(no subject)
I'm a sci-fi nerd, and I have a particular weakness for post-apocalyptic fiction. Because really, who hasn't wondered what it would be like if everyone in the world just vanished? (pretty bad if you were somehow the only person left alive, I guess - but an interesting thought experiment)
Yesterday I watched Life After People, a sort of docu-drama that tried to guess what would happen to the world if all the humans did just that - vanished, overnight, rapture-style. While obviously the premise was pure simplistic convenience - seriously, where did we all go? there weren't even any bodies - the show on the whole was thoughtful and well researched. They had scientists and engineers and other boffins speculating on what the world might look like after one day, then one week, two weeks, and so on, finishing up many thousands of years in the future. I was surprised to find out that it would only be a day or two before the first serious changes were seen - power outages and floods, because the systems that manage them require pretty much constant supervision.
Many angles were considered - ecology and succession, the return of wildlife and the fate of the domestic animals; our iconic landmarks and structures, how long wood and metal and stone were likely to endure. The fate of books and media was particularly depressing - paper, so fragile, will simply rot, and while digital media may be physically hardier, it's useless without the equivalent technology.
Unfortunately it suffered from a horrifying case of North-Ameri-centrism - europe got a few token iconic shots, but the rest of the world was completely ignored. Disappointing. Humans have been moving seeds and plants and animals around the globe for centuries now, and it would be interesting to speculate on how various ecosystems wouldn't return to the way they were before. Also, for something made in 2005 the CGI was shockingly bad, but I'll forgive them that - I imagine the History Channel budget is pretty measly.
It also tried too hard to be exciting and dramatic, lots of collapsing bridges and toppling buildings, to the point where at times it felt more like watching a disaster movie than a documentary. However they didn't have a gratuitous crumbling-statue-of-liberty shot, so +1 point for that at least. Really, overall it was fascinating and informative and I do recommend it. Ideally with a nice bowl of salt popcorn ;)
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Yesterday I watched Life After People, a sort of docu-drama that tried to guess what would happen to the world if all the humans did just that - vanished, overnight, rapture-style. While obviously the premise was pure simplistic convenience - seriously, where did we all go? there weren't even any bodies - the show on the whole was thoughtful and well researched. They had scientists and engineers and other boffins speculating on what the world might look like after one day, then one week, two weeks, and so on, finishing up many thousands of years in the future. I was surprised to find out that it would only be a day or two before the first serious changes were seen - power outages and floods, because the systems that manage them require pretty much constant supervision.
Many angles were considered - ecology and succession, the return of wildlife and the fate of the domestic animals; our iconic landmarks and structures, how long wood and metal and stone were likely to endure. The fate of books and media was particularly depressing - paper, so fragile, will simply rot, and while digital media may be physically hardier, it's useless without the equivalent technology.
Unfortunately it suffered from a horrifying case of North-Ameri-centrism - europe got a few token iconic shots, but the rest of the world was completely ignored. Disappointing. Humans have been moving seeds and plants and animals around the globe for centuries now, and it would be interesting to speculate on how various ecosystems wouldn't return to the way they were before. Also, for something made in 2005 the CGI was shockingly bad, but I'll forgive them that - I imagine the History Channel budget is pretty measly.
It also tried too hard to be exciting and dramatic, lots of collapsing bridges and toppling buildings, to the point where at times it felt more like watching a disaster movie than a documentary. However they didn't have a gratuitous crumbling-statue-of-liberty shot, so +1 point for that at least. Really, overall it was fascinating and informative and I do recommend it. Ideally with a nice bowl of salt popcorn ;)
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