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The signposts document offers tons of story leads for both the science fiction and fantasy realms due to its coverage of the likely future courses of humanity in outer space and virtual reality.
But unlike other platforms the signposts document goes still further with its scenarios by providing a wealth of third party references to insure the utmost plausibility and credibility possible for its speculations-- and so any fiction based upon those too (i.e., your own fictional efforts).
There's a vast expanse of human potential and possible adventure environments outlined in the signposts document which have had little or no indepth explorations as yet. And so tremendous opportunities for you to plant the flag of your own fictional efforts therein.
Even better, the signposts document does the hard work for you in terms of 'hard science' facts, bleeding edge theories, likely chronological timeframes, and real world physical limitations: simply comparing your own plots against the general guidelines and references offered by the signposts document makes it much easier for your stories to avoid many of the pitfalls which plagued writers of the past.
And you can even email the author himself where your questions go beyond what the signposts document can provide.
Bypass old-fashioned publishers who tend to reject even top-notch authors for years at a stretch. Plus get a headstart in readership, with an embedded link in the signposts establishing you as a force to be reckoned with in your writing genre of choice!
Let the signposts document be your combination research assistant, partner, and muse. And let your imagination pave the way to realizing your own dreams, whatever they may be.
The first step would be writing a story about events and characters which could plausibly exist within the possibilities outlined by the existing signposts text-- or a parallel universe to same.
NOTE FROM SITE AUTHOR: Please respect my own fictional efforts by avoiding more than passing references to my own unique Perspectives characters (J. Staute, Kerri, Cluke, the Pearsalls, etc., etc.). And if such references to my characters are included in your work, please do not make any significant changes to the course of those events specifically depicted here (unless of course your story explicitly describes an alternate or parallel universe or dimension(s), distinct and separate from that portrayed on my site). If you feel strongly that a particular event in the signposts document requires correction or improvement of some sort, please email me about it -- I often make modifications as suggested by readers. Second caveat? The signposts document is regularly updated and expanded as warranted by breaking news and ideas and thus is always subject to significant change without warning (though I always strive to maintain as much consistency and feasibility as possible throughout).
Science tells us there were many variations on the human race over the past few millions of years. And the doubts about the possibility of a living race of still unknown large primates resembling the beings of 'big foot' legend seem to be fading as well-- and on more than one continent at once.
But what if yet another surprise awaits us in this realm? A whole civilization of people only distantly related to us, arising upon an isolated island continent roughly 20 million years ago, but all signs of them disappearing as their continent sank beneath the seas? Sound familiar? Our own legends may somehow include vague references to these people. The continent itself definitely existed according to scientists. And sank beneath the sea millions of years back. What if a pre-cursor to human civilization sprang to life there, realized the imminent risk to their society, and left the Earth entirely for the far greater resources and security of space? Note some of humanity's greatest minds today say we are doomed if we ourselves don't escape the planet in coming centuries.
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-- "'Lost continent' discovered"
By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse, BBC News Online: Sci/Tech, 5-27-99, ["http://www.bbc.co.uk/"]
-- Humans Doomed Without Space Colonies, Says Hawking; Yahoo! Science Headlines; October 15, 2001 |
But modern science also tells us something else of relevance here: that although enormous material wealth and room awaits us once we escape Earth and make the solar system our domain, going much further than that may be prohibitively difficult and expensive. Because practical travel to other solar systems beyond our own would likely require faster-than-light transport means. And such means may not become available no matter how far we progress in other ways.
So our predecessors could still be here in Sol system, even millions of years later, living off the resources of the region. And maybe on occasion they'd visit the primitives: us.
It's scary enough to think of what such folks might do simply to pass the time in regards to us. But scarier still is this: sooner or later we'd have no choice but to butt heads with them over the resources of the solar system. For if we can't get a share of that we surely will be doomed at some point to social and economic collapse, and eventually to natural global cataclysms of some sort, too. The very things our predecessors themselves left Earth to avoid.
To make matters worse, such folks would have already consumed a huge portion of system resources over all the millions of years they've been living in space. Especially if they were living lavishly. This means the remaining 'pie' to share is much smaller now than it was 20 million years ago.
According to our own scientists our solar system does today seem curiously depleted of its resources. Yikes!
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"The shortfall leaves astronomers with a big puzzle"
-- Too few icy rocks to explain comets ["http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994135"] by David L Chandler; 06 September 03; NewScientist.com "The study's big surprise is that so few Kuiper Belt members were discovered" -- Solar system 'fossils' discovered by Hubble Telescope ["http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-09/uop-ss090303.php"]; Eurekalert!; 6-Sep-2003; Contact: Steve Bradt; bradt@pobox.upenn.edu; 215-573-6604; University of Pennsylvania In a puzzling discovery, the Tau Ceti system (a nearby neighbor, and the closest star resembling our own Sun) seems to possess ten times more asteroid and cometary material as our own solar system. Scientists are seeking ways to explain the large disparity. -- Tranquil environment around Earth may be unusual ["http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0407/05tauceti/"]; PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY RESEARCH COUNCIL; July 5, 2004; spaceflightnow.com -- Planetary neighbor probably doesn't contain life; Tau Ceti system, Asteroid Alley - an inhospitable neighbour ["http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article3192.html"] posted July 06, 2004 by bjs; scienceblog.com |
Want more details on such possibilities? Then check out Could we eventually uncover a lost civilization on the sunken Kerguelen continent? And if so, what might have been its fate?
