Will the History of Our Times be Accurate? (80s, facts, JFK)

[jtur88]

This thread was inspired by the other thread, that referenced the legend of Lady Godiva. A thousand years from now, how accurate will the hiistory of the 20th century be, and will there be myths and legends widely held to be true?

One is first inclined to think that so much material is being documentd now that there will be little chance for inaccuracies or exclusions. But the medical profession is already expressing concern about the huge amount of medical data that is now inaccessible, because either the hardware has become corrupted over time, or more often, because it is stored on a medium that is obsolete, and there iare or soon will be no reliable machines to read it---like if all your music was on 8-track. And the data will be unstorable or unsearchable due to its sheer bulk, contianing 99.99999999999% useless junk that would take superhuman effort to sort through

The collected material that would document our times is, over a thousand years, likely to be highly susceptible to loss or damage. Furthermore, there are even myths and legends held to be true and/or facts held to be false about events in our own lifetimes, like who shot JFK, and Area 51, and D. B. Cooper and Dyanetics and acupuncture. How can these be embellished over a thousand years?

[ovcatto]

Archiving digitial medium is NOW becoming a huge problem and as more information, photographs, moving pictures, books, manuscripts, periodicals are produced on computers their is an absolute need to not only preserve and maintain outmoded computers but to constantly transfer and convert legacy data into the more current form.

On the upside, the ability to sift through that data in an productive manner can only become increasingly more efficient. I would much rather perform a search for key words, than pour over miles of microfilm in hopes of hitting relevant information.

[RangerDuke08]

Hmmmmm jtur88, ever seen the time capsule at the Denver International Airport??? Maybe the old school way is the way to go.

[jtur88]

Time capsules may not be slanted according to what future people will wish to know. Baseball box scores in the 1880s told us who scored runs, but not who batted them in. Time capsules will tell future centuries about Abba, but not about abortions. The defects in our present knowledge about historic times arise from a documenting selectivity in those times that could not imagine what 20th century man would want to know about, like what children did in their leisure time, or how many people actually believed the world was round.

[RangerDuke08]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Time capsules may not be slanted according to what future people will wish to know. Baseball box scores in the 1880s told us who scored runs, but not who batted them in. Time capsules will tell future centuries about Abba, but not about abortions. The defects in our present knowledge about historic times arise from a documenting selectivity in those times that could not imagine what 20th century man would want to know about, like what children did in their leisure time, or how many people actually believed the world was round.

How about how old school bubble gum actually tasted in those old bowman wrappers?

[jtur88]

We used to throw the Bowman (or Topps) gum down on the sidewalk and see who could make it shatter into the most brittle little pieces.

[Dd714]

The RIAA certainly has not problem converting from phonographic records to cassettes to 8-tracks to CD and then to digital downloads in less than a generation. I don't think data transfer will be a problem and storage mediums are getting smaller, more reliable, and easier and faster.

The problem is indeed data overload, not that there is a lack of space, but just that there is so much junk out there. Spam is the danger. In 1,000 years society might think viagra or nigerean lotteries were the most important aspects of life in the 21st century.

[ESFP]

All anyone would have to do to see history is watch an Oliver Stone movie, right? In actuality, this is a good arguement, as the same problem occurs with disposing of nuclear waste. In 10,000 years, who will be able to interpret the instructions "Do Not Open!"

[Grandstander]

Anyone see the movie "Zardoz?" It's theme was the future society structuring their social order on the basis of misinterpretation of artifacts from the past.

[ilovebdj]

Originally Posted by Dd714

In 1,000 years society might think viagra or nigerean lotteries were the most important aspects of life in the 21st century.

Was there anything more important?