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Whenever issues like this come up, I like to refer to the WIPP report on how to identify waste containment plants for 10,000 years. http://www.wipp.energy.gov/

Whenever issues like this come up, I like to refer to the WIPP report on how to identify waste containment plants for 10,000 years. http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%20message%20to%2012,000%20a_d.htm http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%... In the end, it was determined that there was no guarantee that a re-established civilization could grasp what we were trying to say, and that perhaps just an area earning a reputation as cursed, via attribution of visitors, would be the best deterrent. Therefore, I would submit: "These are not foods of honor. No highly held nutritional facts are described here. Nothing valued is here."

breadbox 9y ago
If you found that article interesting, you might want to read Gregory Benford's "Deep Time" (978-0380975372). Benford was part of the same panel (though in a different group), and the first half of the book is in-depth discussion of the various aspects of the problem that they had to consider.
Camillo 9y ago
That whole effort was such a waste of time and money. If civilization collapses, what does it matter if the waste storage site is disturbed? It's not like it's going to be a threat to humanity. Without advanced technology, any damage from radioactivity would be limited to the local population. To extract a large amount of contaminated material and spread it around the world, you would need an advanced technological civilization, which would then be able to detect radioactivity. If anything, a big concentration of it may help accelerate their scientific progress at some point.
- Nition 9y ago
  Well the issue would be that it hurts the local population. And maybe you can prevent them from getting hurt, if you try to come up with a good warning.
  - Camillo 9y ago
    But there's an opportunity cost. You pay a whole interdisciplinary committee to sit on their asses thinking about it for n weeks (I don't even want to know how long it took). You could take that money and use it on a million other things that would result in a larger reduction of people-getting-hurt.
    - prewett 9y ago
      What would that be? Those million other things that prevent people 1000, 2000, 5000 years from now from getting hurt? A good warning seems like a great idea, and low cost, high impact. Problem is, no language has lasted for 10,000 years.
      - will_pseudonym 9y ago
        Lightning bolts seems like the best thing to use. They're scary and deadly.
kalleboo 9y ago
> that perhaps just an area earning a reputation as cursed So ironically perhaps the best way is to make it actually radioactively poisonous so that people learn that it is a dangerous place...

breadbox 9y ago

If you found that article interesting, you might want to read Gregory Benford's "Deep Time" (978-0380975372). Benford was part of the same panel (though in a different group), and the first half of the book is in-depth discussion of the various aspects of the problem that they had to consider.

Camillo 9y ago

That whole effort was such a waste of time and money. If civilization collapses, what does it matter if the waste storage site is disturbed? It's not like it's going to be a threat to humanity. Without advanced technology, any damage from radioactivity would be limited to the local population. To extract a large amount of contaminated material and spread it around the world, you would need an advanced technological civilization, which would then be able to detect radioactivity. If anything, a big concentration of it may help accelerate their scientific progress at some point.

Nition 9y ago
Well the issue would be that it hurts the local population. And maybe you can prevent them from getting hurt, if you try to come up with a good warning.
- Camillo 9y ago
  But there's an opportunity cost. You pay a whole interdisciplinary committee to sit on their asses thinking about it for n weeks (I don't even want to know how long it took). You could take that money and use it on a million other things that would result in a larger reduction of people-getting-hurt.
  - prewett 9y ago
    What would that be? Those million other things that prevent people 1000, 2000, 5000 years from now from getting hurt? A good warning seems like a great idea, and low cost, high impact. Problem is, no language has lasted for 10,000 years.
    - will_pseudonym 9y ago
      Lightning bolts seems like the best thing to use. They're scary and deadly.

kalleboo 9y ago

> that perhaps just an area earning a reputation as cursed So ironically perhaps the best way is to make it actually radioactively poisonous so that people learn that it is a dangerous place...