Information

We live in the Information Age. We have unprecedented access to share and collect data for many many things. However, like Lex mentioned in the event of catastrophic event, we would lose many essential services we take for granted- power, water, utilities. In the event of any sort of disruption could mean trouble also for our servers and mainframe centers (granted much like hospitals, I would almost bet they have backup generators and contingency plans). Anyways, in the event of an epidemic or massive catastrophe, do we as a society have a backup or way to preserve data and this wealth of knowledge we have of the world and medicine and physics and the humanities much like I keep my photos, music, and medical school files on a hard drive? Scandinavia has a massive seed vault, but besides all we have learned and placed in our minds and in books, do we have ways to preserve and pass on what we have accomplished in our lifetimes to those who will come after us (if this world allows and humanity survives that long)? We have the ruins of the Parthenon, the cave writings and tapestry from France, Palmyra ruins (which have been damaged recently in the Syrian conflict) from ages past. What will we consider worthwhile to preserve and maintain and how will we ensure that it can be passed on. The US has the Library of Congress but even then disasters can destroy books as a fire destroyed a large collection in the 1800s which included some of Jefferson's books. Information handed down and preserved and shared (consider history from ages ago) has brought us to the point where we are today. So, how will we past on our advances and growth as humanity long after we are gone?