Wednesday Weird - April 20, 2011

Today marks the first of a weekly series that will examine interesting (or maybe even weird) real life things that could also spark ideas for possible SF/F stories.

From Idea #41 in Ye Ol' Idea List, we have the Georgia Guidestones. Erected over 30 years ago in rural Georgia at the behest of a mysterious individual known only as R.C. Christian, this enigmatic monument purports to be "...guidestones to An Age of Reason."

The guidestones weigh in at about 120 tons, stand 18 feet tall, and provide 10 helpful tips on achieving an "Age of Reason" in eight languages.  My favorite is #7: "Avoid petty laws and useless officials."  Tip #1 is somewhat more sinister: "Maintain humanity at 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature." Hmm, that would seem to leave most of us 6,800,000,000 people out of balance.  Although I suppose if some non-existent planet-X destroys most of the world in 2012, then you've got built in balance right off the bat.

And, if some post 2012 onlooker has been away long enough not to understand the 10 tips in 8 languages, he/she/it can always check out the smaller messages written in Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Babylonian and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

Conspiracy theories about the true purpose of the guidestones range from the predictable "they are Satanic," to something to do with the New World Order, to a novel idea somehow tying them with the world's tallest building.  On the other side of the coin, Yoko Ono thinks they are cool.

The guidestones also serve as a handy sundial.

The usefulness of a 120 ton rock Instruction Book of Reason may be up for debate now, but only time will tell...

I had planned on a couple of other weird tidbits, but sadly time is running out.  Hopefully they will last until next Wednesday and not become un-weird in the meantime.

Finally, just to counteract the weirdness or at least put things in perspective (which can be weird in its own right) here is a great resource for learning about how the universe works: Ask An Astronomer.

And if you are worried about impending weirdness of impending apocalypses, then check out 2012 Doom and breath a sigh of relief.

Have a Weird Wednesday!