, but then the 3rd was even higher.
I have to tell you that if people like me had been the ones trying to survive when we first “left the savannahs,” the human race would have died out. 😂
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You’re right, our digital world could be erased in a massive power outage. A cyber-attack for instance. Think of what was lost in Alexandria when the library burned down. We live in a world where things change, such a tenuous existence.
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I remembered Carl Sagan talking about all the lost knowledge when the library burned. Imagine how we could have built on that knowledge instead of having to rediscover it?
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Hmmm… you’ve stumped me.
All I can say is that somehow, the newer the things, the flimsier the things. You and I have discussed this in the past. So, if we see differences in quality during our lives, think of the difference in quality 100 years ago vs. now.
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Sad to see quality become a thing of the past.
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Our so-called durable goods are a joke. Computerized gadgets and automobiles, scientifically engineered to recycle themselves after the warranties run out–if you’re lucky.
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Curiosity killed the cat! Thank God for wiki. Cheers,H
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