Are we living in the End Times?


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I think part of the premiss was that there isn't operating power plants, or power transmitting infrastructure, and you can't just mail order stuff on amazon anymore. Batteries haven't been produced in years, nor have any electronics. Even if you could just contact someone far away, you don't know who they are or what their motives are. The character in the book always left his radio on, in case there was a trickle of electricity, but when it did crackle to life, it was almost always some doomsday preacher ranting and raving.

Maybe the guy in the next town over did have a ham radio, but he might not let everyone know.

Also in the book folks were more concerned about getting a windmill or waterwheel working to feed themselves, rather then dealing with media.


thejeff wrote:
BigDTBone wrote:
thejeff wrote:
BigDTBone wrote:


As far as population goes it is expected to decline in the long term after peaking in the next 100-150 years. This is based on aging population trends and slower reproduction rates in first world nations. There will be a time in our relatively near future (ie less than 500 years) where labor jobs will be unnecessary and virtually all occupations will be research or creative.

Assuming no crash.

Also assuming we manage to restructure society so that those who can't research or produce creative works for sale have some way to survive.

It won't be a reaction it will be an evolution. Similarly to how we don't train people to fletch arrows or show horses anymore. Sure, there are specialists who can do these jobs, but they are far from prolific.

So you are assuming the vast majority of people will be working and effective at research and creative jobs?

We don't fletch or shoe horses much anymore, but we still have plenty of labor jobs. There are things for people to do who aren't cut out for that kind of work. But less than there used to be. We're already having problems with not having enough labor to keep our population employed.

Sorry for not being clear. I think in 500 years time we will have significantly less population. Also I am including things like chef, gardener/florist, tailor/designer, in creative. As well as many repair and maintenance positions in research.


Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.

That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech. Babbage engines, in theory.


thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech. Babbage engines, in theory.

The first modern analog computer was invented in 1872.


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MagusJanus wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech. Babbage engines, in theory.
The first modern analog computer was invented in 1872.

Could it handle the Internet packet radio protocol?

Hey, we don't even need the radios, we can just implement RFC-1149


thejeff wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech. Babbage engines, in theory.
The first modern analog computer was invented in 1872.

Could it handle the Internet packet radio protocol?

Hey, we don't even need the radios, we can just implement RFC-1149

It couldn't, but considering what the machine actually did at the time, designing one for communication over radio probably won't be too difficult. Just have it send out Morse Code over the radio.

And, personally, I prefer Internet Protocol over Smoke Signal. It has this nice ambiance...


Fergie wrote:
I think part of the premiss was that there isn't operating power plants, or power transmitting infrastructure, and you can't just mail order stuff on amazon anymore. Batteries haven't been produced in years, nor have any electronics.

Except that's, fundamentally, bull---. I can make a battery out of a lemon and two coins; unless you're assuming that the Great Citrus Plague has totally eliminated all vitamin C from the world, the premise is moving from implausible to ludicrous.

Quote:
Even if you could just contact someone far away, you don't know who they are or what their motives are.

Sure I do. If we're talking about 1800s technology, they're the people that I trade with on a regular basis (and have been trading with for centuries). Trade via ship doesn't even require 1800s technology -- the Phoenicians knew about that.

What is apparently beng forgotten in all of these frankly-stupid scenarios is that we know how to do lots of things that are too important to forget about and too easy to do -- like make and maintain trade networks, and by extension communication networks. There's a tremendous amount of theoretical information that went into the modern computer, and the development of the theory is why we think of computer networks as 20th century creations.

Basically, as long as literacy exists, technology will not drop significantly below what we had in the 1920s. It's too easy to read a book and learn how to make a steam-powered, radio-controlled whatsit, and modern supply chain technology makes it so much easier to do more with less that any society that manages to preserve the control networks will "win."


thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech.

Goodness gracious, you can build computers out of water pipes and valves. (Yes, I'm serious. Look it up.) The ancient Romans could have built computers if they had the mathematical knowledge.


Orfamay Quest wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech.
Goodness gracious, you can build computers out of water pipes and valves. (Yes, I'm serious. Look it up.) The ancient Romans could have built computers if they had the mathematical knowledge.

But you're not going to build an Internet with waterpipes, valves and ham radio.

