How would you describe the past? (spoilers)

So, I'm sitting here late at night thinking how the conversation with Aivah and Sandaria went. I've always wondered what it would be like to bring someone to the cave, with teaching aid at your disposal, and explain history. How would you describe the past to someone who believes that humanity is less than 1000 years old?

Would you work chronologically backwards, going back each decade, each century? Or would you start at the beginning? Pre-historic humans, the pyramids, the rise and falls of various empires, Columbus, and on into modern tech, the space age, etc.

Where do you even start? How do you explain star ships, nuclear war, and airplanes to someone who has never traveled faster than a horse's top speed?

Would you use books? Maybe planetarium style, have them sit back and look up, and give them a presentation that would stretch across the stars? Would you have Owl do a 3-D style, interactive room? Maybe a holotable that can run you through history in a 3-D video type of way? How much information can you truly throw at someone for them to comprehend, or at least appreciate, what you're trying to show them?

One of these days, I would really like to see RFC write out how Merlin's explanations actually go. Usually we get the whole ... experience, we know Merlin is going to rock someone's world, and the story picks up three hours, two pots of hot chocolate, and a plate of sandwiches later with a look of shock on the listeners faces'. I'd like to read an entire chapter of Merlin explaining Earth to a Safeholdian, and to read their reaction to it. To the horrors, and to the accomplishments. The good, and the bad. I know it's just a book, but the word "our" comes to mind. Merlin would be telling our story to someone. What we did, what we accomplished, our history. It'd be interesting to read how a Safeholdian reacts to our history.

Provide them with contact lenses and earpieces and let Owl guide them through the library with a set of suggested reading, starting with "A History of the Terran Federation".

After the "big reveal", I'd provide them something like "A Child's History of The Federation" and "A Child's View of pre-Federation History" (Obviously changing the titles slightly).

You don't want to over-whelm them so you give them an overview as well as some important (in your opinion) events.

Once they've accepted the big reveal and have been given an overview, then OWL can help them with a more in-depth look.

Hmm one wonders if anyone can truly understand the past our attitudes, beliefs and basic societal assumptions are different from societies in the past. We are trained in our attitudes by society and our parents, however I remember as a child thinking some attitudes were wrong. I remember playing with black children at the depot in Portland Oregon on the way to the 1962 Worlds fair in Seattle, and then having my father say and I quote, "It doesn't look nice for a white kid to play with [plural of the 'N' word]." And my shock as the black kids were the only kids my age to play with, stupid I thought. I remember the 'colored only' drinking fountains and rest rooms when we visited recitatives in the south and thinking it was stupid. I remember thinking it was stupid not to be allowed to play with Mexican children in southern California. Political correctness has removed the words from our language that we used commonly in my youth. Yes we were acculturated to racism back then. Many of my generation asked why? And our children were taught to take all people as individuals a necessary step to the equality our government promised.

However the world as a whole did not sing 'Kombia' some religions preach overt intolerance to another religion, this I find very objectionable as I believe in freedom of religion. Sigh, I find myself growing disillusioned. Such is life from idealistic youth to disillusioned curmudgeon.

Poker

pokermind wrote:Hmm one wonders if anyone can truly understand the past our attitudes, beliefs and basic societal assumptions are different from societies in the past. We are trained in our attitudes by society and our parents, however I remember as a child thinking some attitudes were wrong. I remember playing with black children at the depot in Portland Oregon on the way to the 1962 Worlds fair in Seattle, and then having my father say and I quote, "It doesn't look nice for a white kid to play with [plural of the 'N' word]." And my shock as the black kids were the only kids my age to play with, stupid I thought. I remember the 'colored only' drinking fountains and rest rooms when we visited recitatives in the south and thinking it was stupid. I remember thinking it was stupid not to be allowed to play with Mexican children in southern California. Political correctness has removed the words from our language that we used commonly in my youth. Yes we were acculturated to racism back then. Many of my generation asked why? And our children were taught to take all people as individuals a necessary step to the equality our government promised.

