One Book To Represent Humanity

Discussion in 'Art & Culture' started by Pollux V, Jul 26, 2002.

  1. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,495
    The Bible is undoubtedly a prime candidate for some, but if we were to leave one book behind for the next intelligent creatures of earth (if we left in a mass exodus or something...just bear with me here okay?) I would have to choose Arthur C. Clarke's The Sentinel, a collection of his short stories highlighting exploration and human conflicts. It easily presents desire, need, imagination, and knowledge to give the imagination a grounding in reality. I know that must be unorthodox, so please, share your thoughts.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. %BlueSoulRobot% Copyright! Copyright!! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,294
    The Bible.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    But really, I think a GIANT encyclopaedia of all of human history would do the trick. I think if they knew what we had been up to, they'd figure out that, hmmm... maybe we shouldn't follow in their footsteps. I think it'd be a great reminder for the next generation just how NOT to do things.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

    Messages:
    39,397
    Complete works of Shakespeare, perhaps?
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. static76 The Man, The Myth, The Legend Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    936
    TV Guide, what better representation of how far society has fallen, and how lazy and sheep-like we are.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  8. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,415
    Not Shakespeare, that's crap.

    Possibly The Man Of La Mancha. Either that or the Winnie The Pooh cookbook.
     
  9. Joeman Eviiiiiiiil Clown Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,448
    It sounds like Penthouse to me.
     
  10. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

    Messages:
    39,397
    <i>Not Shakespeare, that's crap.</i>

    Thankyou for your critical appraisal, Adam. I'm sure we can all learn from you.
     
  11. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,415
    Shakespeare wrote crap. It was cheap soap opera designed specifically to bring in money from the masses. The way his plays were presented in his time, they used to pack in tiers and tiers of commoners like battery hens, each paying as they entered. Shakespeare was a devout capitalist and wrote for the money. All his plays are pretty much the same, and they aren't that great. Other civilisations would really not learn much about humanity from those plays.

    His sonnets and such were his true art, while he wrote crap plays to bring in money from the very same audiences who now watch daytime soap operas constantly.
     
  12. Modz Registered Member

    Messages:
    12
    How about "No news from the Eastern Front"
    or if we really wanted to screw with them "Dune"
     
  13. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

    Messages:
    39,397
    Adam,

    Thousands would disagree with you.

    How many Shakespeare plays have you seen professionally performed? And don't count TV or movies, please.
     
  14. Fen Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    292
    3 books

    Intro to Math, physics, and philosophy. Nothing else matters. Oh, and everything I have ever written.
     
  15. Sublime Trigger Brains for Beginners. Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    78
    Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy would get my vote. Certainly nowhere near my favourite book, but sums up our general mental state perfectly.
     
  16. m0rl0ck Consume! Conform! Obey! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    415
    Ken Wilbers "Sex, Ecology and Spirituality"

    or maybe Mein Kampf to let them know why theres no one here to meet them.
     
  17. wet1 Wanderer Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,616
    Or 1984 to show how it ended up!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    (forgive me, I am a lttle bit sarcastic at the moment)
     
  18. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,415
    Thousands would indeed disagree. But thousands are idiots who say "Wow, that's cool!" simply because they have been told it's cool.

    I've seen maybe 2 or 3, read some others.
     
  19. NenarTronian Teenaged Transhumanist Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,083
    I've always liked Shakespeare, but hey, everyone's entitled to their own..waddacallit, opinion, yeah.
     
  20. Lesion42 Deranged Hermit Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    800
    Big Brother is watching... BB is doubleplusungood. refrence to unperson.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    If you'll excuse me, I'll take a walk down to the Ministry of Love...

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    :bugeye:

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  21. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,495
    I've never been a huge fan of Shakespeare, for the playish genre I would recommend "The Oedipus Cycle" by Sophocles. That also clearly defines human want, lust, and greed. I forgot to mention that anthologies, for the most part, aren't able to be left behind. So instead of leaving all of The World Book Encyclopedia's we'd have to leave only one.
     
  22. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,069
    Or 1984 to show how it ended up


    haha.... i was thinking the same thing... or maybe we should.. TAKE all of the copies of that book...
     
  23. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,495
    1984. Haha, you know, nightmaster flex, and other people to recomend this book, I never saw the appeal of it. I tried reading it back when I was tenish methinks (don't forget, I was reading other cool books at the time, by no means was I just a ten year old) and I just didn't like it. Couldn't get past the first few pages. I've been thinking that I should try again, but at the moment I'm devouring Xenocide, and have another Dune novel to get through.
     

Share This Page