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Author Topic: Pastwatch Time Capsule
The Rabbit
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Imagine for a moment that we are part of the past watch project and we are going to send someone back to the time of Columbus and radically alter the entire timeline from Columbus to the present.

Our job is to create a time capsule that will be sent back and hidden (hopeful to be discovered around the year 2000). This capsule needs to contain a record of the most important human works on our time line. Another team is preparing some high tech electronic media that can contain terra bytes of information but in case the technology to read that is never developed, our team has been assigned to assemble one suitcase full of stuff that could be read using technology known at the time of Columbus. We are limited to printed materials, literature, sheet music, pictures, diagrams etc. And since the space is very limited we must be very selective.

What should we put in the time capsule and why? Remember that space is of a premium so you will have to present very prepared to argue for anything you suggest.

My first suggestion is that we should include the score for Beethoven's ninth symphony.

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Godric
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What a cool thread idea.

I promise I'll think about some actual items, but I'm gonna "cheat" and suggest... detailed instructions on creating a device to read the digital info. I assume we would create some sort of "proprietary" computer device design both to store the info and to read it.

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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
What a cool thread idea.

I promise I'll think about some actual items, but I'm gonna "cheat" and suggest... detailed instructions on creating a device to read the digital info. I assume we would create some sort of "proprietary" computer device design both to store the info and to read it.

Presume that the group preparing the digital information is already doing that. Our job is to create a backup of select hard copies in case the digital project fails.
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The Rabbit
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I'd also recommend that rather than including any existing history texts, our team should prepare a one or two volume history of the world from Columbus to the present to include in our time capsule. Unlike a regular history text, these would include the key important events and people that we would want the new time line to know about our time line.

My husband thought was we wouldn't want to tell them too much if anything about some of the worst parts of our history, genocides, arms races, slave trade etc for fear it might give people ideas to try. I think thats a bit too cynical but perhaps worthy of consideration. I certainly wouldn't want to include plans for an atomic bomb.

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BandoCommando
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I'm going to go ahead and disagree with Beethovens 9th. The music of the late 15th century is vastly different than music of the 19th century, and to assume that people if an alternate 21st century would have developed a similar music aesthetic would be naive. This is particularly true if one considers the cultural influence of cultures that would be extant thanks to the other changes of the Pastwatch project.

Rather than selecting pieces, I would attempt to find a representative sample of musical innovations (forms, structures, harmonies, etc.) that allowed for compositions like Beethoven's to come to be. Assembling a list if these would, of course, be easier said than done.

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scifibum
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I think the United States constitution is a magnificent document. I'd like to include it. I might make a few edits first, though. (But I'll keep quiet about those because I don't want to start a political argument.)
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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by scifibum:
I think the United States constitution is a magnificent document. I'd like to include it. I might make a few edits first, though. (But I'll keep quiet about those because I don't want to start a political argument.)

I'll agree with this one. I'd include an outline of world events leading up to the genesis of the document. Whatever debates it has caused since it's birth, there is no doubt it is one of the most significant documents to come out of the last few centuries. It is the cornerstone of the (for better or worse), most influential nation in the current world.

I wouldn't edit it at all. Sure, there's plenty to disagree with in it, but ultimately, I think we should be transparent to our alternate timeline audience.

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scifibum
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Well if you want transparency we'll have to include a transcript of one day's worth each of E!, VH1, and Comedy Central.
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ricree101
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I'd include a decent selection of high quality photographs as well. Things like a major city skyline (I'd suggest Chicago, but I'm biased in that regard), a large dam, planes in flight, trains, large modern ships of one sort or another, etc. Essentially, some things to help inspire and give vision to the text that's being included.

If nothing else, it would probably help get them to take the rest of the contents more seriously. And given that some things that might be included would seem extremely radical to people of that time (such as a modern declaration of human rights), it would be a good idea to help drive home the idea that we know what we're talking about.

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Godric
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I'll pose a question (it's been quite a few years since I read Pastwatch, so I can't recall if this is addressed): Is there anything we could include that would verify this capsule's authenticity?

When first discovered, I would expect critics to treat it as a thorough, impressive work of fiction.

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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by scifibum:
Well if you want transparency we'll have to include a transcript of one day's worth each of E!, VH1, and Comedy Central.

I don't think "transparency" equates to giving equal time to every voice. Obviously, we have limited space, so much editing must be done to our contents. We can be transparent, or maybe I should say, authentic with them though.

But you were kidding, right? [Razz]

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ricree101
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It might be possible to rig up something that has the right combination of dating and technology level.

