One Book To Represent Humanity

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

  1. Sublime Trigger Brains for Beginners. Registered Senior Member

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    78
    I hated Xenocide. I know its a common opinion, but the guy has taken a turn for the worse.
     
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  3. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    I have to see how the series turns out, though, 'cause I love it.

    Speaker for the Dead was like a reawakening for me. Changed my life. I don't know if it's a worthy candidate for being left behind.
     
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  5. Mr. G reality.sys Valued Senior Member

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    It's a toss-up between:

    Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra

    and

    Sun Tzu's Art of War
     
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  7. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    I have to read Art of War.
     
  8. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

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    actually.. i havn't read 1984. ive read animal farm.. we had to in 10th grade i think. but from what i understand its just the "people" verson, eh? same story/topic...

    "two legs baaaaaaaad, four legs goooooooddd".. -the sheep
     
  9. Lesion42 Deranged Hermit Registered Senior Member

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    800
    Nope. Very different. Same communist-russia style setting/mood though. I read both, and I liked both of them very very much. I recommend that you do read it. Doubleplusgood I believe is the term in Newspeak .
     
  10. NenarTronian Teenaged Transhumanist Registered Senior Member

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    1,083
    I reccomend 1984, its a good read. A bit disconcerting though. Everyone should read it, its not great but it uh.. makes ya think? And that's what good sci-fi is supposed to do i believe, make ya stop and say, ya know, "wow, this stuff might happen" or "hey, this could have been us in the 80's - good thing it wasn't"

    Right now i'm reading Zamyatin's "We". seems great so far (only done two pages though)
     
  11. Sublime Trigger Brains for Beginners. Registered Senior Member

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    78
    Everyone seems to sway towards Dystopianism/Destructionalism as the best way to describe us as a species... It's amazing how fed up we with our society.

    In this light, I'd suggest Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World.'
     
  12. %BlueSoulRobot% Copyright! Copyright!! Registered Senior Member

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    Ahhh!! Noooooooo...a dagger through my heart!

    ........

    It's all good.

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  13. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

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    so they are different.. hmm... i michgt like the people version better... i always got so sad when the animals died or were treated poorly by the pigs.... poor boxer... stupid, but he had a good heart... -sniffs-...
     
  14. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    What we have to go for is what makes us human. Like I keep saying, our wants, or fears, our lust, our misery, our knowledge and most importantly: our imagination. Our society is not awful, and those who say that it is should prove to themselves somehow otherwise, because I'm sick of hearing it. Go out and see a great movie. Read a great book. Talk to your friends. Go somewhere, do something. Human.
     
  15. Sublime Trigger Brains for Beginners. Registered Senior Member

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    I agree with you completely Pollux, yet still the traits you just suggested to define humanity were

    Want
    Fear
    Lust
    Misery
    Knowledge
    Imagination

    4 of these are generally considered degenerative traits. People who yak on about Anarchy and the woes of society bore me, yet subconciously a lot of people feel as if we as a culture could do far better.

    Where in your list was love?

    (I know the list was probably just an example, yet still it echoes a lot of what people seem to believe.)
     
  16. Cris In search of Immortality Valued Senior Member

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    9,199
    A book to represent mankind.

    Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

    This shows that all biological life is just one organism and man is just a small part. Tendrils reach out from time to time and some become quite long while others stay short and others sometimes die out.

    The book would enable visitors to understand how mankind grew out of a randomness and became a dominant intelligence but retained many primitive animal-like behaviors.

    Cris
     
  17. Psycho_Potato Kermit the Communist Registered Senior Member

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    158
    I think that the Anarchist Cookbook would do just fine....
     
  18. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    Maybe I should update the list...it seems as if want and lust are the same thing. I need to make some sort of a graph here...since each characteristic, each emotion, that makes humans unique (supposedly) usually comes from another one. Let's give it a shot.

    Need->Love->either suffering or happiness
    ->Mistrust
    ->Hate->Fear

    Knowledge->Understanding

    Imagination->New Knowledge
    ->Creation
    ->Change in Basic Principles (re-evaluation of, say, Theory of Relativity)

    Sociality (new word I think)
    ->Hate->Fear
    ->Beneficial Bonds (friendship)->Conflict or Lucrative Cooperation

    There's a chance here that I have no idea what I'm talking about...so

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  19. NightFall Lazy Hedonist Valued Senior Member

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    -laughs- thats a whole lotta readin lol....
     
  20. xvenomousx Registered Senior Member

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    I have to go with anything by Arthur C. Clarke.
    He is probably the most important modern day prophet.
    His work deals with every aspect of what is most importantly human. So in many ways any of his books are a good representation of humanity.
     
  21. ripleofdeath Registered Senior Member

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    heyya all

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    well since were not going into the comprehensive scientific whole-ism thingey...
    i would not stop untill and go no futher than
    "Last of the Mohekins" (sorry for any spelling mistakes)
    and just to add insult to injury... (sorry auther)
    the movie script since i aint seen the real "mc'coy" ...yet

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    how big would the "real definative fact list of natural observation of the human species and enviroment" be...???

    happy to help with the social engineering section

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    groove on all

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  22. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    The problem with nominating any scientific text is that presumably most of it would be old news to any aliens.

    If you want a book to represent humanity, you should choose one which portrays something distinctly human. An art or history book would be much more informative than a science text.
     
  23. ripleofdeath Registered Senior Member

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    heyya all

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    valid point of ref ...james R...
    is this the first post from you acknoledging aliens "do exist"???

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    ill jump at almost any chance

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    joking aside for a min...
    it would completely depend on who your friends are , as to what level of science you were choosing from!

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    groove on all

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    i still stick by my "film of the book" of as above

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