What if Every single human being on earths memory was erased
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Every single human being on earths memory was erased, all media, files and documents destroyed, banks & currency reset to zero, and we had to re-form humanity as a whole? (also with this crazy scenario, assume ALL inventions are removed: No cars, Ipads, Lightbulbs, Absolutely nothing)
*NB: Buildings remain, but are empty.
What language would form?
What animals / foods would we eat first? (foxes? badgers?)
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?
Would people make up new religions?
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?
1) Uga Buga, first will be hand waving then we will develop some kind of vocal communication.
2)We will try everything, shun away that which will kill us and start herding what will not. Mind you we will be eating it raw.
3)Since memory is erased intelligence essentially drops to zero, practically babies with no awareness of anything. Touch fire, burn, fire = pain.
4) Racism will still exist. Humans, even in our highly intelligent day of age, always tend to form groups. Groups within groups and so on. First broad group is based on the most obvious and straight away noticeable - ethnicity. Different groups will start forming probably based on ethnicity, once they form they segregate from other groups, groups hate other groups it's tribal conflicts for food and land all over again.
5) There will be attempts to explain various things, almost certainly first ones will be severely simplistic resolving to belief in spirituality leading of course to religions, since we're family creatures it will be based on superior being (father or mother figure).
6) Laws will be derived in due time, we are social creatures and tend to shun away or punish those who upset the group.
It will be basically what it was 100,000. Again slow progress, the end result will be similar to what it is right now with perhaps a few differences in morality. In some cultures its okay to eat dog for example, those minor things might be different to what we are today.
My 2 cents.
Humans are the only animal in plentiful supply. Hunter-gatherer societies can only sustain a fraction of the population that most countries have, so you could expect a savage fight to stay alive in the first few years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modernity
Our brains have worked the same way for a long time.
If everything we know was wiped then surely we would lose the understanding of the basics like needing to eat/sleep/drink or are we making exceptions i.e. Neanderthal intelligence?
If so, I'm pretty sure history would just repeat itself it'd just be a case of how much faster or slower.
A very strange scenario to consider but an interesting one nonetheless. Definitely proves how reliant we are on history, the lessons learned etc..
If so, I'm pretty sure history would just repeat itself it'd just be a case of how much faster or slower.
A very strange scenario to consider but an interesting one nonetheless. Definitely proves how reliant we are on history, the lessons learned etc..
Many billions would starve as we pretty much depend on mass farming to feed the world. Just think about it, if all supermarkets suddenly stopped selling food and you had to go pick your own, where would you start?
I know that I have some fruit tree's and root plants growing in my garden and a couple of chickens but other than that I have no idea what I'd do. I live in a rural area with lots of farms but they mostly grow corn or rape seed. This time of year there is not much food around to gather. Now in an urban environment such as London there are no foods to be picked other than say a few blackberries in summer.
Through the lack of food animalistic instincts would kick in, the fight to survive lies in the back of all of our minds and without laws or morals that have been installed in us from a very young age (nursery rhythms, children s books etc all teach us the morals that modern society is based upon) there would no longer be a developed and mostly peaceful society.
I'd imagine humans would form social groups after long much like apes, basic language will develop over time as groups interact. we would learn to use basic tools quickly but obviously not be able to operate at such a high level as we are now for many thousands of years as we would have to re-invent everything.
Many would die as we would no longer have modern medicine or treatments.
I know I am risking Godwins law here but I think that the human gene pool would benefit in this occurrence as it would move back towards survival of the fittest which currently humans do not adhere to as we try and help ill people with various genetic diseases get to breeding age and they do breed thus allowing genetic diseases increase when in the animal world this simply would not happen.
I also hazard to guess that without modern chemicals, transmitters and radiation that the amount of cancer cases would decrease.
I know that I have some fruit tree's and root plants growing in my garden and a couple of chickens but other than that I have no idea what I'd do. I live in a rural area with lots of farms but they mostly grow corn or rape seed. This time of year there is not much food around to gather. Now in an urban environment such as London there are no foods to be picked other than say a few blackberries in summer.
Through the lack of food animalistic instincts would kick in, the fight to survive lies in the back of all of our minds and without laws or morals that have been installed in us from a very young age (nursery rhythms, children s books etc all teach us the morals that modern society is based upon) there would no longer be a developed and mostly peaceful society.
I'd imagine humans would form social groups after long much like apes, basic language will develop over time as groups interact. we would learn to use basic tools quickly but obviously not be able to operate at such a high level as we are now for many thousands of years as we would have to re-invent everything.
Many would die as we would no longer have modern medicine or treatments.
