Francisco de Orellana: Covid in the middle ages

[Ezechiel]

Orellana's first expedition was chronicled by Gaspar de Carvajal. The BBC documentary Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Carvajal's chronicle, Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana ("Account of the recent discovery of the famous Grand river which was discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana"), rather than being a hugely exaggerated fantasy as previously thought, was correct in its observations that an advanced civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s.

It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of smallpox and other diseases from Europe.[7] The evidence to support this claim comes from the discovery of numerous geoglyphs dating from between 1 and 1250 AD, and terra preta resulting from indigenous activities.[8] Some five million people may have lived in the Amazon region in 1500 in dense riverbank settlements such as that at Marajó, and inland.[9] By 1900 the population had fallen to one million, and by the early 1980s it was fewer than 200,000.[9]

Happy new year !!

We got lucky in 2021 thanks to our understanding of genetics and mRNA vaccines. Hopefully this same knowledge guides our 'potential' external visitors prior any physical contact with us lowly humans (and vice versa)

From our vantage point there are obviously many barriers to deal with beyond distance once we detect sentient presence in our galaxy. Should we resolve that issue (distance) through space bending techniques we'll also have to view 'ecosystems' harboring sentient beings as very vulnerable to our biology.... unless all you want is their 'unobtanium' like Francisco.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

This is a bit of a gray area, but I'll let it go.

But no COVID-19 conspiracy theories please. If the thread begins to fall into that trap, it'll be closed and the offending messages will be removed pronto!

 

[Ezechiel]

Thought provoking that our planet is now more of a global ecosystem than a regional one with the advent of air travel. I'm not sure there are still regions vulnerable to smallpox... except maybe North Sentinel Island ? (near India)

If there are visitors coming to our planet from other star systems, its probably easier right now to contact us with our homogeneous global ecosystem than having to deal with isolated pockets using different biological parameters.

If I was an alien visiting earth and needed a base on this planet. Antarctica would make sense lol... no mosquitos or other nasty critters to infect you.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

The polar option is something that's been part and parcel of sci-fi. The two versions of the classic movies, "The Thing" are examples. But so was "Man of Steel," where a Kryptonian ship was discovered.

 

[Ezechiel]

The polar option is something that's been part and parcel of sci-fi. The two versions of the classic movies, "The Thing" are examples. But so was "Man of Steel," where a Kryptonian ship was discovered.

Yes a 'sterile' environment makes sense.

Minimal bio interaction.... and then... abduct some natives to get a fuller picture.... maybe create a hybrid life form to use as a bridge between our civilization and the local one. Avatar full blast

... but then what's the final 'intent' exploitation or guidance ? Salas points to guidance and observation which makes sense.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Besides, consider the "War of the Worlds" scenario, where the undefeated aliens succumbed to the common cold.

 

[Ezechiel]

Besides, consider the "War of the Worlds" scenario, where the undefeated aliens succumbed to the common cold.

Made for a cool movie with Tom Cruise... but you'd think an invading specie would have thought about biological risks and made full assessments / due diligence before trying to invade a planet and eradicate natives.... and what about the viruses of those alien invaders on us ?

In the 14 billion year context of this universe, I favor the 'garden' idea where an older civilization that survived the nuclear age starts farming other planets and configures them in its image. (Genesis 1:27)

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I preferred the 1953 version with Gene Barry as the star. These Tom Cruise vehicles don't always cut it.

But I agree that the aliens were portrayed as incredibly stupid not to consider possible Earth-based viruses before coming here to take us out, but that was a flaw in the original novel too.

 

[Ezechiel]

I preferred the 1953 version with Gene Barry as the star. These Tom Cruise vehicles don't always cut it.

But I agree that the aliens were portrayed as incredibly stupid not to consider possible Earth-based viruses before coming here to take us out, but that was a flaw in the original novel too.

Incredibly stupid... or desperate to find a new home, sometimes you're stuck throwing a pair of dice that will define your destiny.

A few years ago I posted about the possibility of 'foreign entities' adjusting our ecosystem with the injection of a virus similar to the cold virus (which humans haven't fully decoded yet). The first reaction of a friend of mine when he first heard of COVID back in 2019 was that this was a form of natural 'culling' of humankind which makes total sense.

