Singing Potatoes
Previous — Main Page — Up to Archive — Next
Thursday, 20 February 2003
Posterity

I frequently wonder, especially as I paw through the local university library's microfilm collection of Early English Books, 1475-1650, whether anything of what I have written on this site will survive my death.

Will some researcher or hobbyist, hundreds of years into the future, happen upon some future incarnation of the Wayback Machine and stumble into these pages? Would their interest be held for even a short time, or would they find it inconsequential and move on to something more worthwhile? Probably the latter, of course; I've no illusions about the worth of these pages.

This line of thought always calls to my mind Kim Novak's line from Vertigo: "Here I was born, and there I died. It was only a moment for you; you took no notice."

Will the people of the future take no notice of our lives, remembering only a handful of prominent names from our time, as we do of the denizens of our past? Or will archives of the Internet provide them with a more personal view? Will they read the weblogs of past, either out of curiosity about times gone by or for the voyeuristic thrill of reading the daily lives of those who came before them?

Of course, that all assumes that we don't wipe ourselves off the face of the planet first. (Aren't I cheerful tonight?)

Posted by godfrey (link)
Previous — Main Page — Up to Archive — Next
Comments
Well, I suppose one way to secure a chance at immortality would be to make a copy of your website or your favorite music or something you've written or pages from FARK to CD, then put the CD Case in a small but durable airtight container and bury it in your backyard (or someplace where it would be safe). Kind of a digital time capsule.

Of course, computer CD players will almost certainly be out of vogue when it's discovered. At least our ancestors didn't have to worry about media compatibility!
Posted by Darren on 21 Feb 2003 05:47
Yes, it's fairly ironic that books made of animal skins and paper made hundreds of years ago can still impart their information, but some forms of more modern media have either degraded or no longer can be read due to lack of equipment. (Are there even any working 8" disk drives remaining?)

If I ever were to bury a time capsule, though, I'd have to include a frog with a little top hat and a cane.

Posted by Godfrey on 21 Feb 2003 08:19
People in the future who read these weblogs will say, "What a waste of time!"

Go ahead and write your book for posterity and bury it in the backyard. It is the safest way, and people will be amazed at the effort you took to actually use a pen instead of a keyboard.

But if you really want to be remembered, do what the song says, do something stupid!
Posted by Lisa on 21 Feb 2003 10:42