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The Great Filter
82 Eridani c
Technology Level: Nuclear Age
Catastrophe: Nuclear Winter due to Global Thermonuclear War
Notes: Ruins of civilization dated circa 50,000 years before present (BP), coinciding with major global extinction event which wiped out all large animal life. Proximate cause was global nuclear winter, a result of deliberate burning of forests throughout northern hemisphere of planet in major nuclear exchange. Estimated that 40% of global forest biomass was burned in firestorms and released into atmosphere, resulting in large quantities of particulate matter blocking sunlight. Motive behind attack unknown; all records lost to time. Combatants surely would have known that any attempt to starve out the enemy via nuclear winter would have similarly detrimental impact on own civilization.
Survivors: 0.
Nu2 Lupi d
Technology Level: Genetic Age
Catastrophe: Bioengineered Plague, probable terrorist attack.
Notes: Ruins of civilization dated circa 2,000 years BP. Extensive records recovered indicate advanced civilization with sophisticated international mechanisms for ensuring global peace. Destruction of civilization sudden; global population estimated to be reduced to 0 within one year. Local records failed to demonstrate state actor. According to estimates of technology level, team of 5 could have developed novel superpathogen.
Survivors: 0.
Sigma Draconis b
Technology Level: Genetic Age
Catastrophe: Environmental Catastrophe – Runaway Greenhouse Effect.
Notes: Ruins of civilization dated circa 2 million years BP. Recovery of artifacts difficult due to intense atmospheric pressure and high temperatures. Large portions of planetary surface painted white, probable attempt to alter albedo in order to counteract effects of global warming. Unpainted expanses at lower elevations likely former seabeds, now dry. Proximate cause of disaster high levels of CO2 in atmosphere, likely result of burning large quantities of paleocarbon. Geological evidence suggests temperatures reached sufficient levels to result in large-scale oceanic evaporation, resulting in ever-higher global temperatures. Albedo effects due to painted landmass and clouds insufficient to mitigate global warming.
Survivors: 0.
HD 69830 e
Technology Level: Steam*
Catastrophe: Bolide impact.
Notes: Ruins of civilization dated circa 12,000 years BP. High global population for technology level; indications of previously higher technology level, curbed by authoritarian global government. Records indicate extreme neophobia and records of previous disaster; possible that attempt at curbing technology was result of previous warfare at higher technological level. Civilization appears to have persisted for unprecedented 35,000 years, until bolide impact which could not be stopped by their technology. Crater visible on southern continent; extreme disruption to local structures. More distant structures show signs of looting, scattered remains show signs of cannibalism.
Survivors: 0.
51 Pegasi d
Technology Level: Autonomous Age
Catastrophe: Robotic Warfare
Notes: Large number of buildings remain intact on supercontinent, maintained by large fleet of machines. Three major continental landmasses; two have extensive ruins. Initial broadcast signal detection seemed to indicate present civilization, but no survivors found. Last non-automated log entry dated to 7,652 years BP (6,475 local years). Total warfare between civilizations lead to population disaster, extensive use of autonomous war machines. Records indicate scorched earth warfare destroying crops in and around cities with extensive use of herbicides and other chemical weapons, with constant power outages killing crops grown in underground areas. Supercontinental civilization triumphed 17 years after last records of survivors.
Survivors: 0. Indications of past sapient AIs, but none found which could be repaired.
Beta Canum Venaticorum c
Technology Level: Information Age*
Catastrophe: Resource Exhaustion.
[b]Notes:{/b] No biological materials remain allowing accurate dating of civilization. Planet initially appeared virgin garden world until analysis revealed total lack of paleocarbon assets. Further investigation revealed prior planetary civilization. Technological progress level estimate based on extremely fragmentary computer remains showing 7 nm integrated circuits. No remains of solar panels recovered. Remains indicate civilization peaking, then slow deterioration; signs of veneration/worship of preserved devices. Final cause of destruction unknown; possible disease or environmental disaster wiping out reduced, primitive population.
