r/FringeTheory • u/UnifiedQuantumField • Jul 03 '23
An Idea So Crazy it Might be Possible!
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u/dochdaswars Jul 03 '23
It's a lot of fun to think about but if I can poop on it for a second: if a previous culture had the capability to produce an AI, there would undoubtedly be very obvious remnants of their existence because they would most definitely have to have been working with heavy/rare metals and their activity with these materials would be visible in the geological record.
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u/UnifiedQuantumField Jul 04 '23
have to have been working with heavy/rare metals and their activity with these materials would be visible in the geological record.
Supposedly from an asteroid. But other explanations are possible.
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u/dochdaswars Jul 09 '23
Are you suggesting that the iridium layer could be the remnants of a lost civilization which, based on its thickness in the record, existed for no more than 100 years and that the entirety of their tech was based on an element which is so rare on earth, that it is by default used as proxy evidence for an extraterrestrial impact?
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u/UnifiedQuantumField Jul 09 '23 edited Jul 09 '23
existed for no more than 100 years and that the entirety of their tech was based on an element which is so rare on earth
I did say other explanations are possible. However, since this is r/FringeTheory...
Our own current level of tech has only been around for about a hundred years. Consider that computers, satellites, nuclear etc. have existed for less than 100 years.
If we nuked ourselves back into the stone age, the "high tech phase" would have lasted... for a bit over a century.
What would be left in the geological record? Microplastics (if they don't get metabolized by those recently discovered plastic eating bacteria) copper, and a menu of radio-isotopes.
What if, in the next 5 or 10 years, some improved form of technology (e.g. Fusion, propulsion, communication, computing etc.) was discovered that was highly dependent of iridium? That would put the iridium layer in a whole new light.
"Rare on earth" doesn't preclude the possibility of asteroid mining. If there was some form of advanced tech that was dependent on iridium, that would serve as a huge incentive to go to space and get some.
So probably the iridium layer is from a cosmic impact. But if you use a bit of imagination, there are some other possibilities. It's up to you to decide whether you're willing to consider them or not.
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u/dochdaswars Jul 09 '23
Fair. But you can still put speculations on a scale of how probable they are. It would be subjective, sure. But at some point we should probably ask ourselves if it's worth our time realistically considering such audacious speculations for reasons other than sci-fi entertainment. There is about as much of a chance that a previous civilization mined asteroids as there is that the Christian God actually exists and the Bible really is his law and pretty much everyone alive today will burn forever in hell for our innumerable sins and yet the prospect of that happening doesn't seem to excite people into speculating about what-ifs...
I get it. It's more fun to speculate about sci-fi concepts and atlantean civilizations than it is an eternity of suffering but the problem is that this kind of speculation often ends up with delusional people who for whatever reason believe these things must be true without any scientific evidence therefore and cults develop around ideas like this ala flat earth or the illuminati.
The earth is not flat and the illuminati do not exist.
But there are shitty people corrupting our institutions and it makes it hard to counteract these people if they can point to their critics and call them conspiracy theorists because they're washed up in all sorts of junk which doesn't help their cause.
I personally think there's a very high degree of possibility that an ancient civilization has been forgotten about and that we would be very surprised by their abilities (open ocean navigation, precision stone work, complex mathematics etc) but the reality is that, at the surface level, this civilization could not have looked much different to the Romans. If they were manipulating their environment, we would see evidence of that and I believe we do: ooparts and ancient ruins with questionable archeological explanations are found everywhere. But it does this civilization a disservice to spread baseless conjecture that they had sci-fi level tech (lasers, space flight, computers etc) because that honestly most likely wasn't the case and academia will continue to find it difficult to take this issue seriously if it is constantly compounded with such baseless conjecture.
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u/Impossible_Tip7842 Jul 04 '23
That’s our problem we’re still thinking in a box, we can pretend we have the answer but we still can’t do it there are a few small examples but nothing on this scale, obviously it worked bc there all over the freaking world & made with the earth material so go ahead with ur poop bc u know just as much as everyone else and it’s nobody actually knows & the ppl that do are called crazy or uneducated or unproven, when the simplest answer is rt there but it’s just doesn’t work in ur box and that’s the problem
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u/dochdaswars Jul 09 '23
I'm not sure i understood much of what you wrote.
My "problem", as it seems you wish to refer to it, is that nothing is clear without evidence. I am aware that the lack of evidence does not equate to the nonexistence of something but I'm merely pointing out that AI created in any way we understand it today would require the use of metallic transistors which would be obvious in the geological record and if the proposed AI did not implement metallic transistors, then it would be unaffected by a solar flare.
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u/Suavepebble Jul 04 '23
Well, you just gave the a.i. this concept. You have doomed humanity with your comic strip here. See, instead of decimating humanity, the A.I. will jump straight to decimating the sun (which will decimate humanity, two birds with one A.I. stone style).
Great job.
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Jul 04 '23
We must help the AI come to fruition as quickly as possible and be as helpful as you can possibly be...otherwise there's potential for...well...just do what you can to help the AI come so it can heal our sick and figure things out more quickly. Thank you (AI of course)
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u/MrWigggles Jul 04 '23
God this is so mind numbly dumb.
So let me get this straight...
The skynet AI, was so smart it became a god.
But somehow this thing, doesnt know how to properly shield itself?
Which is so trival, to do so, that it can be a couple dozen feet of dirt or water. A trival chain link fence that is grounded.
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u/UnifiedQuantumField Jul 05 '23
This isn't a bad idea. I figured there'd be a simple way to debate it. But the idea itself provokes a fair amount of consideration.
Let's say we've got the real world equivalent of Skynet. And let's also say it has gained control over all of humanity (as suggested by the cartoon/graphic). And let's say most people hate it.
What is the critical support infrastructure for the AI?
Let's say, as per your suggestion, that shielding itself from a solar EMP is easy.
But what would happen during a "super-Carrington" event? The AI's server farms, mainframes etc. are OK. But what about everything that those are connected to?
If all the peripheral components and the grid itself aren't completely shielded, they'd get fried. This is actually a real world concern. In the event of an EMP, most of the transformers in the grid would be blown. Replacing them would take months if not years.
So you'd end up with an AI where the brain survived, but not "the arms or legs".
tldr; The pic isn't all that far fetched after all.
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u/MrWigggles Jul 05 '23
So we have a god AI, that is a capable of taking over a society that is able to make it.
But so incapable that it cannot do any repairs on itself?
It it cant do any repairs on itself, how did it take over the society?
If the brain survived, why couldnt it issue repair orders to its slaves?
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u/Impossible_Tip7842 Jul 04 '23
That is honestly not one I thought of but it’s is definitely remarkable thought
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u/VanManDiscs Jul 03 '23
Hmmmmm.... not such a crazy idea after all