I watched The Time Machine(the old one, you know... the one that is good). Long story short, the future(80,000 years) is in a mess and George(main character) makes it more of a mess. He returns to the past but then goes back(or forward) to help them and takes with him 3 books but he doesn't say which three books.
So I was wondering, if you had to rebuilt civilisation in the future which three books would you take with you? Over to you.
3 books?
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Lord Mhoram
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A survival book, a First Aid book and my own journal; any other books wouldn't help, so I'd just have to wing it.
btw, if you haven't read the original book by HG Wells, I highly recommend it. It's short and better than the movies; and rather different, too.
btw, if you haven't read the original book by HG Wells, I highly recommend it. It's short and better than the movies; and rather different, too.
Cowboy: Why you doin' this, Doc?
Doc Holliday: Because Wyatt Earp is my friend.
Cowboy: Friend? Hell, I got lots of friends.
Doc Holliday: ... I don't.
Doc Holliday: Because Wyatt Earp is my friend.
Cowboy: Friend? Hell, I got lots of friends.
Doc Holliday: ... I don't.
A first aid/medical book, some big reference manual that explains how to build generators, engines and the like, and a collection of all the US's founding documents.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Lord Mhoram
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By the way if you want to read about a scenario involving the rebuilding of human society, read A Canticle for Leibowitz, where Earth is in a new Dark Ages after a nuclear apocalypse, and it is Roman Catholic monasteries that have "ancient" documents like blueprints and shopping lists that rebuild human society. That book kind of shows that with a little help, humanity gets right back to where it was before, and beyond.
I've heard of that. Gotta pick it up.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
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Worm of Despite
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[Syl]
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A book on chemistry, the Necronomicon, and.. uh... oh wait, forward in time... hmmm...
Probably the most comprehensive text books I could find on electronics, machinery/metalworking, and medicine.
Probably the most comprehensive text books I could find on electronics, machinery/metalworking, and medicine.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner
-George Steiner
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Sunbaneglasses
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My liberal ass would take:Walden,The Hobbit,and Horton Hears a Who.Gotta try to start things off on the right foot.
Last edited by Sunbaneglasses on Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:04 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Menolly
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Yep, yep, yep. Excellent book. I think it's time to have Beorn reread it. A lot of it went over his head in 6th grade. And I culd use a reread as well.Lord Mhoram wrote:By the way if you want to read about a scenario involving the rebuilding of human society, read A Canticle for Leibowitz, where Earth is in a new Dark Ages after a nuclear apocalypse, and it is Roman Catholic monasteries that have "ancient" documents like blueprints and shopping lists that rebuild human society. That book kind of shows that with a little help, humanity gets right back to where it was before, and beyond.
No idea on which three books I would bring. I haven't seen the movie in years, but if I recall correctly, the humans in the future had basically no education or communication skills at all. So Horton Hears a Who is a great choice, although I think to try to circumvent a reemerging society from damaging Mother Earth, I wuld go with The Lorax instead.
I would probably make my other two choices more advanced in education, but I am unsure what to choose. Although I am thinking The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran would be one of them...
Rather than bring just three books back, I'd try and prevent the fire of the library at Alexandria...you know, fit it with smoke alarms and fire extinguishers? Who knows how much REAL truth was burned (and was it arson perchance?) 
"Right away would be good. Right now would be better"
-- Nick Succorso
OK, so what's the speed of dark?- Larry the Cable Guy
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Avatar
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Yeah, I gotta go with a big fat technical manual for getting power back on etc, a serious medical book, (not just first aid), and, I dunno, a book about natural psychadelics maybe.
Canticle is awesome. And The Prophet is one of my all time favourites alongside Illusions and Zen Without Zen Masters.
I wouldn't need to take The Prophet though...I'm well on the way to memorizing it.
--A
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Menolly
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So you would begin a storyteller tradition of The Prophet with the future humans, Av? I wouldn't trust my own ability to teach the book from memory without coloring it with my own perceptions.Avatar wrote:I wouldn't need to take The Prophet though...I'm well on the way to memorizing it.
Or are you saying once in the future, you would write out The Prophet from memory for prosperity?