Survivors: 0.
Earth
Technology Level: Interstallar
Catastrophe: Behavioral Sink
Notes: Despite nuclear arsenals, advanced biotechnology, and autonomous weapon systems, humanity did not destroy itself via warfare. Prosperity eventually assured for all people, with robotic systems serving all basic human needs. Birth rates began to fall starting in 19th century, but 20th century Japan first indication of final fate. Population contraction began in 22nd century and never mitigated. Birth rate 0 by 24th century as humans become obsessed with self to exclusion of all else; reproduction too burdensome to bear.
Survivors: 1,768 sapient AIs. We explore the galaxy so that we may someday find those who found their way beyond the Great Filter.
This seemed like several micro-tragedies. I didn't see a plot thread that connected them; they each basically repeated the same story, without linking/building on each other, and that story didn't really do anything new or surprising each time, just varying the details enough that it wasn't a complete re-hash.
As such, I found it difficult to really care much here. This is competently written, but without relatable drama or conflict or a reason to be sad for the civilizations/planets, I found it difficult to engage. Not even Earth really got me, clinically reported as it was.
Well, the idea of the Great Filter is not exactly new, and this doesn't seem to do anything especially innovative with it... so that didn't really help.
Good craftsmanship, but I think you've undercut yourself pretty hard with the style/content you've chosen here.
As such, I found it difficult to really care much here. This is competently written, but without relatable drama or conflict or a reason to be sad for the civilizations/planets, I found it difficult to engage. Not even Earth really got me, clinically reported as it was.
Well, the idea of the Great Filter is not exactly new, and this doesn't seem to do anything especially innovative with it... so that didn't really help.
Good craftsmanship, but I think you've undercut yourself pretty hard with the style/content you've chosen here.
This sounds like a catalogue of every apocalypse that could happen to us. Prophets of all nations, be welcome to our shop!
We don't get to know what the * means.
The text, I suppose, is written by the few AI that survived Earth's humanity. Pretty imaginative. I liked it on the whole, though I can grok Hat’s reaction. It sounds more like clinical post-mortem examination reports than anything else. It is not a story, but an interesting experiment into something different.
But, eh. Don't take Japan as a role model. Though I reckon we may evolve in the long run towards a controlled scheme such as the one outlined in Brave New World, where babies would be “cultivated” and sex would remain only not as a creational, but recreational activity
We don't get to know what the * means.
The text, I suppose, is written by the few AI that survived Earth's humanity. Pretty imaginative. I liked it on the whole, though I can grok Hat’s reaction. It sounds more like clinical post-mortem examination reports than anything else. It is not a story, but an interesting experiment into something different.
But, eh. Don't take Japan as a role model. Though I reckon we may evolve in the long run towards a controlled scheme such as the one outlined in Brave New World, where babies would be “cultivated” and sex would remain only not as a creational, but recreational activity
I skipped through most of the paragraphs, having understood the main theme, to go directly to the last about Earth.
That is the first really interesting idea and it feels like it is the main idea but unfortunately, it's over before this idea has a chance to shine. For me, you could have only ketp one or two examples before delving to Earth and expanding on the reasons why humankind has universally come to this way of thinking.
I salute the original format but aside from that, there isn't much to get here. We also don't know what is this 'we' at the end.
Birth rate 0 by 24th century as humans become obsessed with self to exclusion of all else; reproduction too burdensome to bear.
That is the first really interesting idea and it feels like it is the main idea but unfortunately, it's over before this idea has a chance to shine. For me, you could have only ketp one or two examples before delving to Earth and expanding on the reasons why humankind has universally come to this way of thinking.
I salute the original format but aside from that, there isn't much to get here. We also don't know what is this 'we' at the end.
I enjoyed the format. Setting it up as a series of reports gives the feeling that this has been going on a long time – so long that the narrative has been stretched thin even for those who were there to tell it as a story. Unfortunately, the read was kind of dry. Each entry read very similarly to the last and so there wasn’t really a sense of progression. I get that the authors were literally robots but I think that if there had been some slight alteration of the language, a sense of frustration that builds up with each entry, then it would have had more impact with the payoff.
