You can be given immortality but...

[SirCowdog]

But the earth is only about 6000 years old so going back 1 million years is impossible!

Sorry, had to.

Honestly no. 1 million years is too far back. It's 700000 years before the emergence of the first homo sapiens. No culture, no one to talk to, with me in all likelyhood ending up some predator's chewing toy within days which would be unpleasant regardless of the type of immortality, even if it included invulnerability.

Assuming you didn't go insane, your sense of time would adjust. Remember, there's no clocks or calendars either.

Let's flip the scenario around. Say you had been given immortality today. Right now. You're still going to end up living for a million years. What if there's a nuclear war tomorrow? Arguably a worse situation that being 1-million years in the past.

You want immortality? You need to accept that things are going to be utterly and completely fucked at some point. And there are going to be long stretches of time where you're completely and utterly alone. That's just the nature of it.

[kail]

Hard pass. That would be 1 million years of boring and painful hell.

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Assuming you didn't go insane, your sense of time would adjust. Remember, there's no clocks or calendars either.

Let's flip the scenario around. Say you had been given immortality today. Right now. You're still going to end up living for a million years. What if there's a nuclear war tomorrow? Arguably a worse situation that being 1-million years in the past.

You want immortality? You need to accept that things are going to be utterly and completely fucked at some point. And there are going to be long stretches of time where you're completely and utterly alone. That's just the nature of it.

In a nutshell, immortality is awesome if there is an option to opt out. Otherwise it could be the worse curse imaginable.

[SirCowdog]

In a nutshell, immortality is awesome if there is an option to opt out.

Figure out a way to throw yourself into a black hole I guess. Time stops completely past the event horizon, supposedly.

[Prokne]

4. 25 other people. 5 men. 20 women. Rebuild society. Trained as follows (all are Professor ranked individuals in their field, able to teach broadly within their area of expertise
4a. Medical Doctor, surgeon (2 - cardiovascular, brain); Medical Doctor, Pediatric; Medical Doctor, General.
4b. Geologist.
4c. Paleontologist.
4d. Engineers - Electrical (2), Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, Aerospace.
4e. Computer Science (2).
4f. Anthropology/Sociology.
4g. Agriculture/Horticulture.
4h. Animal Husbandry.
4i. Education.
4j. Public Policy.
4k. Biology.
4l. Veterinarian.
4m. Endodontist.
4n. Pharmacist.
4o. Crafting (seamstress, leather worker, blacksmith - all around person).
4p. (open to suggestions)
4q. (open to suggestions)

If you are only going to bring 2 surgeons, you should bring a general surgeon and an orthodontic surgeon. Since you are living in a world without processed food and extreme amounts of sugar, you won't need a cardiovascular surgeon. I also don't see why you would specifically need a neurosurgeon. Most of the surgery requiring injuries are going to be trauma from blunt force injuries (falling, rocks, trees) or animal attacks, so you want someone with skills on the most likely procedures. You also want an obstetrician if you intend on there being children and probably an ophthalmologist since eye issues are very common.

I also wouldn't bring more than one of each profession. No computer scientists - you really don't have any computers or any way to build them and by the time you do, there will be people who can redevelop it. Aerospace is pretty optimistic. You probably want a pharmacologist instead of a pharmacist.

Good idea to bring back seeds (since none of the plants 1 million years ago are anything like what we eat now), but you should also bring back some domesticated animals - cows, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, chickens, since you won't find them all in the same areas and the wild ones will not be the same. The ecosystem of wherever you settle will be all messed up, but bringing so much stuff and people back will probably do the same thing.

Hopefully everyone you bring with you knows what they are getting into and it doesn't devolve into conflict once they find out they're stuck there and it's not so easy. It could be more likely than being overthrown by ancient people b/c at least the ancient people can be conditioned to believe you are a god or something instead of the guy who is the only immortal that trapped a bunch of smart people in the past because of ego.

[Kokolums]

Figure out a way to throw yourself into a black hole I guess. Time stops completely past the event horizon, supposedly.