However the world as a whole did not sing 'Kombia' some religions preach overt intolerance to another religion, this I find very objectionable as I believe in freedom of religion. Sigh, I find myself growing disillusioned. Such is life from idealistic youth to disillusioned curmudgeon.

Poker

Thank you for sharing, I wish that the whole subject wasn't so raw and emotionally laden at this point in time. That really makes it unwise to try and have an in depth discussion in this context. But I wanted to say I identified with and moved by your comment here.

Don

This may be a little off topic, but . . .
One of my favorite fantasies is to explain and describe the modern world to Benjamin Franklin. In mt fantasy he has been mysteriously transported into my home, and I have to tell him about the course of history in the intervening 200 years, tell him (and show him) the advancements in technology over that time, and describe the changes in human culture and values.
Every time I think about this, I approach it differently, because all these things are interconnected, and it's very much a "where do I start?" situation.
Imagining his reaction is interesting. I'm sure that he would find some of it interesting, some of it exciting, and some of it appalling.
It's an interesting mental exercise.
Philip Stanley

I can almost imagine the loosy powerpoint presentation, in the great tradition of bullet points :

Merlin wrote:(Hum, hum. Does the mike work ? Yes ? Can everybody hear me ? OK)

Good evening ladies.

As there is, unfortunately, no one else in this cave to introduce me, maybe I should say a few words about myself before going to the main point.

Merlin Arthrawes

Major
Charisian Imperial Guard
Machine with human consciousness
Nimue Alban

My name is Merlin Arthrawes. I am a major with the Charisian Imperial Guard. I happen not to be a human being. For the moment, let's just say that I am a machine endowed with the consciousness of a human being who was called Nimue Alban. More on that in a few minutes.

Nimue Chwaeriau

Captain
Charisian Imperial Guard
Same as Merlin Arthrawes
From Nimue Alban

My associate, Mrs. Chwaeriau, is also such a piece of machinery, with the consciousness of the same human being. Her first name of course comes directly from Nimue Alban's. I know it's a bit difficult to process, but I trust you will find the following explanations satisfactory. I certainly hope so, because if you don't you are essentially toast.

Nimue Alban

Terran Federation
Navy officer
Not the same as Safehold's "navy"

Before the Creation

Now, if I may say a few words about this person, Nimue Alban. She was a smart, brave, honorable person who lived a long time ago, before what you call the Day of Creation. She was an officer with something called the Terran Federation Navy, and yes, I did say "before the Creation".

The Truth About The Creation
Everything the Church told you
=
Lies

It might come as a shock for you, but everything the Church tells you about the Creation of Safehold is a lie.

And so on, with the useless slides, practically devoid of any information, projected on a screen, so that everyone is snoring loudly after the first two minutes ...

I probably wouldn't go much into "ancient history" at first. I'd probably start with Operation Ark/the Gbaba War, with a few branches into earlier times. Probably a few mentions of religious texts that inspired pieces of the Writ, depending on how the person is taking things.

khameirsith wrote:Snip

Where do you even start? How do you explain star ships, nuclear war, and airplanes to someone who has never traveled faster than a horse's top speed?

snip

They have in fact just traveled much faster than a horse's top speed, at least with respect to those people that are transported to the cave, as the flyer is significantly faster than that, and I suspect a goodly number of people have been to the cave, even if it is in fact off stage. We do know from textev that Sandrah Lywys (the chemist from the college) has been to the cave off stage.

Start with the earth. Show some of it. Wilderness scenes. Small towns. Oceans. Show Langhorne and company leaving the earth for Safehold. Just as we flew from Siddar city to hear in a few hours, so also slightly different machines can fly between the stars. Start with Langhorne and Shan-wei, who had good intentions but disagreed about how to protect mankind, but never mind yet from what. Don't mention whether the Writ is true or false. The women will work this out for themselves.