WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Marvel’s Galactus

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammon. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. If

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<v Speaker 2>you've seen the new MCU film The Fantastic Four First Steps,

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<v Speaker 2>then you've finally experienced a proper cinematic treatment of Galactus,

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<v Speaker 2>the iconic devour of worlds for Marvel Comics, created in

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty six by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. This

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<v Speaker 2>titanic space god predates the Big Bang. He survived the

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<v Speaker 2>great collapse of the previous universe and entered into our own,

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<v Speaker 2>hatching from the cosmic egg. His god like abilities come

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<v Speaker 2>via the power cosmic, which he sustains through the consumption

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<v Speaker 2>of entire worlds. And yet Galactus is a lot more

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<v Speaker 2>complex than your typical Earth destroying elder god. While definitely

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<v Speaker 2>an existential threat and a perpetrator of untold megadeaths, Galactus

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<v Speaker 2>does not consume worlds with malice, as the latest MCU

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<v Speaker 2>film accurately depicts. He himself is a slave to his

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<v Speaker 2>own insatiable hunger, but is lawful and honorable standing by

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<v Speaker 2>the letter of pacts made for the survival of various

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<v Speaker 2>planets and such. While he's certainly a villain and a

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<v Speaker 2>monster by many measurements, he is also beyond good and evil,

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<v Speaker 2>a natural force that dwarfs everything he encounters. Sometimes he

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<v Speaker 2>even acts in ways that might cast him as an

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<v Speaker 2>anti hero. In The Fantastic Four First Steps, Galactus is

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<v Speaker 2>as close to his silver Age glory as we could

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<v Speaker 2>hope for. A giant humanoid being in purple armour and

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<v Speaker 2>a great hat that might best be described as a

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<v Speaker 2>papal miter with cosmic horns. English character actor Ralph Ineson

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<v Speaker 2>provides his voice and likeness. The presentation is delightfully over

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<v Speaker 2>the top, as it should be, But the entire Galactus scenario,

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<v Speaker 2>in which a ravenous cosmic power sends its harbingers out

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<v Speaker 2>in search of worlds and civilizations to dine on, actually

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<v Speaker 2>isn't entirely the domain of comic book science fiction. Humans

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<v Speaker 2>have wrestled with the Fermi paradox for seventy five years now.

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<v Speaker 2>If other intelligent life forms exist in the universe, perhaps

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<v Speaker 2>even in some abundance, then why haven't we encountered them,

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<v Speaker 2>heard of them, seen any signs of them. Why is

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<v Speaker 2>the universe so silent? Hypothesized solutions vary from the possibility

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<v Speaker 2>that Earth really is a rare commodity in the cosmos

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<v Speaker 2>to the idea that we exist in a sort of

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<v Speaker 2>space zoo or nature reserve. But while the latter concept

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<v Speaker 2>entails benign alien beings that intentionally leave us alone, the

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<v Speaker 2>dark Forest hypothesis paints a bleaker picture. Name for the

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<v Speaker 2>two thousand and eight Lucien novel of the same name,

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<v Speaker 2>the dark Forest hypothe this states that the rest of

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<v Speaker 2>the universe is quiet because its various intelligent, technologically advanced

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<v Speaker 2>civilizations are understandably afraid. They remain unheard and unseen because

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<v Speaker 2>they know to raise their voices or in any way

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<v Speaker 2>broadcast their presence could attract the unwonted attention of dangerous,

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<v Speaker 2>even more powerful forces. This could be threats known to exist,

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<v Speaker 2>or merely threats likely to exist and therefore worth remaining

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<v Speaker 2>silent for. And this is where we get to the

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<v Speaker 2>possibility of if not an actual galactus, then something close

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<v Speaker 2>enough to terrify us, something that hungers and sends its

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<v Speaker 2>seekers and heralds far across the sprawl of stars in

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<v Speaker 2>search of civilized worlds to harvest. First, let's think about

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<v Speaker 2>that hunger galactus must consume worlds. This we know the

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<v Speaker 2>idea is far from ridiculous when we consider it the

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<v Speaker 2>Kardashev scale, which sorts potential civilizations by how much power

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<v Speaker 2>they can harvest Type one the energy of an entire planet,

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<v Speaker 2>type to the energy of an entire star, Type three

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<v Speaker 2>the energy of an entire galaxy. Certainly, by type three

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<v Speaker 2>we are contemplating galactus level power, and it certainly puts

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<v Speaker 2>forms of planet and star harvesting or even consumption into consideration,

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<v Speaker 2>both in terms of what we can imagine, such as

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<v Speaker 2>the use of a Dyson sphere to enclose a star

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<v Speaker 2>and collect the sum total of its energy output, and

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<v Speaker 2>means that we can't even fathom.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet.