Yes, in theory you could, but it would be a gimmick. Just to prove you could do it. You're not going to build an economy around it.
Just like you can make a battery with a lemon, but you can't run a power plant off of lemons. It's a gimmick. Maybe an emergency MacGyver-like lifesaver. It's not going to rebuild industrial civilization.
How does modern supply chain theory work when your supply chain is horse drawn (or sailing ship, at best)? Things change when you have to deal in those kinds of time lag.

More generally, you're ignoring the process of getting there. I suspect it would be more a matter of trying to claw our way back up to the 1800s after the wars over the last of whatever resources were running out. Even with lemon powered radio and water computers, you can't feed the current population without modern levels of energy consumption. We can't revert to the 1800s (or even the 1920s) peacefully and quietly.

And all of that is without considering climate change.


thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech.
Goodness gracious, you can build computers out of water pipes and valves. (Yes, I'm serious. Look it up.) The ancient Romans could have built computers if they had the mathematical knowledge.
But you're not going to build an Internet with waterpipes, valves and ham radio.

No, that's exactly what I'm going to do if it lets me maintain decent trade communications.

Quote:


How does modern supply chain theory work when your supply chain is horse drawn (or sailing ship, at best)? Things change when you have to deal in those kinds of time lag.

Actually, that's exactly where modern supply chain theory works. I use modern theory to direct goods where they're needed instead of doing depot to depot shipping, in the same way that Wal*Mart avoids depots in favor of trucks. If I need something three months from now, I contact the home office via radio today and a wagonload is sent out directly to where I need it, instead of sending to a local warehouse and hoping that they have it in stock.

Quote:


More generally, you're ignoring the process of getting there.

Not at all. I'm simply noting that getting there would be a priority precisely because the first group that "gets there" wins, massively. If you're in the process of losing a war over resources, the army with the best supply chain management wins in a much more literal sense.

Basically, if we are able to maintain (or recover) 1800s technology, then that level of technology combined with modern theoretical knowledge will make further levels of development a relatively simple and short task. Earlier than that -- yes, if we've lost (for whatever reason) the ability to forge metals, then recovering even to the 1800s would probably not be practical no matter how much knowledge people have.

But if we're able to retain industrial technology at all, we will retain almost all of it, because we will retain not only the technology, but also the theoretical knowledge for further technological development.


Orfamay Quest wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
thejeff wrote:
Orfamay Quest wrote:
Fergie wrote:


The book doesn't talk much about exactly what happened, but I think it involved some catastrophic stuff on the coasts, followed by famine, disease, and lots of hardship. One of the themes of the book is that information beyond word-of-mouth just isn't available.
Then it's patently ridiculous. Ham radio with 1800s tech is trivial -- which in turn gives us universal Internet via packet radio for anyone who wants it.
That doesn't even make sense. You could get ham radio - or actual broadcast radio - with late 1800s tech, but you couldn't get Internet via packet radio without computers and you're not going to have computers with 1800s tech.
Goodness gracious, you can build computers out of water pipes and valves. (Yes, I'm serious. Look it up.) The ancient Romans could have built computers if they had the mathematical knowledge.
But you're not going to build an Internet with waterpipes, valves and ham radio.
No, that's exactly what I'm going to do if it lets me maintain decent trade communications.

No. You're not going to, because it won't work. You'll use the radio directly, because that's far more useful than trying to run an internet on packet radio and water pipe computers.

Quote:
Quote:
How does modern supply chain theory work when your supply chain is horse drawn (or sailing ship, at best)? Things change when you have to deal in those kinds of time lag.
Actually, that's exactly where modern supply chain theory works. I use modern theory to direct goods where they're needed instead of doing depot to depot shipping, in the same way that Wal*Mart avoids depots in favor of trucks. If I need something three months from now, I contact the home office via radio today and a wagonload is sent out directly to where I need it, instead of sending to a local warehouse and hoping that they have it in stock.

If you know exactly what you're going to need 3 months from now, sure. But you don't, so you try to have inventory on hand or nearby to cover whatever you might need. Far less efficient than only getting what you need when you need it, but that isn't an option. Businesses can't predict what they'll need 3 months from now today. (Mind you, shipments of those things you need regularly will work, but that's nothing new. That's always been done.)

Quote:
Quote:


More generally, you're ignoring the process of getting there.

