The rule could be anything, as funny or as serious as you want. The universe will progress in a similar way that it has up until this point, unless your changed rule prevented it from doing so.

Some examples might be:

  • The invention of currency is not allowed.
  • Iron is slightly less stable.
  • The Ancient Greeks are able to cultivate Silphium, which does not go extinct now.
        • frank@sopuli.xyz
          3·
          16 days ago

          I always use Chess boards to describe non-Euclidean spaces when I “need” to (aka when I get even a narrow chance to)

          • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
            3·
            16 days ago

            By all means, explain it to me! My best way so far was siting the chase in call of Cthulhu and really it’s not a great example.

            • frank@sopuli.xyz
              5·
              16 days ago

              Heck yeah, I’ll try my best!

              So on a euclidian chess board, moving your king one space left would be 1 space, one space up would be 1 space, and one space diagonally would be √2 spaces (some simple trig gets us there).

              Chess however, does not obey the laws of Euclidian geometry nor does its physical representation show us things to scale. A king’s move diagonally is the same amount of space as a move side to side, 1 space.

              It’s silly, because spaces weren’t directly supposed to represent distance or anything, but it’s funny that it works out this way

              • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
                4·
                16 days ago

                This is a problem I’ve always had with Square grids in D&D and it never occured to me that from character perspective a character is warping space to move slightly further for the same amount of movement.

                • frank@sopuli.xyz
                  6·
                  16 days ago

                  Also non Euclidian! Hexagons (the bestagons) also tesselate and fix that problem nicely

  • esc27@lemmy.world
    74·
    17 days ago

    Instant karma. Weighted based on intent. E.g. If CEO cuts benefits to improve his stock value, then his balls explode. If a driver accidentally cuts someone off but feels bad about it, a full mosquito hits the windshield.

  • Susaga@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    401·
    17 days ago

    Cats speak french, except in any situation where they can be recorded or transcribed, or when a french speaker can hear them. They also aren’t very good at speaking french, but it’s impossible for anyone to know that.

  • thefactremains@lemmy.world
    36·
    17 days ago

    All sentient beings have photographic memories and, through DNA, they can store and recall all of their previous ancestors’ memories. All the way back to their oldest sentient ancestor.

  • Icalasari@fedia.io
    335·
    17 days ago

    A necessary requirement for higher intelligence is proper, functioning empathy. If you lack this, you’re just… Incapable of intelligent thought beyond that of a particularly stupid dog

      • Septimaeus@infosec.pub
        5·
        16 days ago

        a moral impetus, informed directly by empathy, that is so overwhelming that the feelings of others are tantamount to one’s own

        I’m guessing this is their meaning. Sounds interesting. Maybe that version of humanity would have far fewer nukes and a lot more good sex.

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
        41·
        16 days ago

        CEOs and similar psychopaths don’t, though.

        (Though those already tend to have the intelligence of a particularly stupid dog anyway, so I don’t really see how this would change anything.)

        • bizarroland@fedia.io
          1·
          14 days ago

          I thought the thing about psychopaths is not that they don’t have empathy or that it’s something that’s completely bizarre and alien to them, but rather that they have a switch where they can turn it off.

          Like most of us would recoil in horror at watching a video of somebody being beheaded on the internet and many of us have had that unfortunate experience, but a psychopath has the ability to not feel anything at all about it if they don’t want to.

    • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      5·
      16 days ago

      Have to say this wouldn’t affect me, not because I don’t have any empathy but only cold, logical political solidarity, but also because I wouldn’t really class myself as particularly intelligent. I’m just walking here

  • meathorse@lemmy.world
    281·
    16 days ago

    Being bad or evil is literally bad for your health.

    The better you act, the better your health - great teeth, good muscle, low fat, high fitness, good looks, and longevity (to a point), no addiction or mental health issues, selfless with no crazy ego. Ie Mother Teresa looks like a supermodel!

    Health can fluctuate based on behavior but it always drops 3x faster than it improves. So if you fuck around on your wife, your teeth go bad, or you start balding etc. cheat on your taxes, or lie maliciously (excl. good lies like Santa) you start to get fat n ugly.

