Browsing through ATS I came across the following signature (nventual):

By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19

Dust, eh? This got me thinking...

References to prior texts such as the great flood and Nephilm found in Sumerian lore also to be found in the Christian Bible have lead me to believe that the Old Testament is a rehashing or re(-)presenting or the same tales originating in Ancient Bablyon. I’m of the belief that early books of the Bible’s Old Testament are a combination of historic truths, religious conjecture and more metaphor than the fundamentalist will ever care or concede to admit.

Failing to ask the following in one question, I’ve asked five:

1. What if the above verse from Genesis is a truth rather than some extraneous religious metaphor?
   
2. What if this is one of truths that survived the Old Testaments rehashing of more Ancient texts?
   
3. In the context of ancient astronaut theories (e.g. Annunaki, Chariots of the God et al), what if this was a dictum of man’s creator(s)?
   
4. What if we literally came from dust, return to dust and that’s it?
   
5. What if God, the Annunaki or whatever creator of choice, created us from dust (the elements of the earth) and to dust (the elements of the earth) we’ll return? i.e. that’s it; no afterlife; afterlife was never the intention of our creators; we’re just an experimental species with low-grade spiritual capacities; we live; we die; that’s it.
   

I guess this is my question then...

In light of what I’ve just described, if returning to dust is literally our terminus, how do you think the world and it’s people would react if some event were to take place where we’d all abruptly learn this as a truth? What would collapse? What would change? What would be preserved?

My answer?

If this were to happen now, I think there would be a huge scientific and technological shift towards nanotechnology and life extension technology in general. I believe the elite would delimit the technology from the masses in as many ways as they could.

If this was something that was known from man’s inception then I believe the elite would pacify the masses with delusions of an afterlife, spectacular deities and religions. From the perspective of the elitist, any counter to productivity must be discarded; even if the counter is the truth about the nature of your existence.

Well, whenever I read that I think "we are all made of stardust".... I am a big believer in the ancient astronaut theory and I think such a think would fit rather nicely.

In light of what I’ve just described, if returning to dust is literally our terminus, how do you think the world and it’s people would react if some event were to take place where we’d all abruptly learn this as a truth? What would collapse? What would change? What would be preserved?

I don't think it's possible for science to ever definitively prove anything about reality or existence. Put simply, because we are inherently subjective creatures and it's literally impossible to escape this perspective, nothing can ever be truly known.

However it's still possible for cultural attitudes to accept this as "truth" even though it could never be proven as such. If that were to happen, I think you're right - we would see a general focus on life extension or even some wild form of organ transplant. I once saw a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode where they made fun of a movie with exactly that theme. "Parts the Klonus Horror" if anyone's interested - it's one of their funnier episodes.

Very good, you're thinking the right way!

ignore all these non star and flaggers, you're putting 1+1 togather and it is making 2, just like everyone should.

I'm impressed, we need more people on this site who think outside of the box

star and flag



and just so you know school boards have been changing their curriculum for the last couple years to introduce nanotech at a younger age

our children will guide our future <3 Billy Talent

I see that as us coming from stardust, then going back to stardust once we're dead (maybe once the sun devours all the planets, and then supernovas) and then the process begins all over again. I'm not exactly sure to be honest, but that seems most logical for someone like me who doesn't believe in Christianity, but sees the bible as having hidden codes/secrets inside of it.

how about this theory: Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens are too spiritually disadvantaged to go into afterlife when compared to just every other lifeforms?