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.
  • Icalasari@fedia.io
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    22 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

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
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        21 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
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          20 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
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      22 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