The Stars which Destroyed Humanity -- 'Nightfall' by Isaac Asimov Explained
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Today we take a look at NIGHTFALL, a short story by Isaac Asimov which examines what would happen when humanity gazes upon the night sky -- and its many stars -- for the first time. We'll examine that and more on today's Sci-Fi Short Story video!
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In 1994 a earthquake in Los Angeles caused a blackout and people started calling 911 for a sinister silver cloud in the ky (the milky way).
It's okay, they won't do that for The Big One.
Because all of the copper that would carry a phone call even when the power was out has been replaced with VOIP.
Light pollution is the worst thing to ever brought on this planet
@@comradekenobi6908 so the sun is Evil
This is a joke btw
Come to think of it, the madness stemming from a shattered worldview, as the true nature of the universe is revealed to us, is actually pretty Lovecraftian. It's like Lovecraft without any gods or monsters.
And that's even scarier. No gods. No monsters. Nothing but cold, indifferent reality. It doesn't even hate you; you're not important enough.
@Kelvin Higgs I think you misunderstood what’s going on here. They’re saying how the theme of this story is similar to that of Lovecraft, that people would go insane in the face of the horrifying reality that is our cosmic insignificance. And I think trebacca9 agrees that the universe is not conscious and doesn’t confer importance or no importance. That’s what makes it scarier than the gods and monsters of Lovecraft.
Lovecraft is about the fear of the unknown, so something world view shattering causes fear as it shouldn't be possible for such thing to happen or exist. That's why many of his stories, looking at the anomaly causes to go mad and insane
Exploring these sorts of ideas and really fleshing out worlds and how they work is why Asimov is still probably the best Sci-fi author of all time
Let's not forget that at the very beginning of the novel he straight up states that his purpose isn't to reinvent the wheel -- a mile is a mile and a gallon is a gallon. He tells the story of a civilization like ours that developed under vastly different circumstances, so why go all Tolkien and describe _everything_ when that doesn't fit the purpose of the narrative? Asimov was as much as master of brevity as anything else.
"So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe"- I honestly never thought id see an Asimov story discussed on this channel, glad to see stuff like this. I loved his Foundations series. The Gods Themselves is also another interesting story as well if you want to look at more.
I might be wrong, but wasn't The Machine At The End Of The Universe also an Asimov story? EckhartsLadder has discussed it before anyway.
@@dylanwight5764 Huh im surprised I missed it, ill look it up on his channel.
Krikkiters: we'll see about that.
@@dylanwight5764 Are you talking about 'The Last Question?"
@@atoth62 Ah, that's the one! I knew it had a more common title! There were some different printing on it released for Penguin Books that gave it that other title.
"Legashians dont know darkness"
Me, in my room with a blackout curtain: neat
As someone who has been "night guy" at his own restaurant for 5 years now, I talk of darkness the way only Bane did before me. I close 7 nights a week - during the winter, the only time I see the sun is on the drive in to work. Not gonna lie, you live in it long enough, the dark is actually very calming.
@@dekardkain5469 yeah. I spent 2 years working overnight at a gas station.
When I was in my mid teens ( back in the 80's) I built my own sci fi universe to play around with, and one of the many thought experiments I did was one of the races were sun worshipers, they saw their home star as their god, even when they colonized other star systems they kept the belief that their home star was their god that gave them life, and then I went and made it go nova, to see what kind of effect it would have on that race, the effects were felt by all the races that made up my universe in one way or another.
Several religions like Hinduism do believe in a sun god, Surya
I was just talking about this novel with my father the other day. Can you imagine a world always illuminated by seven stars suddenly aligning for long enough that your planet experiences a true day-night cycle for the first time in thousands of years? I love the idea that the scientists were confused by the layers of ash found in dig sites because they had no solid records to explain what they presumed to be ritualistic behaviour at first.
SAME my dad recommended this book for me to read
In 1980, I went with a group via an ocean liner from NYC to Bermuda for an evening of looking at objects in the night sky from a good sized telescope at a dark site. Isaac Asimov accompanied us and, of course, gave a few talks both aboard the ship and at the observing site. However, I learned something about him...although he had written all of these tales of people visiting other planets and whatever, he himself feared flying in an airplane and always used other means of transportation to get to wherever he wanted to be.