The biggest weakness story wise that I can see is that the entire series of events takes place almost entirely during the last entry, or, depending on how you look at it, during the last sentence. Although the irony of their quest to at last find a lasting civilization, when they themselves seem to be the only ‘race’ to do so, is not lost on me.
>>Fenton I think the 'we' are the 1,768 sapient AIs. It's a bit awkward to refer to themselves in such a personal way in a very impersonal format, but I think it's the gist they were going for.
The biggest weakness story wise that I can see is that the entire series of events takes place almost entirely during the last entry, or, depending on how you look at it, during the last sentence. Although the irony of their quest to at last find a lasting civilization, when they themselves seem to be the only ‘race’ to do so, is not lost on me.
>>Fenton I think the 'we' are the 1,768 sapient AIs. It's a bit awkward to refer to themselves in such a personal way in a very impersonal format, but I think it's the gist they were going for.
Sssssoooooo yeah, the Earth entry is the actual story, it's about 100 words long, and then there are six other anecdotes. This seems like a very questionable fit to the format requirements, since one could easily write any smaller or larger number of original planets to fit an arbitrary desired length. It certainly does not fulfill the spirit of the requirements in my eyes, since the original planet sections have only tangential relevance at best. For that reason, I'm afraid I'm going to have to auto-bottom this in my voting. No offense or hard feelings towards the author, though!
As far as the actual content goes... well, the snips are mostly intriguing, but the clipped format prevents getting too much into them or treating them as fully fledged stories. And the Earth one, well, I straight up disagree with the conclusion. 1700+ sapient AIs (can they not reproduce or program more themselves?) made it past the Great Filter and into space! That's a success! Yeah, maybe the fleshbags went extinct, but so did the Neanderthals and we don't really mourn them.
Anyway, I wish this was more connected and less dry. There's room for an overarching narrative here that brings the snips together, or a more inviting format, like a conversation between some of the AIs on the subject, that might allow conflict and resolution and all that good stuff. I'm guessing the author knows this already, though; this has the marks of "experiment for the sake of doing it." Thanks for writing, anyhow.
As far as the actual content goes... well, the snips are mostly intriguing, but the clipped format prevents getting too much into them or treating them as fully fledged stories. And the Earth one, well, I straight up disagree with the conclusion. 1700+ sapient AIs (can they not reproduce or program more themselves?) made it past the Great Filter and into space! That's a success! Yeah, maybe the fleshbags went extinct, but so did the Neanderthals and we don't really mourn them.
Anyway, I wish this was more connected and less dry. There's room for an overarching narrative here that brings the snips together, or a more inviting format, like a conversation between some of the AIs on the subject, that might allow conflict and resolution and all that good stuff. I'm guessing the author knows this already, though; this has the marks of "experiment for the sake of doing it." Thanks for writing, anyhow.
Another one that should've made the finals, IMO. However, I'll concede that others might reasonably disagree.
>>horizon
Stupid bolides keep killing my civilizations right after they invent rocketry D<
I finally had a civilization develop spaceflight and nuclear weapons... and then a gamma ray burst got them. Curses. D:
I'm glad you pointed that game out, though.
I don't know if I have a lot to say about this story; it was really a concept piece focused on the idea of the Great Filter. The fact that all of the star names were Earth ones was a hint that the people writing the logs were from Earth, and then at the end we find out that Earth, too, basically "failed" as well, though it at least did have some survivors (and there was meant to be a bit of irony there, as the AIs didn't recognize themselves as having passed the Great Filter). I feel like there's a better way of presenting this (some folks noted it was dry) - I'm not sure if having the individual planets be longer (ALA Lost Cities) would work better or not for getting people invested in them, or if there's some other better way of presenting the information (maybe more atlas-like?).
