What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

Discuss any and all issues that don't fit neatly into one of our other forum sections.
User avatar
Gee.S
Site Admin
Posts: 9568
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:42 pm
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ
USDA Zone: 9b
Contact:

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#26

Post by Gee.S »

Stan wrote:That drought the Anasazi endured was epic. What was fertile and reliable became sand. That right there would make a tribe cranky. It sort of ties in with "Why we don't find any evidence of high intelligence anyplace in the Universe". Society's it seems wipe themselves out long before they colonize other worlds. The Fermi Paradox. You would think that as we look out billions of light years we would have spotted a super race- they made a square shaped star that defies logic,say. But no.
Look- North Korea,Russia's continent killing torpedo..I mean,how can we colonize Mars,when it would take only a single deranged scientist on Mars to kill off everybody? Pull the air plug basically.
Its like this 80f weather in the bay area in February..enjoy it. While we all still can.
Alastair Reynolds, an astrophysicist/sci-fi author has a common theme through much of his future history fiction. And that is that organic intelligences are ultimately destroyed by their own creations. As soon as we develop computers that are programmed to learn and improve without constraint, we've all but signed our own death warrants.

That may not be what happened to the Anasazi and Aztecs though. #toomuchcorn
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
User avatar
mcvansoest
Moderator
Posts: 2985
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:22 pm
Location: Tempe, Arizona, USA ie. Low Desert & Urban Heat Island
USDA Zone: 9a/b
Contact:

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#27

Post by mcvansoest »

Gee.S wrote:
Stan wrote:That drought the Anasazi endured was epic. What was fertile and reliable became sand. That right there would make a tribe cranky. It sort of ties in with "Why we don't find any evidence of high intelligence anyplace in the Universe". Society's it seems wipe themselves out long before they colonize other worlds. The Fermi Paradox. You would think that as we look out billions of light years we would have spotted a super race- they made a square shaped star that defies logic,say. But no.
Look- North Korea,Russia's continent killing torpedo..I mean,how can we colonize Mars,when it would take only a single deranged scientist on Mars to kill off everybody? Pull the air plug basically.
Its like this 80f weather in the bay area in February..enjoy it. While we all still can.
Alastair Reynolds, an astrophysicist/sci-fi author has a common theme through much of his future history fiction. And that is that organic intelligences are ultimately destroyed by their own creations. As soon as we develop computers that are programmed to learn and improve without constraint, we've all but signed our own death warrants.

That may not be what happened to the Anasazi and Aztecs though. #toomuchcorn
Fun that you mention him! I like Alastair Reynolds' work a lot and yes that is definitely a huge theme in his work.
It is what it is!
User avatar
Gee.S
Site Admin
Posts: 9568
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:42 pm
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ
USDA Zone: 9b
Contact:

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#28

Post by Gee.S »

^ My favorite fiction author. I'm especially enamored by the Revelation Space series (of which there is a new one I just got and have not yet read -- Elysium Fire.

#spacegeek
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
User avatar
mcvansoest
Moderator
Posts: 2985
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:22 pm
Location: Tempe, Arizona, USA ie. Low Desert & Urban Heat Island
USDA Zone: 9a/b
Contact:

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#29

Post by mcvansoest »

Yes, I really like that series too. I am hoping the new one makes it to the phoenix digital library soon!

I just read 'Revenger', which is not in that series.

Another interesting space sci-fi writer is Vernor Vinge.
And another good one is Neal Asher, also space, but with much more heavy focus on AI.
It is what it is!
User avatar
Gee.S
Site Admin
Posts: 9568
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:42 pm
Location: Fountain Hills, AZ
USDA Zone: 9b
Contact:

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#30

Post by Gee.S »

Revenger was not one of my faves. Glad to see he's going back to his roots. My favorite Reynolds book, without a doubt, is House of Suns.

Don't know Vernor Vinge. I like Reynolds, because there is always a lot of good, hard science in his stories.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".

"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
User avatar
Shmuel
Offset
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:08 am
Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#31

Post by Shmuel »

So it wasn't alien abductions?
User avatar
Shmuel
Offset
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:08 am
Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#32

Post by Shmuel »

BTW I just saw this:

Laser Scans Reveal Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Jungle

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/201 ... a-pacunam/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very Cool!
Stan
Ready to Bolt
Posts: 5688
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 12:58 pm
Location: Hayward ca/SF bay area
USDA Zone: 10a

Re: What Wiped Out the Aztecs?

#33

Post by Stan »

I read a few weeks ago an anthropologist say why man overtook the apes and lesser Homo species. He said,that only when we developed a thumb that could be close to make a fist did we break away. The fist was man's first weapon.
Kind of interesting.
Hayward Ca. 75-80f summers,60f winters.
Post Reply