But... if I was to write a novel in 2023...

Maybe we are due for a new novel that features XBB.1.5 which is expected to add 1.5 million Chinese to the horrific global death toll in 2023. IF there is a farmer in the background managing this and he realizes that he cannot reach his objectives because of new mRNA vaccines... will he choose the same 'reset' solution applied to dinosaurs ?

Core question: Is 14 billion years long enough to establish some kind of sentient order / hierarchy in a galaxy ? I think the 'tictacs' observed by David Fravor in 2004 gave us a glimpse of how space/time can be manipulated (proof of concept for Alcubierre drive?) and also added a bit of credibility to the idea of a hierarchy in this part of the galaxy

 

[Gene Steinberg]

So if ET wants to get rid of us, they just arrange for us all to die from disease and they just take over.

Sounds like a pretty grisly way to go, worse than the approach in the film "Independence Day," in which ET just wanted to destroy everything. Most people died suddenly and weren't suffering.

Then there was the method General Zod and crew wanted to use in the Superman film, "Man of Steel," and that was to use a huge world-crushing tool to terraform Earth and make it a new Krypton.

And of course Genesis in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn," and a sequel or two.

 

[Ezechiel]

So if ET wants to get rid of us, they just arrange for us all to die from disease and they just take over.

Sounds like a pretty grisly way to go, worse than the approach in the film "Independence Day," in which ET just wanted to destroy everything. Most people died suddenly and weren't suffering.

Then there was the method General Zod and crew wanted to use in the Superman film, "Man of Steel," and that was to use a huge world-crushing tool to terraform Earth and make it a new Krypton.

And of course Genesis in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn," and a sequel or two.

Pretty much... but they don't need to take over. A planet is just a farm, if it doesn't meet your expectations or if there's something else more beneficial to cultivate you just re-seed do some culling and maybe wait a few millennia.

But this is assuming biological constructs have value of course. Human brains are a wonder

 

[Ezechiel]

An interesting direction could point to advanced 'artificial intelligence' that is curious about it's initial organic origin.
Thus the farming initiative to observe and answer existential questions on the meaning and consequences of consciousness

An important element of that initiative is time... which is irrelevant to artificial entities thus they can experiment until this universe expires with a big crunch ... or a big freeze. The collateral damage of biological extermination might just simply be the equivalent of flushing a beaker and starting over.

 

[Ezechiel]

On another thought lol.... if space-bending / seemingly limitless energy source (as demonstrated by the tictac David Fravor) technologies are available to a foreign entity. What challenges remain for them? What interest does our planet have for them beyond free 'entertainment' (Horror shows in Ukraine)..... ps... they have all the physical resources available on asteroid belts and moons/ planets in a multitude of star systems.

Watching our civilization fight for fossil fuel based energy and feeding places like Dubai to create monstrous inequalities on the planet is thought provoking as in .... wtf lol ... just watch and create an earth lottery based on outcomes for fun.

With limitless energy we probably would first build desalinization plants on the west coast to replace the water coming from mountain tops and resolve food issues among many others. (Hopefully the ITER cadarache proof of concept fusion works out soon). NIF (National Ignition Facility) in California just had a breakthrough.

But if this planet is simply a 'farming' zone where bio-entities (that include us) are tested and quarantined (Stanton Friedman) to this star system... Linda Moulton Howe was right on the money ..... but she would be proven wrong if ITER and other fusion initiatives are not sabotaged and are proven successful.

 

[Ezechiel]

Seems I'm pretty much in sync with Robert Bigelow's ideas

'According to him, we are just experiments to them; they're testing us and trying to mock us'

My feelings exactly (tictac encounters and behavior describe a form of contempt of the state of our progress as humans).
Seems he's also in a hurry to escape our solar system in order to evade these mocking birds.

Ancient Files

Ancient Aliens

news-intact.com

Exploiting this viewpoint would make an awesome movie... I'd call it: ESCAPE from THE FARM (Featuring a digital re-incarnation of Charlton Heston)

LOL