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This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

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Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#81

Post by tschwimmer »

neohaven wrote: post #76
sk5t wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The unpardonable sin seems quite... vaguely specified, and open to endless debate. What sin is a sin against the Holy Ghost? What sin is not?

The one sin is to, as far as I can tell (not a Mormon here), refuse God's light once you have seen it . It would take a crazy man, the kind that would say "the sun does not shine when he sees it", to deny a revelation. Arguably... Anyone who doesn't believe because they have not seen anything has not sinned. The sin would be, for example, to realize "the Mormons were right!" as you face the gates too paradise and say…

Seems rather uncharitable. If you are not rational enough to recognize divine truth, are you really in a position to be condemned for your ignorance? Seems like it's targeted towards the mentally ill and disabled.

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#82

Post by r00fus »

nkrisc wrote: post #5

I always imagined a concept such that instead of trying to deter people from entering was designed to convey that it was trying to keep something dangerous from escaping. Someone trying to keep you out of an ancient tomb? Clearly there are valuables in there. An ancient tomb that's locked from the outside? That's creepy.

Isn’t that exactly what an psychopath/despot/arch-villain would want? To unleash destruction on the world... and be the one to find, conquer and control it.

I think perhaps the Finland approach of complete obscurity may be better.

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#83

Post by Qqqwxs »

saltcured wrote: post #13
dang wrote: post #4

For the curious, 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15210404 2016: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11851871 2011: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2211025 2009: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=948606

We should create something like the olympiad to gather together and re-tell the epic story of danger every few years, rather than building a monument and hoping it still means something on its own.

There was an episode of the podcast 99% invisible about the facility mentioned in the OP. It concludes with the idea that the best way for ideas and messages to survive for thousands of years (and transcend language barriers etc.) is to engrave it in the culture of the people at the time. A great example, and one used by the podcast, is to create genetically engineered cats whose eyes glow in the presence of radioactive waste, and to then create culture about this idea. For example, a song / nursery rhyme that impresses the idea that when a cats eyes glow, you aren't safe. [1]

[0] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/ten-thousand-years/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g78hZIEqONM

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#85

Post by craftinator »

As I understand it, the reason you'd want to communicate that a radioactive waste dump is harmful is because of the very slow feedback loop that it causes. It would take people a long time, and many deaths/mutations to figure out that such an area is harmful; the signal has a very long wavelength, and could easily get lost in noise. It's easy to attribute that harm to other things, much like how many cultures didn't know about lead poisoning, even though it was happening all around them. I think a simple solution would be to dramatically increase the feedback loop, by putting nerve gas or landmines or other fast acting dangers in the area. It would very quickly be understood to be a "cursed" and dangerous place, and after very few deaths, people wouldn't go there anymore.

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#87

Post by Roedou »

hanoz wrote: post #50

I think we need only reflect on our own likely response to any conceivable attempt by a previous civilisation to so forewarn us, to realise the futility of our attempting likewise.

Well, we looked at those gigantic pyramids, translated the hieroglyphs in some places to mean that a dangerous curse would afflict anyone who entered, and then went in to explore / loot the places.

So... yeah. That's the level of being willing to ignore warnings that we have to prepare for.

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#88

Post by [deleted] »

tschwimmer wrote: post #81
neohaven wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one sin is to, as far as I can tell (not a Mormon here), refuse God's light once you have seen it . It would take a crazy man, the kind that would say "the sun does not shine when he sees it", to deny a revelation. Arguably... Anyone who doesn't believe because they have not seen anything has not sinned. The sin would be, for example, to realize "the Mormons were right!" as you face the gates too paradise and say…

Seems rather uncharitable. If you are not rational enough to recognize divine truth, are you really in a position to be condemned for your ignorance? Seems like it's targeted towards the mentally ill and disabled.

[deleted]

Re: This Place Is Not a Place of Honor (1992)

#90

Post by folli »

js2 wrote: post #63
mindcrime wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.” -- Terry Pratchett

I once stopped the monorail at Disney. In case you’re wondering what happens if you try to force the doors open while it’s in motion. Don’t do that.

What was your expected outcome?
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