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Adrian, below are the details to one of the Kindle books I found to be a great primer on Mayan civilization. If I remember correctly, it was only a few bucks. Charles River Editors make a nice series like this of other ancient societies. I considered Egypt, among others, for my book.

Chichen Itza: The History and Mystery of the Maya’s Most Famous City By Charles River Editors
Harasta, Jesse; Charles River Editors (2013-10-10).

Assuming I can figure out a way to accidentally sterilize a few billion people with a hurriedly engineered vaccine against an ebola-like pandemic, I can also use that as my humanitarian disaster that brings society to its knees in 2071 A.D. No more need for a separate disaster from a runaway computer virus unleashed by the NSA.

I could make the vaccinated humans the ones who are sterilized, although I think that would be noticed before the vaccination got far. Ideally, it's the children or grandchildren who should be sterile, so there's no way to stop the disaster once it becomes known. I don't use an ebola-like disease to wipe out billions because I also need a reason why humans would impose a permanent ban against genetic engineering, preferably this century.

Worst case, I could have a genetically-engineered virus with a lengthy incubation period escape from a medical lab, not unlike the morons who just shipped live anthrax around the world.

dagnee, I haven't forgotten about David DiSalvo. I just wanted to wait until I understand the genetic process better.

Thanks to all who can help.
Dirk

Throw some ideas up in the group forum asking for feedback. I suggest using a new thread with a better title to draw more interest. Something like "Need help defining a fantasy story revolving around the ancient Maya". Include a few ideas for stories and see what kind of feedback you get.

Dirk

Max, I think I read your first chapter. I don't recall any major male characters in the story. How about a computer nerd, robot repairman, and would-be-author who falls in love with your MC. He could even be the author of the book you're writing. Don't forget to give him Harry Potter glasses held together above the nose with masking tape.

I harped on Janet TP until she gave me a male character in her latest story to identify with. Makes for a much better read, I thought.

Thanks

I found a really simple example that demonstrated the Principle of Parsimony for evolution. I knew about Occam's razor, but it never occured to me that it applied so well to the construction of evolutionary trees. Cool. Thank you, NJC.

Max, how far back does the car need to bounce? If it's a few inches, just go with it. I'm probably totally wrong on the physics here (usually am), but if the car is going from 40 mph to zero, wouldn't the rear of the car lift at least a little off the ground for a moment? If so, then it can drop down and bounce backward, especially if it's on a hill.

Dirk

Thank you, Karin.

The disease manifests as noted above, resulting in visible trembling, which can be taken as a sign of mental illness. Apollo comes from a long line of psychopathic emperors who routinely overthrow each other using the family motto for cover: Only the mentally fit shall rule! Apollo has a half-brother who wants the throne but is not in the direct line of succession, so he's looking for an excuse to move against Apollo.

There are many ways I could represent this, including a disease that's not well understood but is believed to be the result of long-term genetic engineering. With that sentence alone, I'm halfway home. I could stop there, but I'd like to throw in a little genetic depth, on the order of a paragraph.

For example, if the illness is the result of genetic engineering that modified a single gene who's only other known purpose is to, say, improve night vision, then you stop messing with that gene in humans, and the illness goes away. If, however, the gene change(s) provide the only known defense against the "Ebola" of the fifth millenium, then there is no alternative. Again, I could stop there.

However, I'd like to make it so fundamental to genetically-engineered humans that there is no way to change the gene(s) in question without a cascade of deadly effects from other, dependent genes that have also been messed with. Essentially, is it possible to construct a house of cards from which there is no realistic hope of return?

My second question I can probably research on my own, which is how is gene therapy able to alter all copies of a defective gene in a body with trillions of cells that are constantly dividing?

Ideas?
Dirk

Thanks, dagnee. I'll wait to see if anyone on the site has any knowledge on the subject and then contact DiSalvo with (hopefully) intelligent questions.

I do plan to keep the mental illness a secret from most of the character's family and the galaxy at large, as I do currently. However, my previous attempt at this fell apart after several chapters. I'm hoping to avoid that in my next draft.

Thanks for the lead.
Dirk

I could never get into Seinfeld. Ditto for Everybody Loves Raymond. However, for years I thought Married With Children was too crude. I'd watch a few minutes here and there while channel surfing. Eventually, I watched whole episodes and soon thought it was a riot. I've since seen every episode.