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<v Speaker 2>After all, we're not even a type one civilization on

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<v Speaker 2>the Kardashev scale. Some of the aims and abilities of

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<v Speaker 2>a Type three civilization or even a Type two may

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<v Speaker 2>simply exist outside of our context, and this leads us

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<v Speaker 2>to another Fermi paradox solution hypothesis, the Berserker hypothesis, also

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<v Speaker 2>known as the deadly Probe scenario. The Berserker name, by

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<v Speaker 2>the way, stems from the nineteen sixty seven Fred Saberhagen novel.

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<v Speaker 2>The concept here is that the cosmos seems silent because

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<v Speaker 2>thus far all other sufficiently advanced intelligent forms of life

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<v Speaker 2>have been destroyed by deadly seeker self replicating destroyers that

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<v Speaker 2>are even now on their way to decimate Earth as well.

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<v Speaker 2>In teasing this hypothesis apart, some have argued that humanity

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<v Speaker 2>would have surely been discovered and eradicated already if this

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<v Speaker 2>were the status quo in the galaxy. However, if we've

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<v Speaker 2>not yet met the criteria for extermination, or if there's

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<v Speaker 2>some hope of passing a civilizational test that ensures our

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<v Speaker 2>survival yish, then perhaps the sword of Damocles merely hangs

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<v Speaker 2>above all of our heads, entirely dependent on how we

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<v Speaker 2>conduct ourselves or how solid the latest season of Single

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<v Speaker 2>Female Lawyer happens to be. Obviously, there are numerous ways

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<v Speaker 2>to dissect this hypothesis, ranging from just considering the toll

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<v Speaker 2>such self replicating machines might take on the galaxies available

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<v Speaker 2>mass over time. This would potentially spell a kind of

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<v Speaker 2>Gray Goog apocalypse on a cosmic scale, as well as

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<v Speaker 2>issues of detection or lack of detection here in our

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<v Speaker 2>local neighborhood. Naturally, the idea has been explored in various

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<v Speaker 2>Sci Fi treatments, often as a means to explore our

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<v Speaker 2>collective values as a species, our hopes and our fears

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<v Speaker 2>that something else out there shares those values in either

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<v Speaker 2>its dark or light extremes. And we see this with

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<v Speaker 2>Galactus as well, that a herald is sent to judge us,

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<v Speaker 2>save or condemn us based on our merits or the

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<v Speaker 2>merits of those who stand as shining examples of what

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<v Speaker 2>we aspire to be. And in this we're reminded that

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<v Speaker 2>Galactus is a comic book take on the divine, a

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<v Speaker 2>god who sits in judgment, echoing a very long standing

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<v Speaker 2>note in human mythmaking, such as in the Bible, and

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<v Speaker 2>God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is

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<v Speaker 2>come before me, for the earth is filled with violence

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<v Speaker 2>through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

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<v Speaker 2>In the Bagava Ghita, I am time grown old to

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<v Speaker 2>destroy the world, embarked on the course of world annihilation.

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<v Speaker 2>Except for yourself. None of these will survive. Of these

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<v Speaker 2>warriors arrayed in opposite armies, and in Marvel comics, Your

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<v Speaker 2>planet is now marked for death. Your world will be

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<v Speaker 2>consumed by the devour. There is nothing you can do

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<v Speaker 2>to stop him, for he is a universal force, as

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<v Speaker 2>essential as the stars. Hold your loved ones close, and

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<v Speaker 2>speak the words you've been afraid to speak. Tune in

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<v Speaker 2>for additional episodes of The Monster Fact, The Artifact or

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<v Speaker 2>Animalist Upendium each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 2>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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