The big problem is the time difference. A black hole couldn't slow down time for you because you are immortal. It couldn't crush you either. So as you approach, you'd just notice things move more and more slowly until finally, everything would stop. It would look something like how Quicksilver views everything in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Eventually I suppose you would just land on the surface on the black hole and could walk on it.

[Zephire]

Hm, that's a massive leap in time. I mean:

the first appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa 300,000 years ago

First 700k years alone. Could probably be interesting and you'd get used to it after some 10k years and adapt to your new way of being. Would somehow gather as much technical information as I could before going. Then try to imortalize it for my self so that I could start developing the planet. Kickstart it, if you will.

[gobio]

F that ... start a scientific civilization free of religion. We'd have warp drive and shit by now ;p

My lord, I am sorry to inform you that our lead scientists have no interest in "warp drive". But they discovered the 67th gender. Now step aside, our lead academic scholars have uniformly concluded that you are too white and too toxic to lead us. We end the patriarchy right now, you will spend eternity in jail as reparation. Guard!

[Snuffleupagus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth

Interesting concept. Movie is not quite the same, but still.

[Alex86el]

if that also means i cant get sick or wounded, then yes.

[ranzino]

Hm, that's a massive leap in time. I mean:

First 700k years alone. Could probably be interesting and you'd get used to it after some 10k years and adapt to your new way of being. Would somehow gather as much technical information as I could before going. Then try to imortalize it for my self so that I could start developing the planet. Kickstart it, if you will.

not really alone, homo heidelbergensis and h. neanderthalensis are with you too and smilodon and mammoth etc.

[Drusin]

And there are going to be long stretches of time where you're completely and utterly alone. That's just the nature of it.

Today I learned I'm already an immortal

Otherwise it could be the worse curse imaginable.

It'd be fun for a while, and if you did go crazy it'd be even more fun


---

It makes me happy to see people aren't falling for "immortality" lol. Maybe the nerd collective has always been this way and it's just getting us together that it's obvious people know there are gotcha's to being an immortal...or it could just be a generation with decades of movie knowledge.

[cubby]

Holy hell this is awesome - thanks!

If you are only going to bring 2 surgeons, you should bring a general surgeon and an orthodontic surgeon. Since you are living in a world without processed food and extreme amounts of sugar, you won't need a cardiovascular surgeon. I also don't see why you would specifically need a neurosurgeon. Most of the surgery requiring injuries are going to be trauma from blunt force injuries (falling, rocks, trees) or animal attacks, so you want someone with skills on the most likely procedures. You also want an obstetrician if you intend on there being children and probably an ophthalmologist since eye issues are very common.

My thought on bringing a neurosurgeon was that their prior training would cover a lot of areas that would be necessary, but would also include any brain surgery that would be needed. I'm sure you know this, but for others, in training to become a neurosurgeon, you go through several other stages of training, including general. And I agree that the majority of injuries are going to be from falls, head trauma would happen as well, and while a general surgeon could cover those injuries, they couldn't cover the brain, whereas a neurosurgeon could cover both.

An orthodontic surgeon is a terrific suggestion, as they would also be a qualified dentist (right?). Adding that to the list.

And no fucking shit (how the hell did I not see that) definitely bring an OBGYN - considering the entire plan rests of having babies. Doh! Added to the list.

Doubling up on specialties was my idea on "saving space" and keeping the number of people I bring to the 25. But that was just a number I picked out of thin air. Could the OBGYN also be the General Practitioner?

I also wouldn't bring more than one of each profession. No computer scientists - you really don't have any computers or any way to build them and by the time you do, there will be people who can redevelop it. Aerospace is pretty optimistic. You probably want a pharmacologist instead of a pharmacist.

My goal with the people/materials is to boot strap tech within one or two generations, so that we can produce the items that we start to lose through normal wear/decay. Bringing a computer scientist along is part of that goal - someone who can not only take care of all our programming/database needs, but who can also steer us through recreating a digital society. But maybe computer scientist isn't the right profession. Computer engineer? What do you think?

