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Outside of archeology we basically know nothing about pre-Roman Britain. We hardly know anything about Roman Britain too and we barely know what happened after

Outside of archeology we basically know nothing about pre-Roman Britain. We hardly know anything about Roman Britain too and we barely know what happened after the Romans left. Barring some world ending apocalypse I find it hard to imagine that, even if let's say 1000 times less written material survived the next 2000 years compared to the 2000 that preceded us our descendants would still have several magnitudes more information about our times than we do about 0 BC (especially if we're talking about Britain or pretty much any people in Europe who did not speak Latin or Greek).

HappyDaoDude 3y ago
It is hard to tell what we will leave. Depending on how our civilization declines, if it just the typical path of resource overshoot and decline I do wonder how much of what we are creating today will last. Digital technology is efficient but lacks resilience. Even our printed materials now are on high acid paper that essentially turns into saw dust after less than a hundred years. The things that make it through these periods are the stuff that is seen as useful to the folks in between. This is why we get a lot of religion, the odd bits of sciences stuff, a lot on growing food and snips of history if lucky. Heck for the might of the Roman empire, we only have 25 seconds of sheet music remaining. It is also funny how little we know about some of the Emperors. Things like, they had children, we do not know their names or if they survived childhood. The gaps are huge. The things that survive are the things other think are worth surviving. Hygiene practices yes! Tiktok... no.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  > Even our printed materials now are on high acid paper that essentially turns into saw dust after less than a hundred years. I've heard this a lot and don't find it credible. I have many books that are from 1 to 150 years old and none have shown signs of turning into sawdust. I even have 40 year old computer mags that are like new.
- permo-w 3y ago
  at the bare minimum, we have graveyards all over the place with our language, names, number system, religious symbology, etc etc carved into stone
  - HappyDaoDude 3y ago
    That is a very fair call! The overall champion of physical storage is still stone.

HappyDaoDude 3y ago

It is hard to tell what we will leave. Depending on how our civilization declines, if it just the typical path of resource overshoot and decline I do wonder how much of what we are creating today will last. Digital technology is efficient but lacks resilience. Even our printed materials now are on high acid paper that essentially turns into saw dust after less than a hundred years. The things that make it through these periods are the stuff that is seen as useful to the folks in between. This is why we get a lot of religion, the odd bits of sciences stuff, a lot on growing food and snips of history if lucky. Heck for the might of the Roman empire, we only have 25 seconds of sheet music remaining. It is also funny how little we know about some of the Emperors. Things like, they had children, we do not know their names or if they survived childhood. The gaps are huge. The things that survive are the things other think are worth surviving. Hygiene practices yes! Tiktok... no.

WalterBright 3y ago
> Even our printed materials now are on high acid paper that essentially turns into saw dust after less than a hundred years. I've heard this a lot and don't find it credible. I have many books that are from 1 to 150 years old and none have shown signs of turning into sawdust. I even have 40 year old computer mags that are like new.
permo-w 3y ago
at the bare minimum, we have graveyards all over the place with our language, names, number system, religious symbology, etc etc carved into stone
- HappyDaoDude 3y ago
  That is a very fair call! The overall champion of physical storage is still stone.