The human brain is a mess

Broadly speaking, the human brain is a collection of software hacks compiled into a single somehow functional unit. Each “feature” was added as a random mutation that solved some specific problem to increase our odds of survival.

In short, the human brain is a mess.
~ Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary 

I’m currently in the middle of this hard science sci-fi novel (soon to be a major motion picture!). It’s by the same guy who wrote The Martian. 

side note: for those of you who aren’t science fiction freaks, hard science fiction is a kind of sci-fi writing that goes for scientific accuracy and technical detail. It doesn’t gloss over the science bits so much. (The Three-Body Problem, Foundation, Children of Time) This is in contrast to soft sci-fi with its focus more on sociological/anthropological themes. (Fahrenheit 451, The Left Hand of Darkness, Snow Crash) More or less. The line can be fuzzy.

Back to Project Hail Mary though…

Ryland Grace, academia-genius-turned-middle-school-science-teacher, wakes up on a space ship with little to no memories of who he is, where he is, and why he is there. To make matters worse, his other two crew members have died during the medically-induced coma part of their trip. 

Grace has a very special set of skills that will save all of humanity. He just can’t remember them yet. And yes, he understands the gravity of the situation. (Was I ever NOT going to use a space pun? No.) (source) 

An organism is absorbing the sun’s energy. It’s dimming the sun and is predicted to steal as much as 10% within some relatively short period of years. This will throw Earth into another ice age. Yes, Ryland's racing against time to save humanity.

While life, including humans, survived the last ice age, would modern humans do as well? Doubt it.

Frankly, humans today are pretty lame. I mean, look at me! If Stop & Shop goes out of existence, where would I go to hunt frosted blueberry Pop-Tarts? Do brussel sprouts and mushrooms grow in permafrost? Also, I honestly don’t know how to cultivate jalapeño poppers. Do we need special lights for that? Will we have electricity in an ice age?

Humans could survive BUT it’s gonna be the ones who already know what and how to plant in the cold and then how to preserve that food (drying, canning, fermenting, salting, etc.) who will be in the best shape. When the big commercial farms of Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, and California fail, and they will, who's going to supply the wheat for your bread? The corn for your Corn Chex? Barley for your beer? The sugar for your coffee?

Speaking of coffee – how the fuck will we even have coffee in an ice age? Beans are grown in tropical and subtropical climates. Those may be the last parts of the planet to go all icebox but still – how are we gonna transport the beans from far off Guatemala to Boston when all the landing strips, roads, and bridges have been ridiculously damaged by frost heaves? Is infrastructure gonna be a big priority for our greedy government? //snort//

Will people survive all the increased cold-related health issues? In cold weather our hearts need to work harder to pump blood and maintain body temperature. Heart attacks are a bigger risk as are hypothermia (DUH!) and breathing problems.

We're not a hardy or particularly forward thinking bunch. I mean, look at the state of the US right now. I'll be amazed and thrilled if we survive the damage that not-dead-yet Prez Stinky and his band of douchbagian radish brains wreak. 

Back in Hail Mary World (sort of) I keep wondering how I, as a deaf person, would manage first contact and learning how to communicate with an alien (as Ryland does). The alien (who Ryland has named Rocky) speaks in music – like chords or whale sounds. Rocky has super hearing but no eyes, no traditional vision. Would he hear the air move as I signed at him? Would we speak via drumming – vibrations and concussion carrying meaning? 

I wonder.