Pharmacologist - check. Swapping out for pharmacist.

Good idea to bring back seeds (since none of the plants 1 million years ago are anything like what we eat now), but you should also bring back some domesticated animals - cows, goats, pigs, sheep, horses, chickens, since you won't find them all in the same areas and the wild ones will not be the same. The ecosystem of wherever you settle will be all messed up, but bringing so much stuff and people back will probably do the same thing.

Thank you re seeds. Animal section is an interesting idea. I thought that when we go back we could find our own versions of those animals, and they would already be "acclimated" and therefore we wouldn't have to worry about them dying off. I also included a number of years worth of rations so that if finding/creating a source of food takes a long time, we'd still be covered. Thoughts?

Hopefully everyone you bring with you knows what they are getting into and it doesn't devolve into conflict once they find out they're stuck there and it's not so easy. It could be more likely than being overthrown by ancient people b/c at least the ancient people can be conditioned to believe you are a god or something instead of the guy who is the only immortal that trapped a bunch of smart people in the past because of ego.

VERY good point. I would make sure the volunteers know everything (including my immortality) and that it is a one-way trip. Probably not attractive to most people, but I'm only looking for 25-50 out of a population over 5,000,000,000.

Going back on my own and just taking over a current tribe (or whatever) is the backup plan. It could work, but a lot of categories would be out of my control, for a very long time. The Reboot Strategy obviously has many problems, and isn't guaranteed to work, but given the List as it's developing, I think it has a good chance. Again the goal is to bring back enough people/knowledge/materials to build up a working and self-sufficient society before the things I brought back degenerate.

I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this list/idea.

Ongoing List for Reference

[dubious_doomhammer]

My lord, I am sorry to inform you that our lead scientists have no interest in "warp drive". But they discovered the 67th gender. Now step aside, our lead academic scholars have uniformly concluded that you are too white and too toxic to lead us. We end the patriarchy right now, you will spend eternity in jail as reparation. Guard!

Eh, if society started over with science as a foundation, I would wager that everyone would be treated equally ... regardless of race or gender ... and who knows if gender identities would be a thing, but again, I doubt anyone would care (I don't) as long as they're being productive and contributing .. their personal life is none of my business and it doesn't concern me.

[Shadowferal]

Eh, if society started over with science as a foundation, I would wager that everyone would be treated equally ... regardless of race or gender ... and who knows if gender identities would be a thing, but again, I doubt anyone would care (I don't) as long as they're being productive and contributing .. their personal life is none of my business and it doesn't concern me.

Wow, I would take that wager in a heartbeat.

[Kokolums]

Eh, if society started over with science as a foundation, I would wager that everyone would be treated equally ... regardless of race or gender ... and who knows if gender identities would be a thing, but again, I doubt anyone would care (I don't) as long as they're being productive and contributing .. their personal life is none of my business and it doesn't concern me.

The key flaw in the human condition is not stupidity but corruption. You have selected humans for scientific prowess and not for lack of corruption. Therefore, you will have a smart and totally corrupt society. They will likely stab each other in the back to get ahead and it is very likely to fall into ruin.

[cubby]

Eh, if society started over with science as a foundation, I would wager that everyone would be treated equally ... regardless of race or gender ... and who knows if gender identities would be a thing, but again, I doubt anyone would care (I don't) as long as they're being productive and contributing .. their personal life is none of my business and it doesn't concern me.

Creating a society that starts out as open to any gender and lacks racism for the most part would go a long ways in preventing those items from ever being an issue. I would imagine that somewhere down the line humans would find other topics to fundamentally disagree on, but hopefully the foundation the society is built upon will prevent those disagreements from toppling the culture.

Open and scientific-method based discovery would be an ideal way to start and continue a society.

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The key flaw in the human condition is not stupidity but corruption. You have selected humans for scientific prowess and not for lack of corruption. Therefore, you will have a smart and totally corrupt society. They will likely stab each other in the back to get ahead and it is very likely to fall into ruin.