So whip up your own conspiracy tale linking these lost continent peoples to contemporary UFO tales or similar events, and have a link to it posted in a box like that below displayed in the first page (http://www.jmooneyham.com/cdwn1.html) related to that civilization on-site!
(note that the links below are for illustration purposes only: actual links will only be posted in the page listed above)
Close encounters with the Kerguelen:| Incident at Townstark | In Search of an Edge | My grand dad's obsession | My strangest adventure |
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But there's still more opportunities here for writers. Namely...
Various secret societies among humanity on Earth could have maintained an active resistance to the Kerguelen influence since before 14,000 BC, despite the fact only a fraction of such society members may ever have known the whole truth of the matter. On the other side of the coin, the same could also be so of Kerguelen agents among humanity. Very, very few of them might know they are actually working against their own people, and who their true masters be.
Create your own fictional agent who works for or against the Kerguelen agenda, either unwittingly or not, and have your story link posted in the box and page described above!
Humanity possesses a myriad of Far Colonies scattered across the universe (yes, in galaxies other than the Milky Way) by 2615 AD, due to an amazing new instantaneous transportation technology. The biggest drawback to the technology is it randomly places travelers anywhere within the physical universe, with neither they or we knowing even which galaxy they've reached, for possibly centuries to come. The second biggest limitation is any particular traveler using the system has no alternative route for subsequent transport or communications between origin and destination than the unique station which sent them, and its matching sibling which accompanies the travelers in order to maintain such links.
But no one bargained on the catastrophe of 2615 AD, which destroyed the local stations linking to many of these Far Colonies. So all contact with the majority of such distant intergalactic settlements is irrevocably lost at that time.
What might have happened to the lost Far Colonies afterwards? Did they go through their own A.I. revolts and Peer Proof wars, in a history parallel to that of the mother race itself? Or might at least some of them have diverged onto entirely different courses?
Plot your own course for one of these lost colonies trapped in an alien galaxy and have it linked in a box like that seen below in the page Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD: War between humanity and the AIs begins with the end of the world (http://www.jrmooneyham.com/spprs4.html)!
(note that the links below are for illustration purposes only: actual links will only be posted in the page listed above)
The fate of the lost Far Colonies:| Limbo Gate | Independence (Missouri Galaxy) | Hell Station | Infinity Hall |
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Sarum 128 goes down in the history books as both the ultimate virtual reality for its time (due to the vast wealth lavished upon it by its owner), and as one of the worst crimes ever committed. For it was basically the personal fantasy of a madman, brought to realization by the enormous corporation and wealth he inherited from his father: simultaneously one of the biggest organized crime kingpins in all history, while also one of the richest legitimate corporate chiefs. Sarum 128 was an abomination. But like much of the terrible Nazi experiments performed during the 20th century's WWII, Sarum 128 itself became the focus of intense study by the rest of humanity upon its discovery. For never before had human beings been consistently assaulted in such a manner for so very long, as within this V.R.'s confines. Thus, S-128 proved to be a treasure trove of new knowledge regarding humanity itself. To not learn from the heinous crime would have been considered a terrible waste of the human lives ruined by the ordeal.
Though S-128 was virtual, many of the minds commanding its characters were not. Rather, they were living human beings abducted for the sole purpose of fulfilling some role in the fantasy. They typically had their own memories erased or subordinated to completely new and different memories to fit the fantasy, then were injected into the V.R. to live their role as if it were real.
One critically important item here: those thrust into the S-128 scenario experienced the simulation at a much faster pace than normal realtime. That is, a single day outside the simulation was often the same as weeks inside. And this asynchronous pace between reality and simulation could be changed at will by the V.R.'s criminal master.
This difference in timing between reality and unreality proved damaging to the human minds trapped in S-128. But other aspects would be just as injurious in their own ways.
Unbeknownst to the criminal boss, his play was also infiltrated from outside by at least a handful of parties, in version 128 (similar incursions in earlier versions cannot be confirmed, as most data from those sets was permanently lost).
Some examples include Kerri and Cluke around 2383-2398 AD, and J. Staute and Pagnew crew around 2391 AD (chapters thirteen through nineteen of The Chance of a Realtime).
Write up your own story of a trek through Sarum 128 and have it linked in a box like that seen below in Perspectives 2301 AD-2500 AD (http://www.jrmooneyham.com/spprs3.html)!
(note that the links below are for illustration purposes only: actual links will only be posted in the page listed above)
The lost worlds of Sarum 128:| Ragnarok Sarum 128: The Fall of the Norse Gods | The Way of Fire | Kadd White | The Wizard's Tale |
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