I know I am risking Godwins law here but I think that the human gene pool would benefit in this occurrence as it would move back towards survival of the fittest which currently humans do not adhere to as we try and help ill people with various genetic diseases get to breeding age and they do breed thus allowing genetic diseases increase when in the animal world this simply would not happen.
I also hazard to guess that without modern chemicals, transmitters and radiation that the amount of cancer cases would decrease.
What language would form?
As mentioned before, simple hand signals will come first, then grunts of appreciation/hostility which would eventually evolve into a spoken language.
What animals / foods would we eat first? (foxes? badgers?)
Whatever is around. In Britain, domesticated animals will be the easiest to catch and kill, we're talking cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. After that the more wilder animals like foxes will be hunted.
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?
Knowledge would be gone, many things will have to be re-learned, and this will set us back a very long way. Intelligence will limited because the main focus on everyone's minds will be survival, unlike today where we can take a lot of aspects of survival for granted, and focus our minds on other things.
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?
Depends where you are. If you're in a "multicultural" country where black, asian and white live side by side, you could argue that difference in skin colour would be largely ignored.
Would people make up new religions?
Undoubtedly. The common theme throughout human history has been the formation and spread of religion from all societies in all corners of the world. It will start as it did before, worship of the sun, moon, and stars, the seasons, etc.
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?
Eventually. Simple laws, such as "do not kill without reason" will arise first, and will become more complex as time allows. All humans are corrupt to their very core, give a man power and he will abuse it, so you can bet similar laws which strip people of their basic rights will arise again.
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?
Tradition is a huge part of our lives today. The history of law is almost as important as the laws themselves, and our cultures are direct products of our history. Take away our history, and you take away all we have learned from our mistakes and successes in the past.
As mentioned before, simple hand signals will come first, then grunts of appreciation/hostility which would eventually evolve into a spoken language.
What animals / foods would we eat first? (foxes? badgers?)
Whatever is around. In Britain, domesticated animals will be the easiest to catch and kill, we're talking cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. After that the more wilder animals like foxes will be hunted.
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?
Knowledge would be gone, many things will have to be re-learned, and this will set us back a very long way. Intelligence will limited because the main focus on everyone's minds will be survival, unlike today where we can take a lot of aspects of survival for granted, and focus our minds on other things.
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?
Depends where you are. If you're in a "multicultural" country where black, asian and white live side by side, you could argue that difference in skin colour would be largely ignored.
Would people make up new religions?
Undoubtedly. The common theme throughout human history has been the formation and spread of religion from all societies in all corners of the world. It will start as it did before, worship of the sun, moon, and stars, the seasons, etc.
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?
Eventually. Simple laws, such as "do not kill without reason" will arise first, and will become more complex as time allows. All humans are corrupt to their very core, give a man power and he will abuse it, so you can bet similar laws which strip people of their basic rights will arise again.
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?
Tradition is a huge part of our lives today. The history of law is almost as important as the laws themselves, and our cultures are direct products of our history. Take away our history, and you take away all we have learned from our mistakes and successes in the past.
What language would form? Depends on what happens immediately afterwards. How the current infrastructure would work, power plants, electricity, that sort of thing. Then it all depends on the social situation, whether we survive, or kill eachother. Probably some sort of sign-language, very basic, initially.
How long would it take to for language to develop? Impossible to say. The set of circumstances surrounding the creation of language is totally different to what it was the first time.
What animals / foods would we eat first? Anything and everything. Food lying around. Animals, birds, insects. Possibly eachother. But there wouldn't be food to sustain us all unless we relearnt farming.
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?You'd be reverting it to a state before language. Language defines the world we live in and how we interact with it. You'd be asking us to learn everything again, but it would be different, again because the world is a lot different to what it was.
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?Impossible to say. You could have acceptance of different races in multi-racial areas, or they could band into groups based on skin colour and wage a kind of racial-clan-war, or nothing at all. Too many variables.
Would people make up new religions?Impossible to truly say, but I would theorise yes. Religion is a primitive tool designed to create an understanding, order and comfort in a very strange world. This new strange world would require that kind of order.
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?Depends on how society evolves. Too many factors to say.
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?What we are today is defined by what happened before and around us.
It's very difficult to say. It's all conjecture.
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Well the first marked effect we'd see was starvation an death on an epic scale.
I think I've read that earth's carrying capacity without fossil fuel fed industrialised agriculture is something like 1 billion. Off the bat we've slated around 6 billion people for death.
Now remembering that we've forgotten everything about agriculture our food supply will meet nothing like a billion souls. Add to that the fact many of our natural resources are already fairly depleted.
Fuel - most of our wood is gone, all the easy coal has been mined.
Fish - stocks are depleted and not easy to catch with a mark 1, hand built boat and fishing tackle we've yet to invent.
Animals - We'd decimate their numbers in no time.
Plants - again what could be eaten would be rapidly stripped.
