At the Joker last night, I had a brief thought about deep time and its psychological impact on human beings.
If you’ve been to Dynamic Earth, you’ll know the O.G. of geology and deep time was James Hutton who stared at some rocks in 1788 and suddenly worked that everything was actually hundreds of millions or even BILLIONS of years old, not just thousands of years old.
This was a game-changer.
Before this, everyone thought that the Moses and Jesus were more or less the start of things. Also at this point, no one had never heard of a dinosaur. People had found big fossil bones but had usually assumed these were from the giants and monsters of mythology.
Overnight, the overall timescale of Earth multiplied exponentially and the role of humans became correspondingly smaller. Suddenly each of us was much less important.
Now we have science-fiction which pushes the other way: showing us far futures beyond mankind, even to the point where Earth is a cinder in space, burnt to nothing by an expanding red sun.
With this kind of infinite each-way view, our lives are reduced to nothing. Each of us is merely a Rice Krispie in the Pacific Ocean.
And with that kind of existential nihilism breathing down your neck, you might as well come to the quiz tonight:
Here are tonight’s details:
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6.30 pm – Brass Monkey Grange (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer – MUSIC round: “TOTO“
Book – 031 667 2335
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7 pm – The Sandport Tavern (with Alan)
Jackpot – £150
Free answer – PICTURE round: “INVERNESS“
No bookings taken but you can call the pub on 0131 554 9999
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7.30 pm – The Willow (with Brigid)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer – PICTURE round: “RUBIK’S CUBE“
Book – Willow Website or Willow Facebook
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9pm – Newsroom (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer – PICTURE round: “TAPEWORM”
Book: 0131 557 5286 or Newsroom online booking
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul
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