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Makes me wonder what research they'll be doing about us in 58,000 years.
by icc97 9y ago
Makes me wonder what research they'll be doing about us in 58,000 years.
- craftyguy 9y agoI suspect something like: > It is unknown what the vast majority of humans did during this period. (because all of our facebooks, twitters, hn comments, softwares, etc are not physically tangible artifacts and will [hopefully] be lost in time)
- have_faith 9y agoWe will rely on folklore and word of mouth again. > tell us again grandma about this "key-board" you had to smash your fingers into to speak to someone
- amputect 9y agoIn the time of the aspect book and the many small birds, the word piano was the primary means of communication.
- have_faith 9y agoWord Piano is a great phrase.
- gozur88 9y agoEvery time I buy a new computer I find the old hard disk fits in its entirety on the new one, leaving me with plenty of space to spare. I think I have four or five generations nested into the current one. I suspect storage will remain cheap enough most of these artifacts will survive, but it's going to be very difficult for future researchers to get a good idea of what 21st century life was like because the crap to content ratio is so high. Sorting through all those kitten videos and posts hardly anyone reads today will probably be more expensive and time consuming than it's worth.
- mod 9y agoEventually you'll lose your drive, and therefore data if you don't backup. In 58,000 years none of the data would be intact if not through pretty extreme efforts to preserve it. I guess maybe we'll find ways to encode data onto physical media, but I don't think my facebook (or HN) posts are going to make the cut.
- tryingagainbro 9y ago>> "Eventually you'll lose your drive, and therefore data if you don't backup." True, but someone will come up with a "databank" of sorts. Who knows, we might backup on DNA or space, as in cosmos. Is what we type right now escaping in space like TV transmissions? Any physics major here?
- Retra 9y agoSome of it goes into space (if it's transmitted the right way), but most will be drowned in noise. None of that matters though, since you can't get in front of the outgoing signal to receive it at a future date. It would have to be reflected, which would also introduce a large amount of noise.
- tryingagainbro 9y agoThanks makes sense. We see what is coming to us, and maybe nothing will be reflected considering expansion and all. BUT it is out there and an advanced civilization might figure it out (not that they might need it but curiosity)
- marcosdumay 9y agoThis is a lot of people losing their drivers in a relatively short time. No generation had a life so well preserved as we have. Whatever we can reconstruct about previous generations lives, future archeologists will get hundreds of times more.
- Waterluvian 9y ago
- Retra 9y agoIt is still better than the word-of-mouth of most of our ancestors. Our actual computer equipment will be fossilized quite well in landfills, hopefully.
- izzydata 9y agoIt will appear that the vast majority of humans did nothing other than waste away their lives in virtual spaces.
- 8ytecoder 9y agoThat's raw information. We do not know about past centuries because we had access to letters written by common people - while that helps it doesn't give context. That's where books come in. Author take the everyday noise, find meaningful patters and add context and explain away why things are the way they are. These books are what will guide our future generation on our way of life.
- craftyguy 9y agoThese books are becoming more and more "electronic-only." A quick survey of my coworkers shows that I'm the only one who still reads paper books. I hope I am wrong.
- ecshafer 9y agoExcept diaries and letters are Considered some of the best and most useful artifacts, as they give an insight into the on the ground thinking, and minute details of life in the past.
- narag 9y agoMakes me wonder what research they'll be doing about us in 58,000 years. My best guess: none. These years might not be totally irrelevant, but no doubt they're boring. Last century was very exciting and next will bring some singularity or something, but right now? Very difficult to make it seem interesting.
- failrate 9y agoSadly, though, a lot of our waste material won't degrade for thousands of years or more, unlike the natural materials our forebears used. Regardless of how boring we might be, our artifacts will survive longer.
- dotancohen 9y agoYou probably haven't seen the artificial womb. Or the onset of machines that recognize patterns and make heuristic decisions. Or the demise of government for the people. Or the rockets that come back from space and land themselves. Or the advent of portable, personalized spying devices carried in the _billions_ by the _willing_. Sometimes I wonder if this age is _too_ interesting.
- quotemstr 9y agoNothing. There won't be anyone around. Whatever the Great Filter is, it'll have gotten us by then. Do civilizations annihilate themselves in nuclear war? Do they use bioweapons they can't control? Do they wreck their ecosystems? Do that transcend into matrioshka brains? Whatever it is, it's something. If there are sentient creatures 58,000 years from now, they won't look or think anything like us, even if they are, technically, our descendants.
- allendoerfer 9y ago58.000 years is nothing. They will be exactly in the same position regarding all arguments about aliens. We (like all others) are not the special generation.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]