“ A new substance is found in an out of the way area and kept very quiet. It is found to make a perfect counterfeit diamond. Only the most expert of expert appraisers would even have a hope of noticing that it is fake. Only one problem: if it gets wet it starts to slime and if it is saturated, it turns into a glob of gel.”
“ The religion believes in reincarnation, but that you will be reborn in the past. People of today are those re-born of tomorrow, with some discarded as trash. The most pure will be eventually reborn in the mythical paradise-like past, where people lived for hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years.
This goes nicely with beliefs into foresight (you know a little about the future because you have been there), but also to many complaints of how things are going always from bad to worse.”