Seldon Crisis: Beyond Foundation
Reflections
Eternity and Imperfection
0:00
-20:29

Eternity and Imperfection

An Asimov masterpiece points the way to a key element of human advancement.
A minimalist digital artwork in a 2:1 landscape format. On the left, a luminous, spiraling tunnel of light curves into the distance, symbolizing a time corridor. Subtle distortions and sparkling particles ripple outward from it, evoking imperfection and chaos. On the right, a lone human figure stands at the base of a glowing, branching path that leads toward increasingly abstract, futuristic humanoid forms, suggesting the evolution of intelligence beyond humanity. The color palette is soft and ethereal, with tones of blue, gold, and white conveying mystery and vast temporal scale.

Isaac Asimov's time-travel masterpiece The End of Eternity ends with a profound philosophical statement about the future of humanity. That, and Stephen Hawking's birthday got me thinking about the value of doing challenging things like settling Mars and other worlds.

Transcript: Web (Read/Listen) | PDF | MS Word

The End of Eternity:
Isaac Asimov, Time Travel and 'The End of Eternity' (NPR)
The End of Eternity (Wikipedia)

Stephen Hawking:
80th Birthday Google Doodle (Youtube)
Stephen Hawking (Wikipedia)

The Space Settlements Argument:
We Are Doing Space Colonization Wrong (Erasmo Acosta on Medium)

The Mars Argument:
Mars for All (Evan Plant-Weir at The Mars Society of Canada)
The Mars Society (Website)

Id, Ego, and Us podcast

Theme Orchestration by Tom Barnes
Art by Mike Topping – despotica.com

Want to help me make these shows? Please consider becoming a patron!

Discussion about this episode

User's avatar

Ready for more?