Just finished Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men.
I think people often forget how short sighted we are. Even the more far thinking have a hard time grasping the big picture of things. This seems especially relevant lately because our nation just chose a president who doesn’t believe in climate change and insists on social backwardness.
This was a future history that told the story of humanity, tracing the recurrent rise and fall of civilization and evolution of humans. What was so interesting though was that at the peak of civilization and cultural enlightenment, humanity would strive to push the boundaries of human nature and try to find an understanding of what the heck the universe and existence are. And every time they attempted this leap, civilization crashed from the strain and had to start over again.
Anyway, it was a super interesting read and definitely a forgotten gem of science fiction. Even though this was written in 1931 before the Second World War, the atom bomb, and scientific advancements that could allow humans to genetically engineer their children, this book is surprisingly relevant and a reminder that there is no end goal, that all we really want deep down is to understand.
Sonoran Stargazer 