This assumes that crypto is an inevitable development. But perhaps in the original timeline it's developed a couple years later, in 2012 or 2015 or even much latter like the 2050s. Though if you don't want to alter the timeline too much it would be best to go as close to the original invention as possible.
]]>If Mo is already something other than human, perhaps it is something that has a natural aversion to the sort of entity that is the Eater of Souls.
]]>Either that, or his cult managed to summon him in some completely unrelated scheme that we don't see because Bob & friends weren't involved this time.
]]>What's happening in the US is an interesting question. Given that the US seems to like to use otherworldly entities even more than the UK does it could be any number of bad things. Though I wonder if at least one of the factions might be man-made. We know the US is also the center of the tech industry, and that computers can be used as powerful thaumaturgical devices. Maybe some bright boy tech billionaire with Black Chamber contractor connections decided that an AI god bound by code was the best way to defend the world? Maybe Siri or Alexa is incarnate now. A sort of silicon mirror of the Sleeper, but instead of using human hosts to think it uses machines.
A world where mathematics is magic actually could have the sort of Singularity popular in the late 90s.
]]>For example, rather than reading or hearing about life in 2017 you would just know whatever you needed to know about living 2017. Or a step further, wake up with simulated memories of someone who lived in 2017. Or a bit more simple -- you need to know how to get to the airport while on vacation, instead of looking it up and following directions you just suddenly know how to get there.
]]>Though there's nothing really preventing pan-cultural emoji. Chinese characters can be used by multiple languages, for example.
]]>Along with this we could have a fragmentation of culture. It is becoming increasingly easy to filter out content you don't like and avoid people who are different than you online. The next step would be to have automatic modification and censorship of communications and content you are exposed to. You could make it so that you and your children are literally unable to be exposed to racist comments, or things that contradict your religion, etc. Rather than being government driven like some dystopian settings predict, this would be entirely self-imposed and market driven.
]]>It just stuck around as we evolved and our horizons broadened. Instead of looking for who threw the rock that killed Gronk, now we're looking for who threw the lightning that started the fire that killed Gronk, or who cursed us so that Gronkina doesn't think we're attractive.
It's something deep inside that makes us need to find the cause of things, and assign blame and punishment (or appeasement if we can't punish). It's hard to accept that often no one is to blame and nothing can be done.
The movement from animism to polytheism to be universal, though the move to monotheism is more varied. In some cases it is a development out of henotheism.
]]>We'll also have to see what Russia and the US do in regards to relations and treaties with the UK post-Brexit. It would be in Russia's interest especially to be seen as a friend of the UK have British voters see the EU as the enemy and cause of their troubles.
]]>9/11 led to the US invasion of Afghanistan and set the political atmosphere that allowed the invasion of Iraq. That led to the destabilization of the region that created ISIS and set up for the civil war in Syria. Which in turn created the refugee crisis and the backlash against. That xenophobia probably tipped the balance in the Brexit vote.
Of course, you could trace things back further to the underlying reasons behind 9/11, but a lesser terrorist attack wouldn't have had the same effect and reaction by the US so I think it is the event itself that is key. If it had just been a truck bombing or soemthing Bush would have blamed Clinton, increased counter-terrorist activity a little, and gone back to being a mediocre President focused on domestic issues like education, healthcare & pension reform, and improving relations with Mexico.
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