Humans Are Their Own Precursors: Difference between revisions

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Once, there was an advanced ancient human civilization, far back enough in the past to count as a prehistory to modern or near-future humanity, or at least long ago enough to have been forgotten about. Something happened to it; corruption and decadence leading to collapse and regression? Natural disaster? [[Precursor Killers]]? War either civil or with an external party that itself failed in time? The possibilities are endless and may be explained as the plot advances, or they may not, or [[And Man Grew Proud]], and all that is left is [[Future Imperfect]]. Whichever the case, humanity survived but had to rebuild itself back from the hunter-gatherer stage. As a result, they might find and use the occasional piece of [[Schizo-Tech]]. There may be an [[Advanced Ancient Acropolis]] or [[Lost Technology]] to unearth, all of which remained hidden until now. [[Time Abyss]] survivors that somehow escaped the downfall without losing everything are also possible. [[Atlantis]] is a common subtrope.

The purpose is to create a sense of mystery and wonder for the ancient precursors and establish a contrast between the humanity of the present and of the past. If some technology is left over from ancient humans, this can be used to justify [[Schizo-Tech]]. It can also be used to create a sense of scale or tension for an apocalyptic event or threat; if the event is capable of wiping out that ''much'' of humanity, it must be serious, and if the threat could overcome the more advanced previous era, how can modern mankind win? A sense of loneliness for the new civilization can be created, knowing they are on their own after their advanced ancestors collapsed. If you want to use this trope in your writing, make sure to develop plenty of differences between the old and new humans. This ensures readers feel there is a sense of purpose in how the trope is used. Try to create an immersive mood, centered on the old precursors.

The purpose is to create a sense of mystery and wonder for the ancient precursors and establish a contrast between the humanity of the present and of the past. If some technology is left over from ancient humans, this can be used to justify [[Schizo-Tech]]. It can also be used to create a sense of scale or tension for an apocalyptic event or threat, like [[The Worf Effect]] on a civilizational scale; if the event is capable of wiping out that ''much'' of humanity, it must be serious, and if the threat could overcome the more advanced previous era, how can modern mankind win? A sense of loneliness for the new civilization can be created, knowing they are on their own after their advanced ancestors collapsed. If you want to use this trope in your writing, make sure to develop plenty of differences between the old and new humans. This ensures readers feel there is a sense of purpose in how the trope is used. Try to create an immersive mood, centered on the old precursors.

Note that while this is technically after the end of the precursor human civilization, it need not overlap with the standard treatment of [[After the End]] as a [[Scavenger World]] picking at the scraps of [[The Beforetimes]] and lamenting the collapse. Indeed, the modern mankind need not be an immediate successor to the precursor era, but can be and often is temporally separated enough as to have transcended the scavenger/subsistence stage and gotten on its feet as a self-sustaining and developing civilization, and could even have had more collapses and rebuilds in the intervening period.

Note that while this is technically after the end of the precursor human civilization, it need not overlap with the standard treatment of [[After the End]] as a post-apocalyptic [[Scavenger World]] picking at the scraps of [[The Beforetimes]] and lamenting the collapse. Indeed, the modern mankind need not be an immediate successor to the precursor era, but can be and often is temporally separated enough as to have transcended the scavenger/subsistence stage and gotten on its feet as a self-sustaining and developing civilization, and could even have had more collapses and rebuilds in the intervening period.

Compare [[Earth All Along]], where the unknown planet is revealed to actually be Earth; [[Humanity's Wake]], which is about our modern civilization being this to whatever succeeds us; and [[Uplifted Animal]], where humanity is the precursor to a non-human intelligent race. TVTropes calls the trope "Advanced Ancient Humans".