This just in from Vince Dinglelint, reporter at large, reporting somewhere, from an undisclosed time and location in the future.
Part 2 of 3 concerning: What happened to Homo Sapiens? There seem to be two distinct aspects to the question: What will we do with ourselves after all of our basic physical needs have been for all tense and purposes automated, leaving us free to pursue whatever it is that we wish to pursue. >From what I experienced I'd have to say there turned out to be both the short-term side effects, as well as long-term consequences. What I mean by the "short-term" side effects I mean to imply what we Homo sapiens ended up doing with ourselves over the next several tens and thousands of years. The long term consequences would be in regard to what I encountered 1.2 million years in the future. I will first tackle the short-term side effects in this installment. >From what I can tell we never ridded ourselves of an incessant itch to fix and improve things. We continued to perceive flaws within ourselves, as well as within our environment. Of course, what needs "improving" was continuously subject to the fickle predilections of prevailing opinion as interpreted by any given time-period. We also never stopped disagreeing with one another. This might seem to imply that our progeny lived in constant disharmony, and what a sorry state of affairs it must have been for everyone. Depending on your point of view however, this sorry state of affairs might not have been such a bad thing. One of the most obvious accomplishments Homo sapiens eventually achieved was safe affordable interstellar space travel for the masses. A more obnoxious accomplishment was rapidly maturing terra forming technology. New choices considered inconceivable in the past when we were confined within the Mother Earth's tenacious gravity well were now suddenly possible. The flood gates were opened. Like plagues of ravenous locust, we spread our progeny across the galaxy. There was a significant change in how we went about resolving major conflicts, particularly those of the irresolvable kind. I'm referring to conflicts pertaining to territorial disputes, religious conflicts, and other philosophical predilections. Instead of forging compromises that invariably both sides found unsatisfying, disagreeing parties simply chose to leave the vicinity of each other's presence. Opposing parties simply packed up their bags and headed off in opposite directions, to brand new virgin terraformed worlds where each party could be what they pleased to be, unfettered by watchful disapproving eyes. After all, why compromise one's behavior when there was an entire universe in which to stake a claim to! As we spread our seed across the galaxy some of the more adventurous of our kind, especially the obnoxious ones, inevitably chafed against others who were equally adventurous and obnoxious. While most of our progeny wisely chose to avoid direct confrontations, manufacturing convenient face-saving excuses to leave each other's presence, occasionally both parties felt they were entitled to the same patch of real estate. On occasion, two diametrically opposing parties felt a special calling from their own deity who commanded them to have dominion over the same planet. The rest of the galaxy quickly learned it was best to simply look the other way. Typically, in a short spell, we didn't hear much from either party anymore. A small loss, particularly in view of the teaming civilizations flourishing elsewhere. Millennium after millennium marched on. What did all of this continuous disagreeing and subsequent splitting-off and going our separate ways produce? The Homo sapiens race fragmented - utterly. While many planetary civilizations attempted to stay "pure" romanticizing the so-called sacredness of the ancestral genetic heritage, such perspectives were in the minority. Such perspectives, in extreme cases, caused certain civilizations to go rogue, or native. They chose to return to the simple basics of life, shunning technology and returning to stone cutlery and the latest fashions in bear skin hides. Inevitably, they forgot their origins, their heritage as they successfully isolated themselves from their siblings. The rest of us watched unobtrusively from above as such worlds and their inhabitants recycled, staring the whole damned cycle of civilization again from scratch. Some found it amusing to watch such siblings reemerge from their cocoons since most who came out tended to assume they were unique and "special". Many felt they were utterly alone in the universe. They were summarily shocked, occasionally horrified to rediscover long forgotten in-laws. It occasionally annoyed a few so much that they did an about face. Again, we watched unobtrusively from above, the recycling process. Other groups could have cared less about maintaining the sacredness of our genetic ancestral heritage. Such races tended to feel that the so-called evils of technology, as well as maintaining genetic "purity" were silly things to fear, let alone worship. This group boldly forged ahead where no creature had gone before, while others blundered forth. Most in this group had few scruples about abandoning the blue prints Mother Nature had forged over millions of years of trial and error. They explored and experimented with new designs, holding on to a steadfast belief that incessant tinkering would ultimately create new and improved ways of hanging out in the Universe. Indeed, some transformed in ways no intelligence had explored nor experienced before. A few even produced interesting surprises along the way. Perhaps you can now appreciate why I find it difficult to state with certainty that Homo sapiens survived. Strictly speaking, we didn't. We fragmented into a thousand million pieces. With so much fragmentation going on as we spread throughout the galaxy it was inevitable that an understanding of our ancestral origins would get lost in the shuffle. How easy it was to lose the original recipe within countless stews of genetic manipulation simmering away in millions of differently seasoned caldrons. There were countless cooks. But what of Earth? What eventually became of our home, the Mother World? I will now tackle the subsequent long term consequences in my final concluding remarks, in Part 3, to be posted soon. Having blundered my way 1.2 million years into the future, (and fortunately back), I believe I've acquired a first-hand account of the frightening consequences. Signed, Vince Dinglelint --- Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com/orionworks
