Re:Ten Thousand Years
by Houshalter on Sunday July 27, 2014 @06:14AM
(#8092390)
The tomb of the first Chinese emperor has not been opened because they are concerned it's filled with mercury gas.
It's not "superstitious gobledegook", it's how you convey a message without using words only people from our culture and time period would know. Or indeed, without any words at all.
Photographs, diagrams, technological equipment, and everything else, were all proposed in the paper as methods of conveying that information. But there are serious issues with all of them. Very few things will last that long, especially in good shape. And symbols we understand in our culture will have no meaning to them. Even photographs can easily mislead, and as you said, encourage people to explore.
It's not "superstitious gobledegook", it's how you convey a message without using words only people from our culture and time period would know. Or indeed, without any words at all.
Photographs, diagrams, technological equipment, and everything else, were all proposed in the paper as methods of conveying that information. But there are serious issues with all of them. Very few things will last that long, especially in good shape. And symbols we understand in our culture will have no meaning to them. Even photographs can easily mislead, and as you said, encourage people to explore.