Our population would crash. The strong and the smart (albeit a different type of smart) would survive and most likely re-establish a hunter gatherer society, then regain arable farming.
Whether we ever regain an industrialised or high tech society is doubtful. There is no easily available, abundant energy source left.
What language would form?
Anything that allows us to get the point across. Grunts and bared teeth will do for starters!
What animals / foods would we eat first? (foxes? badgers?)
Anything and everything including each other. Trial and error will quickly rule out the inedible.
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?
More limited due to nutritional constraints. Throughout most of history the spectre of starvation was never far away.
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?
Hell yeah. Except it would be between smaller groups of people defending/expanding their territory/food sources. Whether groups would segregate along traditional racial lines I have no idea.
Would people make up new religions?
Religion has been a staple throughout history. I think it is something we are inherently susceptible to.
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?
Laws would come into force that were required for groups of people to function together. No stealing your neighbour's food would be an obvious start. More complex laws would develop over time with the increasing complexity of society
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?
We are conditioned to operate within the existing framework of society. Our brains are however plastic and malleable to the demands of a changed reality. Look at the example of people stranded in the middle of nowhere. Many of them find ways to survive in the constraints of their new situation.
I think I've read that earth's carrying capacity without fossil fuel fed industrialised agriculture is something like 1 billion. Off the bat we've slated around 6 billion people for death.
Now remembering that we've forgotten everything about agriculture our food supply will meet nothing like a billion souls. Add to that the fact many of our natural resources are already fairly depleted.
Fuel - most of our wood is gone, all the easy coal has been mined.
Fish - stocks are depleted and not easy to catch with a mark 1, hand built boat and fishing tackle we've yet to invent.
Animals - We'd decimate their numbers in no time.
Plants - again what could be eaten would be rapidly stripped.
Our population would crash. The strong and the smart (albeit a different type of smart) would survive and most likely re-establish a hunter gatherer society, then regain arable farming.
Whether we ever regain an industrialised or high tech society is doubtful. There is no easily available, abundant energy source left.
What language would form?
Anything that allows us to get the point across. Grunts and bared teeth will do for starters!
What animals / foods would we eat first? (foxes? badgers?)
Anything and everything including each other. Trial and error will quickly rule out the inedible.
Would intelligence levels be less limited due to freedom of the mind?
More limited due to nutritional constraints. Throughout most of history the spectre of starvation was never far away.
Would racism still exist? or even be worse?
Hell yeah. Except it would be between smaller groups of people defending/expanding their territory/food sources. Whether groups would segregate along traditional racial lines I have no idea.
Would people make up new religions?
Religion has been a staple throughout history. I think it is something we are inherently susceptible to.
Would anything at all like the same laws come into place?
Laws would come into force that were required for groups of people to function together. No stealing your neighbour's food would be an obvious start. More complex laws would develop over time with the increasing complexity of society
Just how conditioned are we by the history of the world?
We are conditioned to operate within the existing framework of society. Our brains are however plastic and malleable to the demands of a changed reality. Look at the example of people stranded in the middle of nowhere. Many of them find ways to survive in the constraints of their new situation.
I think without our tools and know-how, we'd fast slip down the food chain and become like simple 'cattle' or 'fish' for the taking ourselves by other predatory animals. Likely too quickly for us to effectively learn to survive against. Compounded with the other problems (unable to survive harsh environments as we do today - unequipped humans are pretty fragile on the face of it compared to wild animals) I reckon we could even become near extinct before our brain mass (ability to apply it) and knowledge and history could rebuild to a level where we'd regain enough ground to make a stand.
I wouldn't bet on us surviving long at all.
I wouldn't bet on us surviving long at all.
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Soldato
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I'm not sure if it's possible to forget everything. If we did we'd just sit there until we died.
If we just lost our memories, our skills and our knowledge then 99% of humanity would die. Most would starve to death within a few months. Many would be killed in the insuing violent caos. Deasease would also spread rapidly in large populations without modern medicine, sanitation etc. Then there's nuclear fallout from the reactors that will inevitably fail.
The remaining population would then probaly form small communities and scrape together what ever living we could.
If we just lost our memories, our skills and our knowledge then 99% of humanity would die. Most would starve to death within a few months. Many would be killed in the insuing violent caos. Deasease would also spread rapidly in large populations without modern medicine, sanitation etc. Then there's nuclear fallout from the reactors that will inevitably fail.
The remaining population would then probaly form small communities and scrape together what ever living we could.
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Should have just closed the thread after the first answer.
More likely the local alpha male takes a dislike to your proximity to "his" women and beats you to death with a rock.
If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.❞
- Penn Jillette – God, NO! – 2011
- Penn Jillette – God, NO! – 2011