Imagine how horrifying this would be
Learning that you are so unimportant that the universe cannot even hate you
I mean, we live that constantly, we're just used to it by now. But yeah, living and thinking "Oh there are only 6 suns and that's the universe" and then suddenly "Oh... shit."
@Kelvin Higgs tf you on about
@@comradekenobi6908 he’s just an racist talking shit of people for having a religion.
This is one of my favourite short stories ever. I'm glad to see a video about it, and for once I'm not here just for the dog at the end.
This story has stuck with me since I read it in the early 90s or so. Also love seeing some of my favorite TH-camrs teaming up!
I don’t see the void of space as the universe saying “your insignificant”, I see it as the universe saying “your a single grain of sand in a vast black desert, but your still part of it nonetheless”
I always see the void of space as a giant playground. A place to explore and play and build and mostly definitely make a gigantic amount of money because why ever not. "Stare Into the void and see how it yearns to be filled" - probably somebody.
“...like a boundless sea of stars. It makes you realize how insignificant we are to this world.”
Might be a slight misquote, but hopefully someone got that reference
.
I remember this story when I was younger, it really shows what would happen if humanity’s single reliance was taken away, Even if it wasn’t an immediate necessity. Like the internet.
The stars that destroyed humanity? That almost sounds like a......... *Death Star*
It ain’t no moon, that’s for sure
Last time I was this early he was still building the ladder
Me: is about to go to sleep, after a long day of school
Sees video
Also me: well well well then lets find out
Was about to head to school decided to be late
I’ve never heard of this book but I’m excited to learn about it. Also, if you’re gonna be doing some lesser know sci-fi and short stories I recommend The Egg
Hasn't kurzgesagt made a video about The Egg?
@@Bean-boi yeah they have
@@Bean-boi written by the guy that wrote the Martian btw
Normal windows in buildings wouldn't cut it. The daylight sun is 1000x brighter than most rooms. We don't notice because our eyes evolved to be logarithmic to deal with twilight. Their eyes would presumably be quite difference
That short story cemented Asimov as the greatest science fiction writer ever in my mind.
The funny thing is, it's entirely possible that this story is a reality for a planet in the universe.
This is why I love this channel: the diversity of content and learning about things and stories I've never heard of. Keep these short stories coming.
Your short story coverage is one of my favourite parts of the channel, it's nice to have something that makes me think once in a while. I would definitely watch if you did more.
I’ve never commented on a video before. But I had to...this is one of my all time favorite stories, I never imagined you would talk about this story on your channel. Mad props for covering Asimov, dude. I just..... I’m blown away. Do the Foundation next? Lol
Reminds me of “Pitch Black” only there aren’t monsters that come out at night... it’s the people that become the monsters! 🤯
The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown.
But it is only by finding our way in that unknown that we learn and grow.
Being sheltered from seeing what you do not know, from knowledge of the unknown, encourages a fear of revelation. Whether of the unknown or of the truths found within it.
When I was young I went to a museum which has a large dome they would use to do a presentation about space, stars and the like by projecting the presentation onto the ceiling to simulate the night sky. And while truly fascinating that presentation was to me, nothing was more memorable than right before the presentation started where the lights went off and for the first time I can remember I was in TOTAL darkness. No ambient light at all. So dark I couldn't see my own hand I front of my face. I remember that vividly all these years later.
More Isaac Assimov please!
Thank you!
Short Story Suggestion: "Victory Unintentional" by Isaac Asimov.
It is a fun and little known Robot short story and fairly humorous.
Reminds me of Riddick’s Pitch Black, only instead of a physical threat, it’s now an existential(?) threat.
Ah... Asimov... I LOVE it! Keep this up!
Here we go again, a great video about a sci-fi short I never heard about.
Read Asimov
This is one of Asimov’s most well known stories if you overlook the Robot series and Foundation.
So long story short a planet which only knows light experience darkness for the first time and apon seeing the night sky for the first time they just went insane
Great story and video
Very cool to see you review stories like this! I have read the short story Nightfall and it's really an excellent story. Punchy is an understatement, it really pulls you into to a detailed world, it doesn't start out like a novella
I read "Nightfall" in my youth and left a big effect on me-so happy to see you cover it. Like you, I never read the novel...