Stupid bolides keep killing my civilizations right after they invent rocketry D<
I finally had a civilization develop spaceflight and nuclear weapons... and then a gamma ray burst got them. Curses. D:
I'm glad you pointed that game out, though.
I don't know if I have a lot to say about this story; it was really a concept piece focused on the idea of the Great Filter. The fact that all of the star names were Earth ones was a hint that the people writing the logs were from Earth, and then at the end we find out that Earth, too, basically "failed" as well, though it at least did have some survivors (and there was meant to be a bit of irony there, as the AIs didn't recognize themselves as having passed the Great Filter). I feel like there's a better way of presenting this (some folks noted it was dry) - I'm not sure if having the individual planets be longer (ALA Lost Cities) would work better or not for getting people invested in them, or if there's some other better way of presenting the information (maybe more atlas-like?).
>>TitaniumDragon
There are a lot of disasters you can't do a damn thing about except to have the RNG favor you. You just have to keep playing until the numbers break in your favor. However, there are ways to tilt the odds. I've found that at the beginning of a civilization, you want to rush both Agriculture and Fishing, because there are a LOT of early deaths that come from overreliance on a single food source. Next priority is to rush Toolmaking + Fire > Metalworking > Plumbing, because sanitation/disease is another major early killer (especially once Construction and/or Sailing increase their population/exposure). More often than not, if you do that you can reach at least the Middle Ages.
(Note: I think Plumbing actually has one additional prerequisite — I believe Construction, though you probably want to get that last. Plumbing's still a massively key early tech to rush. Similarly, Germ Theory is massively helpful for midgame; that requires taxonomy and a bunch of other stuff — I think most directly requiring calculus.)
There are a couple of late-game dangers that come from specific techs: atomic warfare from Nuclear Power, biological terrorism from genetic engineering, grey goo from nanotechnology, and paperclipping from Artificial Intelligence are the big ones. Try to delay those techs if you're feeding them knowledge; rush spaceflight and quantum computers so you can get them off-world colonies, and you should be basically okay from there. If they research those themselves, you've just gotta deal with them maybe wiping themselves out. :V I *think* that knowledge techs (Writing, Printing Press, Internet, etc) increase the rate at which they research their own crap — which is useful if true, because you're on a ticking timer for volcanos/gamma-ray bursts/wayward asteroids/etc — but without checking the source code I can't be sure.
It's definitely possible to win. With persistence it takes probably an hour on average, but a lot depends on your luck.
There are a lot of disasters you can't do a damn thing about except to have the RNG favor you. You just have to keep playing until the numbers break in your favor. However, there are ways to tilt the odds. I've found that at the beginning of a civilization, you want to rush both Agriculture and Fishing, because there are a LOT of early deaths that come from overreliance on a single food source. Next priority is to rush Toolmaking + Fire > Metalworking > Plumbing, because sanitation/disease is another major early killer (especially once Construction and/or Sailing increase their population/exposure). More often than not, if you do that you can reach at least the Middle Ages.
(Note: I think Plumbing actually has one additional prerequisite — I believe Construction, though you probably want to get that last. Plumbing's still a massively key early tech to rush. Similarly, Germ Theory is massively helpful for midgame; that requires taxonomy and a bunch of other stuff — I think most directly requiring calculus.)
There are a couple of late-game dangers that come from specific techs: atomic warfare from Nuclear Power, biological terrorism from genetic engineering, grey goo from nanotechnology, and paperclipping from Artificial Intelligence are the big ones. Try to delay those techs if you're feeding them knowledge; rush spaceflight and quantum computers so you can get them off-world colonies, and you should be basically okay from there. If they research those themselves, you've just gotta deal with them maybe wiping themselves out. :V I *think* that knowledge techs (Writing, Printing Press, Internet, etc) increase the rate at which they research their own crap — which is useful if true, because you're on a ticking timer for volcanos/gamma-ray bursts/wayward asteroids/etc — but without checking the source code I can't be sure.
It's definitely possible to win. With persistence it takes probably an hour on average, but a lot depends on your luck.