Was there a civilization on Earth before humans?

Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by snowwrestler on Saturday April 14, 2018 @01:31PM (#16838334)

Maybe the Earth-based technological civilization attracted the attention of a space-faring civilization, who dropped an asteroid to wipe out the Earth civilization (successfully, as it turns out).

Which means maybe we should be a bit more careful about bleating our existence out into the universe these days...

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Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by rekado on Saturday April 14, 2018 @01:47PM (#16838431)

People who had this thought have also liked "The Dark Forest" and "Death's End" by Liu Cixin :) (These are part 2 and 3 in the "Three Body Problem" series.)

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Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by KineticLensman on Saturday April 14, 2018 @04:42PM (#16839361)

Also 'The Forge of God' [0] by Greg Bear [1987]:

"We've been sitting in our tree chirping like foolish birds for over a century now, wondering why no other birds answered. The galactic skies are full of hawks, that's why. Planetisms that don't know enough to keep quiet, get eaten".

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forge_of_God

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Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by abecedarius on Saturday April 14, 2018 @02:16PM (#16838628)

And in the 1970s by Gregory Benford, In the Ocean of Night.

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Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by greedo on Saturday April 14, 2018 @02:36PM (#16838751)

And Footfall by Niven and Pournelle. And the Galacti Milieu series by Julian May.

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Re:Was there a civilization on Earth before humans? by darepublic on Saturday April 14, 2018 @02:10PM (#16838586)

Yes, it makes you realize this pop song from the seventies is not only incredibly cheesy but could be catastrophically dangerous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrSVOOK610

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