I absolutely love these videos, I know they don't do the best but I really hope you make more of them.
On a Star Wars note, the Yevetha/Duskhan League from the Star Wars books The Black Fleet Crisis were affected by a similar, but less extreme version of this. (That may be the first time anyone has ever described the Yevetha as "less extreme" than something else.) Their homeworld, N'zoth, is in the Koornacht Cluster, a bunch of stars so close together that they can only see a dozen or so of them in the sky, because the further stars are blotted out. The Yevetha's incredible xenophobia is attributed in part to a society developed without any knowledge of the wider galaxy.
Reminds me of how when there is a major blackout in major cities end up having people calling the police cause they've never seen stars before because of the cities light pollution
I absolutely love such obscure stories and would love to see more videos about them!
I'm sad that I live in a world where Asimov's works are now considered obscure.
@@Sidecutter Obscure is perhaps the wrong word, sorry english is a second language to me.
I mean unique and interessting stories. This story here in particulary is something that simply doesn't compare to anything I've seen or read before. In a good way.
Always loved the short science fiction stories. Asimov's The machine that won the war was one my favorites.
I’m glad your back to doing these SCI-FI vids. I love these keep it up
I remember reading the novel back in high school. It was a good read, but I really would have liked to peek in on that world again to see how they got along.
Glad to see this video, I loved this short story when I found it. Haven't thought about it in years but it's a fantastic bit of golden age Sci fi heritage.
I would love to hear more short stories done by you, your voice is amazing
Thank you Sir, Asimov needs to be brought back to mainstream science fiction. Comic book movies and such are fun and all, but Asimov's works made you think about life and the universe.
It's gonna be a giant kick in humanity's gentleman vegetables the day we finally get off Earth in earnest and stumble on life on other worlds, past or present, such as fossils on Mars or life under the ice of Europa, or something that's evolved in the runaway greenhouse of Venus... and that's just in our local solar neighborhood! Now that we know the galaxy is FULL of planets (and their moons) the mathematical probability of life of some sort existing somewhere besides Earth, either now or in the past (or future) is virtually a certainty.
I never expected to see an Asimov video in this day and age. I suggest (before going into the big stuff of Asimov which will be a series of their own) you read "The Last Question".
This reminds me of the Total Perspective Vortex from the Hitchhikers' books.
“When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it there's a tiny little speck, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here."
Eh, its easy to circumnavigate that though. Just create an entire new universe made specifically for you, but which is otherwise identical to the current one. And then take a look at the vortex in THAT universe. After all, if an entire universe is made for you, you won't feel so insignificant compared to it.
The whole idea that it is plausible for them to not have invented light bulbs falls appart after just half a second of scrutiny. Basements are for various reasons very advantageous, presumably they have some form of mines to acquire underground recources, etc...
I just read this short story! Cool timing. Yeah, do more short stories. Do "In a Good Cause-" by Isaac Asimov, one of my favorites by him if not favorite (Last Question is up there).
Dude! This was awesome, do more like this honestly
"Planet that never sees darkness"
Is it weird I thought of Namek?
I did to.
I thought of Enies Lobby from One Piece.
no
I really miss these videos! Excellent job, loved it!
Really enjoy the coverage of stories like these.
One of my favorite stories. Thanks!
Asimov is my favourite sci fi author and top 5 in general
The robot+foundation series got me through a year of school
More of these please
I was NOT expecting to ever hear you talk about this, great video. Would be cool to hear you talk about stuff like I have no mouth and i must scream or Roadside Picnic
I thought stars as in celebrity.
"The Kardashians" Explained
@@CesarDaSalad they genuinely have wrought havoc; they've had a big hand in perpetuating dangerous beauty standards, which ironically they themselves fell victim to while striving to fulfill said beauty standard.
That's also a novel. Glam-o-rama by Brett Easton Ellis.
@@hravandil9993 not to mention the perpetuation of the ego and the ever growing dependence on entertainment and self indulgence.