Not at all. I'm simply noting that getting there would be a priority precisely because the first group that "gets there" wins, massively. If you're in the process of losing a war over resources, the army with the best supply chain management wins in a much more literal sense.

Basically, if we are able to maintain (or recover) 1800s technology, then that level of technology combined with modern theoretical knowledge will make further levels of development a relatively simple and short task. Earlier than that -- yes, if we've lost (for whatever reason) the ability to forge metals, then recovering even to the 1800s would probably not be practical no matter how much knowledge people have.

But if we're able to retain industrial technology at all, we will retain almost all of it, because we will retain not only the technology, but also the theoretical knowledge for further technological development.

In the chaos as population crashes, with wars, looting, burning, plagues and mass starvation, keeping libraries full of theoretical knowledge is going to be hard.

And if the wars go nuclear ...


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thejeff wrote:
And if the wars go nuclear ...

It'll be easier, not harder, to preserve that knowledge since libraries wouldn't be targeted by nuclear weapons and radiation is a very effective sterilization method.


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MagusJanus wrote:
thejeff wrote:
And if the wars go nuclear ...
It'll be easier, not harder, to preserve that knowledge since libraries wouldn't be targeted by nuclear weapons and radiation is a very effective sterilization method.

Not so much with libraries, but have you ever noticed, in an 'apocalypse', the famous landmarks
get destroyed. And, in a "post-apocalypse", the famous landmarks are the only ones remaining?


I've noticed, which I always found amusing.

Personally, when it comes to nuclear weapons, my money would be on military bases and churches being hit first. Shopping centers as well. Done on a Sunday morning, that has the potential for the biggest bang for your buck in terms of kills. It would also be a very useful surprise attack; let the nukes announce your declaration of war and send in the ground pounders and air superiority while the nation's still scrambling in the chaos.

Which is how it is I suspect a real nuclear war would start.


MagusJanus wrote:

I've noticed, which I always found amusing.

Personally, when it comes to nuclear weapons, my money would be on military bases and churches being hit first. Shopping centers as well. Done on a Sunday morning, that has the potential for the biggest bang for your buck in terms of kills. It would also be a very useful surprise attack; let the nukes announce your declaration of war and send in the ground pounders and air superiority while the nation's still scrambling in the chaos.

Which is how it is I suspect a real nuclear war would start.

Military bases, industrial complexes, government offices. We're talking war, not terrorism so civilian bodycount isn't really a concern. Besides, you don't target things like churches with nukes, you target cities. Your scale is all wrong.

You're talking the classic nuclear war scenario, though there's no real surprise, due to the various early warning systems so the enemy gets to launch nukes if he has them. In this kind of resource war/civilizational collapse scenario, I'd expect them to be used more as a last resort - either against invading armies, against the military of the country you were attacking and wound up losing ground to, or worse and probably most likely, in civil wars.


thejeff wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:

I've noticed, which I always found amusing.

Personally, when it comes to nuclear weapons, my money would be on military bases and churches being hit first. Shopping centers as well. Done on a Sunday morning, that has the potential for the biggest bang for your buck in terms of kills. It would also be a very useful surprise attack; let the nukes announce your declaration of war and send in the ground pounders and air superiority while the nation's still scrambling in the chaos.

Which is how it is I suspect a real nuclear war would start.

Military bases, industrial complexes, government offices. We're talking war, not terrorism so civilian bodycount isn't really a concern. Besides, you don't target things like churches with nukes, you target cities. Your scale is all wrong.

You're talking the classic nuclear war scenario, though there's no real surprise, due to the various early warning systems so the enemy gets to launch nukes if he has them. In this kind of resource war/civilizational collapse scenario, I'd expect them to be used more as a last resort - either against invading armies, against the military of the country you were attacking and wound up losing ground to, or worse and probably most likely, in civil wars.

The scale I'm working with is right for the kind of scenario I'm looking at. In order for it to be a surprise attack, they would need to use stealth bombers instead of ICBMs to drop the warheads; that means smaller warheads, which in turn means that they can't actually take out cities.

And, unfortunately, what I'm talking about is war. It's only been within the last 50-60 years that targeting civilians has become prohibited, and not all nations prescribe to that while most others, most infamously the U.S., waffle on it. And the U.S. was the nation that decided targeting civilian populations with nuclear weapons is a good idea in the first place, thus establishing the precedent of intentionally targeting civilians with nuclear bombs.

