Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[spazyak]

I'm thinking the animals or the asteroids on a smaller scale, something that would cause lots of damage with out down right destroying the earth too.

[AoshimaMichio]

"Any asteroid impact big enough to guarantee the death of all humanity - that was the critera, Oracle, was it not? - would in all likeliness liquefy the crust and throw most of it and the mantle into space. This is a process also known as "The formation of our moon" - and would probably be even less survivable for humanity, since the crust would be kept from resolidifying for, oh, a few hundred million years due to the constant bombardment from bits of, say, Tokyo. That's a long time for a bunch of refugees to sit in a spaceship dodging meteors the size of Cyprus."
Faheema leans back in her chair.
"In any case, I don't think we need to get that serious just yet. I'm sure," she says, glancing around the room with an uninterested eye, "That one of these pillars of humanity can come up with a way to annihilate the human race without actually exploding the planetary crust."

"If the chosen catastrophe itself wouldn't kill the mankind, they will empower it up to the point where it will. So in a sense the criteria itself is very loose. Regardless what you choose, they will ensure chance for survival of our species through your actions. If you pick a cause and do nothing about it, then the mankind will go extinct. This is the basic premise."

[Dorsidwarf]

Naish folds her arms, the room descending into chilly silence after the oracle's words.

"I presume we've all made our final votes?", she hums.

[AoshimaMichio]

"If I counted correctly, we have three votes for nuclear war, one for berserking intelligent animals, one for dyson engine whatever that might be and one undecided. I'm not sure if Mr. Carmichael voted or proposed anything beyond raising his concerns of various scenarios. So should I tell them that we want a nuclear war?

Weighting pros and cons, nuclear war scenario is something we know about. We know nuclear missiles, their power, and possible consquences of overuse. However that might irrevocably destroy everything humans have build, leaving nothing behind. Ecosystem might collapse rendering our world dead. Our history completely gone.
Wrath of nature on other hand might simply erase mankind, and maybe few other species depending how we collectively respond to that threat. This could leave world largely intact, giving oppotunity for new species rise and discover our history. Even if we are gone, our memory remains.
And Dyson Engine... if I understood correctly, there won't be any pros. I'm not entirely sure how humans could even survive that beyond escaping to the space."

[wipeout1024]

"I'm actually really not sure. I'm trying to look for ways we can save people, but we'l still need to see how."

[Harry Baldman]

"Oh, you catch my drift very well, Mr. Andersson. Backup plans, you know."

"Anyway, I've proposed two things already - wrath of nature as you put it and the Quiet Earth - either would be better than massive explosions. I mean, what the hell are you guys even thinking?"

Mr. Carmichael taps his fingers on his knees, smiling faintly.

"I keep getting these ideas. I mean, imagine if we made it so that every human being in the world performed binary fission once a day, producing one healthy adult version of themselves in addition to their previous body, complete with all of its knowledge. And this would happen every day. Maybe people would lose mass this way, maybe not - we've got magic on our hands, so we can say it goes either way."

"Imagine a world where the population doubles on a daily basis. What'd happen in a week, let alone a year? Who'd survive? What'd happen? And what would we do about it? It'd be pretty amazing to see," he says. "We can do anything to the world. And you boring bastards just want to nuke it or blow it all up. It speaks of something lacking in the newer generations," he shakes his head disapprovingly.

[Dorsidwarf]

"In a word, mister Carmichael  - Cannibalism, on a gigantic scale. And that's even less survivable than sending mother Earth to go play with mercury.

I'm willing to punt for your 'Wrath of the animals" idea, though. It tickles my fancy, the idea that in another million years, sentient birds will be poking through downtown Chicago, trying to work out what the hell happened."

"Plus," Faheema makes the faintest attempt at what might be a smile, "You could say it is so very much the opposite of what I do. From driving humanity forwards with the spearhead of robotics, to smashing it with the brute hammer of nature."

[Harry Baldman]

"Yes! Cannibalism would be the rational answer. But people are not strictly rational actors - I should know. And by the time cannibalism occurs to someone, it may very well be too late to do anything about it. Eventually perhaps only pyramids of bones will remain of humanity. Probably ought to be a very nice tourist attraction."

"But anyway, sapient and hostile animals would probably be my vote, since there don't seem to be any appreciators of Brit sci-fi around here."

[AoshimaMichio]

"Then we have two proposals with equal amount of supporters. Is anyone willing to change their opinion?"

[Megggas]

Forrester grins as he listens to the discussion.

"My vote remains on the animals going berserk.  I've enjoyed my time spent destroying ecosystems and polluting the environment, but I've always considered it a shame that the animals never got a chance to fight back.  Let's change that.  I've always fancied a good duel."

[spazyak]

I vote Animals too

[wipeout1024]

"Well, it may be a better idea. I too, switch my vote to those crazy animals."

[Dorsidwarf]

"And I believe that's a plurality. Final choice?"

[AoshimaMichio]

Andersson nods. "Berserking intelligent animals it is."

He lifts his arm up, his palm towards the glowing hypnotic sphere you managed to ignore until now, and the sphere descends gently on his palm. For a brief moment light turns dark, and shadows glow bright, blue turns red, green turns violet, but only the spehere remains as its glowing ever shifting hypnotic mess. Then it is over and light behaves normally again.

Andersson moves his hand the sphere floats to center of the table and rests there, waiting.

[4] "The bullet that will kill mankind has been selected and sealed. Now, they are willing to give us a push to dodge that bullet partially. What do you wish from them? What do you want that you believe will help you to prevent complete and total genocide? Touch this glowing cellphone of theirs and make your wish. If I understood their will correctly, you each can wish two separate things. Of course, you don't have to wish anything if you believe in your own abilities."

[Harry Baldman]

"Ah, leveling the playing field. Let's see... hm. I would like a full mathematical reduction of sentience, presented in a form a human AI scientist can understand," says Mr. Carmichael without touching the cell phone just yet. "And force field technology, also understandable for human scientists."

He then turns to the others.

"Right, that's what comes to mind for me. What about you lot?"