[Timo]

The one thing (OK, the first thing) i would change is the destruction of the ancient Egyptian library at Alexandria. I suspect its collections, if not having been destroyed, would have profoundly influenced the course of history, as we see it today.

[dohboi]

the present rate of extinction may be up to 140,000 species per year

At present, the rate of extinction of species is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than the "base" or historically typical rate of extinction (in terms of the natural evolution of the planet)[18] and also

the current rate of extinction is, therefore, 10 to 100 times higher than any of the previous mass extinctions in the history of Earth.

It is also the only known mass extinction of plants

... if the current rate of human disruption of the biosphere continues, one-half of Earth's higher lifeforms will be extinct by 2100.

A 1998 poll conducted by the American Museum of Natural History found that seventy percent of biologists believe that we are in the midst of an anthropogenic extinction.[21]

Numerous scientific studies—such as a 2004 report published in Nature,[22] and papers authored by the 10,000 scientists who contribute to the IUCN's annual Red List of threatened species—have since reinforced this conviction.

One scientist estimates the current extinction rate may be 10,000 times the background extinction rate.

Holocene can also be characterisied by widespread extinctions among arthropods, widespread local extinctions of populations of species that still exist elsewhere (such as the extinction of gray whales in the Atlantic and of the leatherback sea turtle in Malaysia) and by universal declines in range and population of various animal and plant species throughout all of the world.

"We have driven the rate of biological extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century."

Peter Raven, past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction

Lovelock sees Gaia as being "like an old lady ..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01545.html

I'm not sure they would use ennui's particular (and particularly vague) language, but certainly many ecologists have grave concerns about the direction of the current Holocene extinction event.

[Plantagenet]

The one thing (OK, the first thing) i would change is the destruction of the ancient Egyptian library at Alexandria. I suspect its collections, if not having been destroyed, would have profoundly influenced the course of history, as we see it today.

Yes, the final destruction of the library in 642 after the capture of Alexandria by the Muslims was a major tragedy.

However, an even greater loss of ancient books and wisdom occurred in 1453 when the Imperial Library at Constantinople was destroyed after the city was conquered by the Moslems.

List_of_destroyed_libraries


Hagia Sophia

[Ibon]

I'm not sure they would use ennui's particular (and particularly vague) language, but certainly many ecologists have grave concerns about the direction of the current Holocene extinction event.

No ecologist would argue about the current accelerating rate of extinction. But they would laugh that the cycle of speciation will be broken or that we dont have that many cycles remaining.

[dohboi]

Some people laugh just to keep from cryin'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9R1UhCSyN8

"1453" I don't usually make my students memorize a lot of specific dates, but that's one that I usually insist they know.

Not only was it a massive loss of global literature and knowledge because of the destruction mentioned, the scholars who survived fled mostly to Italy, bringing with them some of the saved books as well as knowledge of Ancient Greek (mostly unknown in Medieval Western Europe) and the vast literature and knowledge that this language is the key to.

This was a major spark for what became known later as the Renaissance (though that is a complex and somewhat controversial historical construct, I know).

The closing off of trade routes to the East that the loss of Constantinople represented also meant that people started looking for other routes, which eventually lead to the 'discovery' of the Americas and the age of global piracy and pillage known as the Age of Exploration and Colonialism.

It's about this time that the gun was developed which (along with the long bow and a number of other developments) was eventually to pretty much put an end to the power of the mounted knight so important through most of the Medieval period, and the institutions and literature associated with it.

The printing press was probably in its beta stage at this point, though no mass publishing would happen for a few more years.

This also marks the end of the '100 Years War" (which was actually longer than 100 years, but not completely continuous) between what became France and England, setting the stage for nation states that were to dominate global politics in the modern age, with all sorts of consequences.

I think there are a few other major things happening on or around that time, but that's enough of a history lesson for now!

So maybe just skip that year, and all sorts of things wouldn't have developed that lead to our present pathetic predicament(s)!

[beamofthewave]

that humans ever learned agriculture so we would have had to remain hunter gatherers.

[radon1]

Russain tsars were close to restoration of Byzantium on couple occasions. But in the first instance the ambassadors screwed the negotiations after a successful war, and on the other occasion the Russian revolution broke out effectively nullifying papers signed to that effect at the end of WWI.

Had they been successful, or had Constantinople not fallen, Russia would not be that isolated in the modern world in every sense of the world.