No, that is how OUR Earth's humanity will get destroyed.
love the variety man keep it up
Very interesting story. I love it when you cover books like this, keep up the good work.
I don't get why they would have such a fear of the dark when they have no experience with it. It's like if we would be morbidly afraid of weightlessness. We wouldn't know what to do if it occurred, but to die out of fear when exposed to it for fifteen minutes... I don't know. Seems to me that this fear takes away from the story more than it adds. Maybe if I read the story first, this comment wouldn't be such an ironic paradox.
My man played Resonance in the background.... this is where I started smiling
What a thought provoking story
“As life is inherently tied to light”
So these guys aren’t aware of things living near thermal sea-vents?
I'm actually writing a book, I plan on self publishing on amazon or audible.
About what? Also goodluck !!
aliens, but from the aliens pov
I'm also working on a book, well its more of a comicbook
I hope to read it sometime after it gets published.
@@AJSai3007 I'll probably post a video on my TH-cam channel saying its done.
This is different but I really liked it lets see some more Eckh
A brilliant idea, keep them coming
Love these videos
That was an interesting 'what if' story.
Yes, more discussions on books, please.
I’d read this story before, but I really enjoyed your retelling
i watch this channel becuase of star wars but i enjoy this a lot
These are cool videos! Please keep them coming
Please do loads more of these.... please
Holy sh*t, this is an amazing concept!
I really like these types of episodes on classical sci-fi literature
Legashian putting hands over another Legasians eyes from behind: "Guess whoo?"
Other Legashian: *DIES*
This is reminding me a whole lot of the “Three body problem” by Cixin Liu. If you haven’t yet give that on a listen. It’s a first Contact with intelligent Alien life kind of story but MUCH more than just that.
I really enjoyed the Three body Problem, the second book especially kinda blew my mind lol
@@lukebaier1111 I'm in the first quarter of Deaths End the third book and man has it been satisfying to go on this journey. He dangles hope out in front of you, but you always have this ominous feeling that something's gonna go wrong.
Very well put together!
Lets GOOOOOOOO. I love new sci fi stuff from eck
You should do more videos like this for other scifi works!
I love this content. Can you please do more?
Please cover more of these!
Wow, such detail. Ty.
EckhartsLadder sci-fi reviews are the best
Blizzard released a number of short stories around the time StarCraft II was new, would love to see this channel cover some of them. Momentum and 'The Icehouse' are standouts to me, but most of them are really cool
These videos covering SF short stories are great! Maybe in the future you could cover Arthur C. Clarke's "Dial F for Frankenstein" and Murray Leinster's "A Logic Named Joe".
I like seeing the stars at night, but that's probably because the size doesn't make me think of insignificance, but of a massive and all encompassing intricacy that we are a part of, and a part aware enough to see it's beauty.
I don’t know why but these are fun to watch
Great concept from Asimov
Do more of these please
So I'm interested in this book, but kind of wanted to experience it all for the first time fresh. But I let the video play in the background for that ALGORITHM BOOOOOOOST.
Awe to insanity. Awesome=to inspire awe.
DNews had a fantastic video on the original definition of awesome. Awe is something so earth shattering it requires you to reassemble your very definition of reality to understand. I never thought about how easily darkness could lead to awe.
yes, more please
I read that book a long time ago. Guess I need to re-read it again, along with all the other books I still have. A scary thought to think of such a place. The ancients thought the moon eclipsing the sun was then end of the world, so "Nightfall" would have the same effect on people there. And I did get to meet Isaac Asimov back in 1980 or so.
So what would our real life version of this be? Would humanity have to live in a neverending Twilight, with enough light to see but never quite enough to walk outside?
Excellent video
...so what happened when they close their eyes?
AMAZINGNES!!! More like these!!!
Odd thing about this though is why have they not invented some form of light? Does this planet not have clouds or storms? It has gotten pretty dark inside during a few storms and what about tunnels or caves... Archeologist spend most of their time in tombs or dark places.. yes, they have fire but really? Electricity puts off light.. any kind of monitor or screen would put off light... video never really says what level of development they are at but if they are advanced as we are think they would have figured things out by now... I know it is a story and has to bypass things for it to work...
Science is really neat