What if civilisation ended tomorrow?
(Well, she said something much more complicated and with lots of unnecessary words so I simplified it.)
(This is how I would imagine this world to be. Feel free to do your own posts/comments about it and send me a link to it. I want to know what you all think of this.)
Part one (For those with no imagination)
Right, all governments have fallen, religion is dead and there are no rules. Imagine a world after an atomic war or a meteor impact and you're about the right image.
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| Like this, but with no snazzy jumpsuit. Or gun. |
The question is, now what?
Part 2: Here's what.
As the world has no rules you can do whatever you want. For most, this amount of choice will drive most people insane. We have been brought up for centuries on law and order. On the fact that we cannot do certain things because we will be punished. There is no punishment now. Remember that bully from high school? You could beat his brains in with a stick in this world and no one would bat an eyelash.
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| Weapon of choice. |
Other people may try and hold on to their ideas of civilisation. Some people will try to form new countries, new nations but most will fail. Some will succeed but they won't be anything like democratic. People will flock around charismatic/powerful or strong leaders who can offer protection to their people. More than likely, there will be many people who have ambitions of forming "The Kingdom of Geoff" (or similar) and will jump at the opportunity to have people following them and their ideals. Religion may reboot at this point, with the head of a tribe being divine and/or "chosen by the gods" to reinforce the idea that they are in charge.
The problem with this is the fact that people are mortal. The leaders of these tribes and gangs will die, leaving a power vacuum. The tribe will either drift apart or will kill each other to become the new king.
Currency will become meaningless so a return to a barter system is inevitable. Some things will retain their value (Gold, jewellery, etc.) Some things will become much more valuable (Technology, weapons, food.) And some things will become fairly worthless. (Xbox, PS3, iPods) Another thought is of the role of a woman in this society. Would the woman become just a thing for making more children? Or would the women be dominant? That's not a question I'm willing to answer. Too much arguing between you all.
Slavery will likely start again. Those unfortunate enough to have no tribe (or have a tribe that is conquered by another) will become a lower class forced by lash, whip or gun to do the bidding of their masters.
Here's the main reason I think civilisation collapsing would mean the end of humanity.
Guns > Democracy.
Let's say civilisation collapses and I meet you and some others in the crumbling ruin of a city. I have a gun and I tell you that you are now my property. Of course, some will fight back, but, as I have a gun, they will be killed. There is always a choice and in this case, the choice is clear. Be a slave. Or die.In the end, I think there are three options as to what could happen:
1) The human race adapts as we have done since we learned to walk on two feet. We create a new world which has learned from the mistakes of the past. (Not likely)
2) The human race makes the same mistakes we have before, as we always do. The world created is a mockery of the world we live in now and most likely will not be a nice place to live.
3) The flickering flame of the human race is extinguished entirely. Disease and hunger kill many but ultimately we destroy ourselves in an orgy of violence, destruction and war.
I look forward to hearing your ideas on the subject and on welcoming you to the "Kingdom of Andrew."
Peace out bubs.
Andrew out.
Option 1. Fahrenheit 451
ReplyDeleteOption 2. 1984
Option 3. (Insert video game here)
What exactly is your question? Do we agree with you? lol Well the chances are humans will survive one way or another, like we have for millions of years, so extinction isn't an option.
ReplyDeleteYou say that there would be no rules or laws so people would just attack each other and own people etc, but that's not really gonna be the case in most cases. Lets say there was someone you highly disliked, would YOU actually be able to smash their head in? Unless you're a psychopath, no. Because even without rules and laws you still have a moral code. (This applies to the bully example, although your instincts would try to have a say in things too, despite being suppressed for centuries, which is why some people will kill for food/shelter etc, where as some just won't be able to, because it's against their moral code)
I don't think religion would fall, maybe the institution, but not the faith. In fact people would probably cling onto it even more.
But people would definitely form tribes, because we are social animals and we need others to survive. There will surely be some fights over food/territory etc between the tribes but the strongest will survive and be joined by more people from smaller tribes. There'll be a few of those all over the place, and there'll be like countries. the most dominant figures in each will set some rules and eventually it'll expand and bam, you have civilization again.
Olga out!
@ The Game. Thanks for contributing.
ReplyDeleteI've never read either of those books but I will now. Also, video games look for "end of the world orgy" because it sells. It's fun.
@Olga. Thanks for commenting.
There isn't a question, I want people to say what they think would happen.
Right now, with our lives secure and safe, no, I could not bash someone's head in. But after watching civilisation fall. Everything you've worked towards is worthless. Everything you had faith in has proven false and every comfort you used to enjoy is gone. I think that would make some people crazy enough to do it. Morals would be "adjusted" to suit the needs of the new world.
The religion bit could go either way. People could see it as a punishment from God or could see it as proof there isn't. So it could go either way. Thanks for pointing that out though!
I think the tribes would form, I just don't see co-operation or trust lasting long enough to make any real civilisation.
Yeah it's difficult to really tell. I think it also depends how the destruction happened. And there will be people who will kill easily but there still will be people who wouldn't be able to, you always have some people go either way. I think most people would try to rebuild things and will realize, if not immediately, then soon after that you need to cooperate with others in order to achieve anything.
ReplyDelete