# How else would you like to see the world end (or nearly end) on screen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781 "2006-07-24T05:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/41 "2006-07-26T15:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Well, if I’ve got it straight, somebody’s making a remake of Romero’s _Day of the Dead_, which was a sequel to Romero’s _Dawn of the Dead_. Not a sequel to the remake of _Dawn_, but rather a completely separate remake of _Day_. Don’t ask me why. [/QUOTE] Half right. There is also a Sequel to Dawn of the Dead(2004) in [process](http://horrorchannel.co.uk/news.php?story=13). Day of the Dead didn’t do much for me. I’m interested to see if a remake adds something to it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/42 "2006-07-26T15:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] I’ve never liked the Gray Goo scenarios, because they’ve already happened. Earth already _is_ dominated by gazillions of tiny, self-replicating nanomachines that eat everything, and it has been for the past four billion years. What’s the difference if they happen to be made by humans? [/QUOTE] First, they would replace _us_. I’m reminded of a Larry Niven story were a billion-year old alien ( she spent most of her time near lightspeed, with slowed time ) mentioned visiting Earth early in her life, and speaking with the locals. It turned out that Earth was previously dominated by a slow-living intelligent anaerobic ( non-oxygen using ) species. They were destroyed by _green_ goo, as it were; green algae evolved, filled the air with oxygen and killed them all. The second difference is that nanomachines, depending on design, might be unable to evolve; thus the “grey” term. They might eat the biosphere, and just sit around until the sun dies, never doing anything interesting. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/43 "2006-07-26T16:29:11Z")
I’m betting this has been done, but what about a scenario where no further children are born, a scenario that becaomes referred to as “The problem”. The drop-off in childbirth would be precipitous, and as the population ages a sense of dread and desperation grows as more and more resources and attention are turned to the “The problem” (e.g. schools and universities begin discarding all education unrelated to “The problem”). I’d particularly be interested if it was clear than no life was ended prematurely by “The problem” itself; the only thing that was being lost was one’s legacy. I’d find it interesting to see if/how the value of something one can never own could rise to a point where it is all-consuming. I think, though, this might work better as a book (too philosophical for the multiplex, plus there’d be far too many characters outside the 18-34 demo). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/44 "2006-07-26T16:36:38Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] I’m betting this has been done, but what about a scenario where no further children are born, a scenario that becaomes referred to as “The problem”. The drop-off in childbirth would be precipitous, and as the population ages a sense of dread and desperation grows as more and more resources and attention are turned to the “The problem” (e.g. schools and universities begin discarding all education unrelated to “The problem”). I’d particularly be interested if it was clear than no life was ended prematurely by “The problem” itself; the only thing that was being lost was one’s legacy. I’d find it interesting to see if/how the value of something one can never own could rise to a point where it is all-consuming. I think, though, this might work better as a book (too philosophical for the multiplex, plus there’d be far too many characters outside the 18-34 demo). [/QUOTE] This idea has some similarity with _Childhood’s End_. Anything beyond that would be spoilers. Similar but different reasons for the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/45 "2006-07-26T16:47:07Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] I’m betting this has been done, but what about a scenario where no further children are born, a scenario that becaomes referred to as “The problem”. The drop-off in childbirth would be precipitous, and as the population ages a sense of dread and desperation grows as more and more resources and attention are turned to the “The problem” (e.g. schools and universities begin discarding all education unrelated to “The problem”). I’d particularly be interested if it was clear than no life was ended prematurely by “The problem” itself; the only thing that was being lost was one’s legacy. I’d find it interesting to see if/how the value of something one can never own could rise to a point where it is all-consuming. I think, though, this might work better as a book (too philosophical for the multiplex, plus there’d be far too many characters outside the 18-34 demo). [/QUOTE] Human nature being what it is, I’d expect various sorts of individual and group insanity to blossom against that background… ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/46 "2006-07-26T17:51:42Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] The second difference is that nanomachines, depending on design, might be unable to evolve; thus the “grey” term. They might eat the biosphere, and just sit around until the sun dies, never doing anything interesting. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that it’s so much that they’d be _unable_ to evolve, it’s the fear that any evolution is unlikely to return to complex and intelligent life forms. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/47 "2006-07-26T18:36:30Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] I’m betting this has been done, but what about a scenario where no further children are born, a scenario that becaomes referred to as “The problem”. The drop-off in childbirth would be precipitous, and as the population ages a sense of dread and desperation grows as more and more resources and attention are turned to the “The problem” (e.g. schools and universities begin discarding all education unrelated to “The problem”). I’d particularly be interested if it was clear than no life was ended prematurely by “The problem” itself; the only thing that was being lost was one’s legacy. I’d find it interesting to see if/how the value of something one can never own could rise to a point where it is all-consuming. I think, though, this might work better as a book (too philosophical for the multiplex, plus there’d be far too many characters outside the 18-34 demo). [/QUOTE] [The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood](http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/summary.html). Very similar to what you describe. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/48 "2006-07-26T19:18:17Z")
The Last Trump sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Star\_Female](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Star\_Female](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Star_Female)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/49 "2006-07-26T19:31:49Z")
Pollution. As in, _The Last Gasp._ > **[The Last Gasp by Trevor Hoyle](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/trevor-hoyle/last-gasp.htm)** > > The Last Gasp by Trevor Hoyle - book cover, description. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/50 "2006-07-26T19:35:09Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] The Last **Trump** sounds. [/QUOTE] And he says… “You’re fired.” HAHAHA! Lame joke. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/51 "2006-07-27T04:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Another : The Age of Technology ends, as magic returns - and almost everyone dies when all the trucks, farm machinery, refrigerators, medical equipment and so on stop working. The survivors are killed or enslaved by the returning mythical creatures, and the occasional human occultist whose magic now works. [/QUOTE] Would LARPers become powerful? Would the world be saved by “…Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!”? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/52 "2006-07-27T10:41:46Z")
The book Implosion, from 1972, by a Dennis F.Jones, is one about a scenario with decreasing fertility, and what happens to society. I think the cause was finally discovered to be a bio weapon of some sort, that got out of control. Fertile women end up being placed in camps, are kept constantly pregnant, and so on. Their husbands can divorce them. I think, by the end, that it’s discovered that the first generation of girls born after the problem started is bearing only boys It could easily be made into a movie I suppose, it wouldn’t even need any fancy special effects. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/53 "2006-07-27T10:53:56Z")
With the decrease of Pirates, Global Warming takes over the planet. what? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781/54 "2006-07-31T09:29:50Z")
There’s something rather interesting about the end of the world as shown in Harlan Ellison’s short story [_I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_have_no_mouth_and_I_must_scream)… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-else-would-you-like-to-see-the-world-end-or-nearly-end-on-screen/365781.md?page=2)