It is a pretty safe bet that in any attack using nuclear weaponry, the objective would not be to just cripple infrastructure but to also cripple any insurgency efforts; thus, hitting the military bases and areas the largest numbers of civilians are most likely to be is a priority and should be done with the first bombing run. The second and third bombing runs, using a mixture of conventional bombs and nuclear weaponry, can take out the rest of the infrastructure while the initial ground assault force secures a beachhead for the ground invasion and air superiority hunts down any military aircraft and naval vessels.


Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...


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Aqua Buddha wrote:
Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...

Nah. I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

And, really, don't worry. It all doesn't go to crap until I die. You've got at least 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes, and 19... 18... 17...

Silver Crusade

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MagusJanus wrote:
Aqua Buddha wrote:
Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...

Nah. I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

And, really, don't worry. It all doesn't go to crap until I die. You've got at least 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes, and 19... 18... 17...

Oh that's all? Well then, I'll set my alarm.


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Aqua Buddha wrote:
Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...

I am prepped for that.

But against aliens, we are out classed.

Zombies, still working on the firearms, got my machete.

Another planet, got lots of liqueur.

JC's return should be a good thing, IMHO.

Plagues, Con is not my dump stat and Fort is my best save.

War, with the number of combat veterans in the states and one of the top military complexes in the world, we should be in solid shape.

:)

Grand Lodge

thejeff wrote:


And all of that is without considering climate change.

Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Again, probably won't wipe humans out (EDIT: completely), but it'll be apocalyptic in that the world on the other side is going to look very different.


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EntrerisShadow wrote:
thejeff wrote:


And all of that is without considering climate change.

Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Again, probably won't wipe humans out (EDIT: completely), but it'll be apocalyptic in that the world on the other side is going to look very different.

It's not unique. This isn't the first time science has predicted humanity's demise.

The first time is one of the pieces of science that led to China's one-child-only policy and many of the human rights abuses China has performed while maintaining that policy.

It's since been disproven, but that doesn't exactly do much to comfort all of the victims of implementing its suggestions.

Edit: Almost forgot... there were also the scientists who were afraid the first atomic weapon would ignite Earth's atmosphere. They were quickly proven wrong, but for awhile there was some serious consideration that the U.S. may be building a weapon that would destroy the planet.


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EntrerisShadow wrote:
Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Yes, because when people in lab coats start clucking that the sky is falling, it must be true.


MagusJanus wrote:
EntrerisShadow wrote:
thejeff wrote:


And all of that is without considering climate change.

Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Again, probably won't wipe humans out (EDIT: completely), but it'll be apocalyptic in that the world on the other side is going to look very different.

It's not unique. This isn't the first time science has predicted humanity's demise.

The first time is one of the pieces of science that led to China's one-child-only policy and many of the human rights abuses China has performed while maintaining that policy.

It's since been disproven, but that doesn't exactly do much to comfort all of the victims of implementing its suggestions.

"Disproven"?

Exactly which piece of science are you talking about?


thejeff wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:
EntrerisShadow wrote:
thejeff wrote:


And all of that is without considering climate change.

Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Again, probably won't wipe humans out (EDIT: completely), but it'll be apocalyptic in that the world on the other side is going to look very different.

It's not unique. This isn't the first time science has predicted humanity's demise.

The first time is one of the pieces of science that led to China's one-child-only policy and many of the human rights abuses China has performed while maintaining that policy.

It's since been disproven, but that doesn't exactly do much to comfort all of the victims of implementing its suggestions.

"Disproven"?

Exactly which piece of science are you talking about?

How big of a population the world's food supply can maintain. Then came some big discoveries, particularly artificial fertilizers and refrigeration.

Sovereign Court

No, because there is no such thing as end times.


So...its the middle time?

Sovereign Court

It's just time.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
thejeff wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Asmodias wrote:
I am just asking in general, because it feels like the fabric of reality that holds everything together is falling apart...
I remember Plato seeing pretty much the same thing.... only in Greek. In between his complaints about "the younger generation".
OTOH, while such complaints have always been common, we're now capable of doing far more damage to the world than the Greeks could dream of.

Humanity isn't so mighty that the world won't survive what we do to it. A few centuries after we've driven ourselves to extinction, will be enough time to clear away most of our mark upon it. And that's a trivial amount of time in the long run.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Hama wrote:
It's just time.