    If you’re a miserable prick who fires staff, scams people, bribes, hires children for sweatshops or harms people just to increase profit or boost share price you get cancer. But if you help those people then you may be cured provided you handle it really well and undo all the damage.

    You attack someone, pedal harmful drugs or hoard unnecessary wealth, you go blind/deaf until you earn it back, more than once and it becomes permanent, each time after that you lose a limb for good.

    You intentionally harm or kill someone via murder, drink driving, rape etc then it’s game over via a slow, long, painful debilitating disease that’s contagious to anyone you like or care about, ensuring you die alone.

    To help identify the good/bad, your gut instincts are 10,000x more powerful and obvious to warn you of the dangers or benefits of each choice.

    • Makr Alland@lemmy.world
      25·
      16 days ago

      How is “being bad” decided?

      If it’s decided internally (“bad” is what you believe is bad), then all the objectivists get a free pass for being assholes. Hitler is a supermodel, etc.

      If it’s decided externally (there’s an universal definition of “bad”), how far into the future does it propagate? If I rescue from drowning someone who will genocide all the Dutch in the future, when do I go bald?

      That said, beauty pageants would be much funnier, with trolley problems instead of talent competitions.

      • MehBlah@lemmy.world
        12·
        16 days ago

        This is why this one wouldn’t work in any meaningful way. Good and bad is a human creation subject to the individuals perception.

        • bizarroland@fedia.io
          1·
          14 days ago

          I think they are saying that in their revised universe there would be an absolute humanity spanning moral code.

          And the things that that moral code decide are bad are bad always for everyone regardless.

          • shrugs@lemmy.world
            1·
            7 days ago

            I think they are saying that in their revised universe there would be an absolute humanity spanning moral code.

            I think what we have is something much better. A flexible morality which is taught from generation to generation and adapted as needed. An absolut moral code wouldn’t work.

            Funny enough, that’s exactly the way it actually is. And I believe this system still works; not that we could change it anyway.

            And the things that that moral code decide are bad are bad always for everyone regardless.

            Still, this is how it is. It discourages immoral actions even when nobody sees them happening, because the person doing them still knows and feels bad/shame/worries.

    • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
      191·
      16 days ago

      Mother Teresa looks like a supermodel

      Mother Theresa was a monster who got off on the suffering of others.

    • Gremour@lemmy.world
      5·
      16 days ago

      A disease that kills everyone a bad person knows, even if they don’t do anything wrong, is a Bible level of justice.

  • Makr Alland@lemmy.world
    26·
    16 days ago

    No quantum mechanics. Things have concrete properties even when no one’s watching, and they can all be observed at the same time. The universe is complex but understandable.

    Also, P=NP and π is 3.33 repeating, just for the lols.

  • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
    21·
    17 days ago

    Base 36 counting becomes predominant.

    0 1 2 3 4 5

    6 7 8 9 A B

    C D E F G H

    I J K L M N

    O P Q R S T

    U V W X Y Z

    Also the point at which hundred changes over to thousand gets pushed back by a power, so 6KL2 is Sixty Kay Hundred Elty Two, while 8,A59G is Eight Thousand Ayty Five Hundred Ninety G. Same with the changeover to Millions, Billions, Trillions, etc.

    Probably wouldn’t change that much practically, but it’d make “Ten” a square that’s also the product of two prime squares, and it’s divisible by a lot more ways than the current number base, and it makes “One Thousand” the square of “One Hundred” the same way “One Hundred” is the square of “Ten” and that “One Million” is the square of “One Thousand.”

  • bizarroland@fedia.io
    16·
    17 days ago

    Silphium was recently rediscovered so it’s no longer considered extinct just highly endangered.

    Aside from that, I would make it so that instead of having mental illness you would have magical powers.

    Schizophrenic? Nope you just talk to the Dead. Adhd? Nope, you’re an elemental wizard. Bipolar? Nope, you’re either a healer or a necromancer. Depressed? Nope, you’re just low on mana. (Major depression means that you’re suffering from a curse) Psychotic? Nope, you’re suffering a mana storm Narcissistic? Nope, you are an illusionist. Autistic? Nope, you’re an enchanter.