hey, person reading this. you… decoded? English? i assume my species is extinct? are there still primates? mammals? things descended from? bits of our genetic sequences carried on by viruses? machine progeny?
Glad you like it! Thanks for linking me the Rich Roll podcast ep with Zach Bush where I learned about our genetics being encoded in viruses for the next iteration of life after the extinction https://pca.st/episode/5bc707af-0e06-4231-8514-a4eb6f540584
> This earth does more abundant life every iteration. After every extinction there is more life, more diversity, and more intelligence every time. And it's stunningly beautiful in its advances. Right? We go from palms and ferns before the last extinction (55 million years ago) to deciduous trees and wildflowers everywhere. That necessitated an extinction to get that level of viruses into the atmosphere to code for the new life. (Viruses are not living things. Viruses are the packets of genomic information that are the possibility of the future.) And so as we start to put many many species—in this short conversation maybe four or five species could go extinct—those species under extinction-level stress are putting out new genetic information called "viruses" or "exosomes" or all kinds of new words out there now, and they are literally releasing the next iterations of those species that could come next as the dust settles and this death turns into a rebirth. Which, again—again!—happens on this planet! The rebirth is gonna be beautiful.
Forest as a unit of life inspired by @jodavis asking what a group of us would like to be reincarnated as. Is the tree the being, or the forest?
Airbnb released a chart showing demand across North America this past weekend and it perfectly traced the path of totality.
The photo is from the last eclipse! Asheville, 2017. After actually being in the path of totality this time, I think it’s safe to assume that my party missed it last time! We were trying to find a good view and apparently drove out of the path. Totality today was absolutely striking, even with thick cloud cover.
Reminds me of the Doctor Who episode that takes place in an enormous library and the threat is coming from the beings whose forests were cut down and pulped to create the books.
Oh, interesting! You took it as me talking to us right after the eclipse? And predicting that the eclipse would somehow cause or signal our doom?
I intended to write to whatever beings live 620 million years from now—almost certainly not humans! Because that's when total eclipses will no longer happen, due to the moon slowly drifting further from the earth. I thought about adding clarifications and sources in footnotes or something, but instead I've been putting them in the Notes https://substack.com/profile/18342560-chad-o/note/c-53636101 – maybe instead I should expand the post itself with a little explainer section at the end?
And yes! That’s kinda why I left footnotes and sources and explanations out of the main piece! Just let it be taken on its own merits, interpreted as it will.
Also, now that you know that your original interpretation was not what I had in mind, you can go do the thing you thought I was doing and it will be 100% your idea!
Thank you. this is great.
Glad you like it! Thanks for linking me the Rich Roll podcast ep with Zach Bush where I learned about our genetics being encoded in viruses for the next iteration of life after the extinction https://pca.st/episode/5bc707af-0e06-4231-8514-a4eb6f540584
> This earth does more abundant life every iteration. After every extinction there is more life, more diversity, and more intelligence every time. And it's stunningly beautiful in its advances. Right? We go from palms and ferns before the last extinction (55 million years ago) to deciduous trees and wildflowers everywhere. That necessitated an extinction to get that level of viruses into the atmosphere to code for the new life. (Viruses are not living things. Viruses are the packets of genomic information that are the possibility of the future.) And so as we start to put many many species—in this short conversation maybe four or five species could go extinct—those species under extinction-level stress are putting out new genetic information called "viruses" or "exosomes" or all kinds of new words out there now, and they are literally releasing the next iterations of those species that could come next as the dust settles and this death turns into a rebirth. Which, again—again!—happens on this planet! The rebirth is gonna be beautiful.
"whole fuckin’ sentient, reading forest-things??" !!! That AirBnB line, LOL. And that photo! So, so cool.
Forest as a unit of life inspired by @jodavis asking what a group of us would like to be reincarnated as. Is the tree the being, or the forest?
Airbnb released a chart showing demand across North America this past weekend and it perfectly traced the path of totality.
The photo is from the last eclipse! Asheville, 2017. After actually being in the path of totality this time, I think it’s safe to assume that my party missed it last time! We were trying to find a good view and apparently drove out of the path. Totality today was absolutely striking, even with thick cloud cover.
Reminds me of the Doctor Who episode that takes place in an enormous library and the threat is coming from the beings whose forests were cut down and pulped to create the books.
I love those two episodes and forgot that that was what the monsters were mad about!
This is a cool concept. Imagining the reopening of the capsule post-eclipse. I wonder what that would be like...
Oh, interesting! You took it as me talking to us right after the eclipse? And predicting that the eclipse would somehow cause or signal our doom?
I intended to write to whatever beings live 620 million years from now—almost certainly not humans! Because that's when total eclipses will no longer happen, due to the moon slowly drifting further from the earth. I thought about adding clarifications and sources in footnotes or something, but instead I've been putting them in the Notes https://substack.com/profile/18342560-chad-o/note/c-53636101 – maybe instead I should expand the post itself with a little explainer section at the end?
I suppose interpretation is part of the fun of literature? Even if it’s a misunderstanding, eh, Chad? :)
Honored to be called literature 😄
And yes! That’s kinda why I left footnotes and sources and explanations out of the main piece! Just let it be taken on its own merits, interpreted as it will.
Also, now that you know that your original interpretation was not what I had in mind, you can go do the thing you thought I was doing and it will be 100% your idea!
Now *that* might just be “literature.” 😂