Corruption is certainly a major flaw in the human condition, I'm not sure it's the "key" flaw, but I agree it's an issue. For the first few hundred/thousand years, corruption would be difficult to attain as there wouldn't be much of a government/society to hind behind while seeking said corruption.

If we took my list as the hypothesis, and brought back 25 people to build a digital society and repopulate the earth, it would take several generations to even get to say 10,000 people. And that's not even close to have corruption be even a minor issue.


List of professions/items to take back with me for Reference - continually updated

[hynx]

"Immortality isn’t living forever. That’s not what it feels like. Immortality is everybody else dying" - Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who

[derpkitteh]

i've come to realize lately that even at 27, i've lived long enough to watch basically everything i grew up with die(many cartoons, shops i used to get toys from as a kid, toys i used to buy) or mutate into an unrecognizable surrealist mess(spongebob, fairly odd parents, some other things) that frankly just makes me somewhat uncomfortable to watch.

at this age, i already feel nostalgia so powerfully that it blurs my vision when it hits me, and makes me just feel like dying.

living immortally would cause this to happen even worse i think.

but, depending on the type of immortality(if i am truly immortal, can't be killed by an outside force), i think i'd do it. because i could influence humanity permanently. i could make things so much better.

just imagine for a moment that i took back technical books on how to make things like stronger metals, combustion engines, guns. bring them back in a container that could keep them unharmed for long enough to live until the beginnings of the roman republic. bestow this knowledge upon them, i have no doubt we'd be colonizing other planets right now.

i'd also get them to move rome to the americas. there'd be no one in the americas that could pose a true threat to it, like there was in europe. it could grow a spread for hundreds of years before anyone from the old world discovers the new. they could effortlessly conquer from the top of canada to the bottom of south america, even without guns or advanced modern metallurgy.

all of the americas would be rome, and with the advanced knowledge i could bring to them, most of the rest of the world could also be rome. we would be colonizing and exploring whole other solar systems by now.

[Kokolums]

The key flaw in the human condition is not stupidity but corruption. You have selected humans for scientific prowess and not for lack of corruption. Therefore, you will have a smart and totally corrupt society. They will likely stab each other in the back to get ahead and it is very likely to fall into ruin.

Corruption is certainly a major flaw in the human condition, I'm not sure it's the "key" flaw, but I agree it's an issue. For the first few hundred/thousand years, corruption would be difficult to attain as there wouldn't be much of a government/society to hind behind while seeking said corruption.

If we took my list as the hypothesis, and brought back 25 people to build a digital society and repopulate the earth, it would take several generations to even get to say 10,000 people. And that's not even close to have corruption be even a minor issue.


List of professions/items to take back with me for Reference - continually updated

The secret to raising children right (or even a kitten) is to give them too much to do. As the old saying goes "idle hands are the devil's workshop". It prevents them from developing bad habits, which goes a long way to preventing corruption. The most successful and thriving subgroup in US society is the Amish, and their system destroys corruption by having everyone work very hard every day. That keeps them disciplined and sharp and able to function together at a high level.

[dubious_doomhammer]

The key flaw in the human condition is not stupidity but corruption. You have selected humans for scientific prowess and not for lack of corruption. Therefore, you will have a smart and totally corrupt society. They will likely stab each other in the back to get ahead and it is very likely to fall into ruin.

Stab each other in the back to get ahead of what exactly? Why do you think corruption is inherent?

The secret to raising children right (or even a kitten) is to give them too much to do. As the old saying goes "idle hands are the devil's workshop". It prevents them from developing bad habits, which goes a long way to preventing corruption. The most successful and thriving subgroup in US society is the Amish, and their system destroys corruption by having everyone work very hard every day. That keeps them disciplined and sharp and able to function together at a high level.

So a hard working religious society can be successful, but a hard working scientific society is doomed to fall into corruption? I mean, are you suggesting that a scientific society is incapable of setting standards and ethics?

Also, I wonder how living in fear of being shunned affects their ability to "function at a higher level".