# The Information in the Rocks By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-07-07 As of today, the best humans have been able to do in terms of passing information across thousands of years is via rock and chisel. Ink fades, paper eventually rots, electronic components fail, and computers need power. Rocks can endure thousands of years, even in the harshest of conditions. If humans were wiped off the face of the Earth today, the impressions we left in rocks would essentially be all that could be found of our existence eons from now. So, what an alien would gather about our species would primarily be monuments, foundations, and leftover mining operations. Essentially, they would find and attempt to interpret our existence like we try to analyze how humans lived 5,000 years ago. Even though 5,000 years isn't that long ago in the scope of Earth's history, we still struggle to know even the most basic of our ancestorial existence. What do these patterns in the rocks mean? Why did they build this thing here? All we have are educated guesses that we likely are very wrong about based on how often our theories have changed. The nuance is lost, along with whether a marking was significant or just an angry teenager scribbling on a wall. On this scale, the insignificance of one's existence comes into focus. The information we create today and who we are depends upon someone in society perpetuating the message forward against chaos and decay. Will our generation of humanity be able to extend beyond the rocks? Have we gotten better? Will anyone be around to know? #### Related Items [[Information]] [[Rock]] [[History]] [[Society]] [[Existential]] [[The Human Condition]] [[Time]]