Which is just an illusion.


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TriOmegaZero wrote:
Hama wrote:
It's just time.
Which is just an illusion.

Do I get a will save to disbelive?


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havoc xiii wrote:
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Hama wrote:
It's just time.
Which is just an illusion.
Do I get a will save to disbelive?

Yes. It's a DC of 1.25 x 10^(three googleplex).

You don't want to make the save, though. I did once and found out what exists beyond. It was so horrible that my mind shattered.


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MagusJanus wrote:
havoc xiii wrote:
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Hama wrote:
It's just time.
Which is just an illusion.
Do I get a will save to disbelive?

Yes. It's a DC of 1.25 x 10^(three googleplex).

You don't want to make the save, though. I did once and found out what exists beyond. It was so horrible that my mind shattered.

So...you met Cosmo's true form?


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Game Master Scotty wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:
havoc xiii wrote:
TriOmegaZero wrote:
Hama wrote:
It's just time.
Which is just an illusion.
Do I get a will save to disbelive?

Yes. It's a DC of 1.25 x 10^(three googleplex).

You don't want to make the save, though. I did once and found out what exists beyond. It was so horrible that my mind shattered.

So...you met Cosmo's true form?

No. Martha Stewart's.

Cosmo is too eldritch of an evil for his true form to be seen by merely disbelieving in time.


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TriOmegaZero wrote:
Hama wrote:
It's just time.
Which is just an illusion.

"...Lunchtime doubly so." [/DNA]


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MagusJanus wrote:
...I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

Hmmm...

A) What was it like being married to Heidi Klum? Or was that one of the other Seals?

2) Should we expect some sort of Seallander/"There Can Be Only One" head-chopping battle to win The Prize set to "Kiss from a Rose"?


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MagusJanus wrote:
Game Master Scotty wrote:
So...you met Cosmo's true form?

No. Martha Stewart's.

Cosmo is too eldritch of an evil for his true form to be seen by merely disbelieving in time.

“Excellent. Now. Do we suspect there may be some kind of connection between Ben Martha Stewart and Glory Cosmo?”


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Pillbug Toenibbler wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:
...I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

Hmmm...

A) What was it like being married to Heidi Klum? Or was that one of the other Seals?

2) Should we expect some sort of Seallander/"There Can Be Only One" head-chopping battle to win The Prize set to "Kiss from a Rose"?

A) It kinda sucked. She's terrible in bed and her personality program kept glitching out when she wasn't on air. Plus, she kept shorting out power supplies. Maintenance was forever opening her up.

2) I cannot comment on the particulars of our upcoming demises.

Quote:
“Excellent. Now. Do we suspect there may be some kind of connection between Ben Martha Stewart and Glory Cosmo?”

I'm sorry. Homeland Security has declared that information classified.


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LazarX wrote:
thejeff wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Asmodias wrote:
I am just asking in general, because it feels like the fabric of reality that holds everything together is falling apart...
I remember Plato seeing pretty much the same thing.... only in Greek. In between his complaints about "the younger generation".
OTOH, while such complaints have always been common, we're now capable of doing far more damage to the world than the Greeks could dream of.
Humanity isn't so mighty that the world won't survive what we do to it. A few centuries after we've driven ourselves to extinction, will be enough time to clear away most of our mark upon it. And that's a trivial amount of time in the long run.

In the long run certainly and I didn't mean to imply we would. The world will continue on without us. Though a serious nuclear war would leave a mark and the global warming changes will take centuries to stabilize. We're also quite possibly causing a mass extinction event only comparable to a handful in the past. That's going to be detectable in the fossil record - and the genetic one - long after we're gone, even in geological terms.

The Classical Greeks wouldn't even have been able to wipe humans off the earth, much less do the kind of damage we're capable of.


MagusJanus wrote:
Aqua Buddha wrote:
Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...

Nah. I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

And, really, don't worry. It all doesn't go to crap until I die. You've got at least 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes, and 19... 18... 17...

Is that from when you wrote the post or from when I first read it?

