Given that our Empire is likely to fall and plunge us into a new dark age I volunteer to be a member of a remote, isolated Foundation dedicated to preserving our most valuable remnants of knowledge to reduce the span of chaos.
@Pen_and_Screen OK, let's think about how to do this. Some starting points:
1. What existing foundations are currently doing this most effectively?
2. How to enforce limits on what information is preserved? Consolidating & removing unimportant knowledge is a bigger challenge than capturing important knowledge right now.
3. How can a storage place be isolated enough to survive geopolitical catastrophe but also well-known enough to be recovered after a dark age?
@rustyswarf Though I suspect a new Western Dark Age (or at least American Dark Age) would have less to do with information storage proper (I don’t think the Internet or archives will be wiped anytime soon) and more to do with communication and political divisions which would hamper infrastructure. So in a sense I think such a Foundation would be about the preparation of Marshall Plan rebuilding. The question almost becomes if a Foundation could work without major political debt.
@Pen_and_Screen
I'm not usually one of those wannabe-immortal types, but how cool would it be to hold a deadpool for major world libraries/universities/museums?
Which will be destroyed first?
a) Oxford
b) Harvard
c) NYC public library
d) The Louvre
e) The Vatican
other candidates?
@rustyswarf I could actually see the Louvre getting destroyed first. But maybe that’s just because the French like to riot more...
@Pen_and_Screen Different angle: you have one trunk and you want someone to open it 500 years from now and find valuable information.
Where or with whom do you leave it?
What do you put inside?
@rustyswarf
If it's possible to have it refrigerated, I'd go for genetical information. Seeds, with notes on cultivation in many languages and images.
@Pen_and_Screen
@arteteco @Pen_and_Screen It's simple enough to bury a trunk 5 meters deep, that will stay about 9-12° C.
Best practices for storing seeds long term?
What 5 species you store?
@rustyswarf
Mmhm, 9.12°C would be ok for a few years, but 500 years no way. You need -20°C in airlocked containers.
5 species... that's tough!
We'd need useful stuff, that is likely to disappear and must therefore be protected, for many climate situations.
I'd say a lot of grains, as they'll be crucial for our feeding and we already lost a lot of varieties. Then tomatoes, at least a 50/60 varieties, good food and easy to cultivate. Some good nuts, maybe Chestnuts, as many varieties as possible, they give a lot of calories but are prone to diseases (like the blight), so we should have many kinds.
I'd have to think about the other twos, any idea?
@arteteco So what happens to seeds when they're not stored cold enough? Do they sprout? Could they last 100 years?