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
thejeff wrote:
LazarX wrote:
thejeff wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Asmodias wrote:
I am just asking in general, because it feels like the fabric of reality that holds everything together is falling apart...
I remember Plato seeing pretty much the same thing.... only in Greek. In between his complaints about "the younger generation".
OTOH, while such complaints have always been common, we're now capable of doing far more damage to the world than the Greeks could dream of.
Humanity isn't so mighty that the world won't survive what we do to it. A few centuries after we've driven ourselves to extinction, will be enough time to clear away most of our mark upon it. And that's a trivial amount of time in the long run.

In the long run certainly and I didn't mean to imply we would. The world will continue on without us. Though a serious nuclear war would leave a mark and the global warming changes will take centuries to stabilize. We're also quite possibly causing a mass extinction event only comparable to a handful in the past. That's going to be detectable in the fossil record - and the genetic one - long after we're gone, even in geological terms.

The Classical Greeks wouldn't even have been able to wipe humans off the earth, much less do the kind of damage we're capable of.

Absolutely true, but compared to what Nature herself has pulled off, we're strictly small potatoes. One of the great extinctions took out over 90 percent of the planet's species. while turning the whole world into an ice covered snowball.


Vod Canockers wrote:
MagusJanus wrote:
Aqua Buddha wrote:
Dudes, the End really is coming. We all feel it. You can stay in deniel all you want, but you feel it coming. It could be zombies, plagues, aliens, wars, another planet crashing into or even Jesus coming back. It doesn't matter. Dudes, get ready...

Nah. I've contacted the other six Seals and they're all still alive. Until we start dying off in order, there's pretty much no point in worrying.

And, really, don't worry. It all doesn't go to crap until I die. You've got at least 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes, and 19... 18... 17...

Is that from when you wrote the post or from when I first read it?

You don't have the security clearance for me to answer that question :P


Maybe large-scale EMP's, which seems to be the reason the military seems to be scrambling to "harden" everything? So build yourselves lots of Farraday(sp?) Cages.

Wouldnt end the world, but the human population would rapdily be decimated.


I think the hardening everything is more in response to the increasing EM fields that cover human cities. Eventually, we're going to have to harden everything just to have it work at all in large settlements.


A Song on the End of the World
BY CZESLAW MILOSZ

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world,
There will be no other end of the world.


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What if I told you that we're living in the least violent era of all human history?


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No one would listen.

It is much more entertaining and believable to crow about the end of times.


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Dustin Ashe wrote:
What if I told you that we're living in the least violent era of all human history?

{thumps Dustin on the noggin with an oversized mallet}

Grand Lodge

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MagusJanus wrote:
EntrerisShadow wrote:
thejeff wrote:


And all of that is without considering climate change.

Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.

Again, probably won't wipe humans out (EDIT: completely), but it'll be apocalyptic in that the world on the other side is going to look very different.

It's not unique. This isn't the first time science has predicted humanity's demise.

The first time is one of the pieces of science that led to China's one-child-only policy and many of the human rights abuses China has performed while maintaining that policy.

It's since been disproven, but that doesn't exactly do much to comfort all of the victims of implementing its suggestions.

Edit: Almost forgot... there were also the scientists who were afraid the first atomic weapon would ignite Earth's atmosphere. They were quickly proven wrong, but for awhile there was some serious consideration that the U.S. may be building a weapon that would destroy the planet.

I don't even know where to begin with this. You're comparing apples to oranges here.

The atomic bomb concern was a small fraction of scientists worried about the possibility of a chain reaction. A better example would be the small fraction of people who thought the large hadron collider would open up a black hole. They were there, certainly, but a fringe group that were almost universally dismissed out of hand. It's hardly anywhere near the consensus we have on climate change.

I don't know enough about China's one-child-policy to say what lead to it, but if what you say is true, then again there's an enormous difference between clinging to policy in light of debunking evidence, and refusing to acknowledge legitimate findings.

Jaelithe wrote:
EntrerisShadow wrote:
Kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. We are in a unique situation where the doomsday warning aren't coming from religions or prophets or mystics - but peer reviewed scientific research.
Yes, because when people in lab coats start clucking that the sky is falling, it must be true.

Wow, arrogant much? I definitely trust those 'people in lab coats' - that is, people who have dedicated their entire lives to studying and understanding natural phenomena - when they overwhelmingly agree there going to be potentially catastrophic consequences, to the drivel of anti-intellectual knuckle-draggers who think their lack of education on the matter somehow makes their opinions more valid.

Sovereign Court

I wonder how many people will jump in two weeks and expect to float for 3 seconds.....

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