In pastwatch, the historical data was hidden inside the skull of the people who went back in time. Since they could verify the age of the remains using radiometric dating, and the techniques used to insert the data was far, far beyond anything that existed when they died, people were forced to accept the origin of the records.

In this scenario, it would be a lot harder to verify with this method, since we're talking about a freestanding capsule rather than plates embedded inside a skull.

As an alternative, you could set them up so that they'd likely be found before the society had caught up to our tech level.

For example, if you had it set up to broadcast a radio signal continuously and had a sufficiently large power supply, it might be discovered soon after radio is invented. Then you'd just have to include scientific discoveries that would take many years to discover after the invention of radio. Given time, the material in the capsule would be tested, and when it turns out to be accurate, it would be very hard to dismiss as a hoax.

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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
I'd include a decent selection of high quality photographs as well. Things like a major city skyline (I'd suggest Chicago, but I'm biased in that regard), a large dam, planes in flight, trains, large modern ships of one sort or another, etc. Essentially, some things to help inspire and give vision to the text that's being included.

Excellent idea. Do we have printed photograph paper/ink that would stand the aging process for ~600 or more years? I guess we can assume we do if we have the capacity to pull off a Pastwatch-like project...

quote:
If nothing else, it would probably help get them to take the rest of the contents more seriously. And given that some things that might be included would seem extremely radical to people of that time (such as a modern declaration of human rights), it would be a good idea to help drive home the idea that we know what we're talking about.
Yes, this touches on my question above. How will we ensure our briefcase contents are seen as authentic?
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scifibum
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Godric, half kidding. [Smile]
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Godric
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I'll nominate the complete works of Shakespeare. Cliche, but I'd argue it's the most influential art collection from a single artist in the last few hundred centuries.
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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by BandoCommando:
I'm going to go ahead and disagree with Beethovens 9th. The music of the late 15th century is vastly different than music of the 19th century, and to assume that people if an alternate 21st century would have developed a similar music aesthetic would be naive. This is particularly true if one considers the cultural influence of cultures that would be extant thanks to the other changes of the Pastwatch project.

Rather than selecting pieces, I would attempt to find a representative sample of musical innovations (forms, structures, harmonies, etc.) that allowed for compositions like Beethoven's to come to be. Assembling a list if these would, of course, be easier said than done.

I don't know... Granted, every sheet of paper that goes in would severely limit, at this point probably a million other pages vying for attention. But I think we could include a sample selection of most of our top, maybe 100-200 musical composers (including current pop music) without taking up too much space.
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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
quote:
Originally posted by scifibum:
I think the United States constitution is a magnificent document. I'd like to include it. I might make a few edits first, though. (But I'll keep quiet about those because I don't want to start a political argument.)

I'll agree with this one. I'd include an outline of world events leading up to the genesis of the document. Whatever debates it has caused since it's birth, there is no doubt it is one of the most significant documents to come out of the last few centuries. It is the cornerstone of the (for better or worse), most influential nation in the current world.

If we include this, shall we also include Marx's Manifesto of the Communist Party?
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Godric
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On the one hand, I would argue for a large portion of our space to be filled with philosophical treatise. On the other, maybe this would be a waste of space - our alternate world would surely develop an, if not parallel, certainly equally rich philosophical record.

I like including the US Constitution and probably Marx's Manifesto of the Communist Party because, besides being documents heavily influenced by our own timeline's major philosophical thinkers, they would offer a glimpse into the application of those ideas.

Thoughts?

(Yeah, I'm hogging the thread at this point, but this thought experiment/thread has really captured my imagination. Sorry. And thanks Rabbit!)

[ September 25, 2009, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Godric ]

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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:

In pastwatch, the historical data was hidden inside the skull of the people who went back in time. Since they could verify the age of the remains using radiometric dating, and the techniques used to insert the data was far, far beyond anything that existed when they died, people were forced to accept the origin of the records.

Ah! Thanks for refreshing my memory! [Smile]

quote:
As an alternative, you could set them up so that they'd likely be found before the society had caught up to our tech level.

For example, if you had it set up to broadcast a radio signal continuously and had a sufficiently large power supply, it might be discovered soon after radio is invented. Then you'd just have to include scientific discoveries that would take many years to discover after the invention of radio. Given time, the material in the capsule would be tested, and when it turns out to be accurate, it would be very hard to dismiss as a hoax.

Possibly a good idea... But I would put this under Rabbit's restriction of a separate "tech branch" content. We're working on the backup content. What if technology hasn't advanced in the same direction? Or at all? Or if the tech we send back is broken or unusable? What "analog" contents would prove out authenticity?
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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
Possibly a good idea... But I would put this under Rabbit's restriction of a separate "tech branch" content. We're working on the backup content. What if technology hasn't advanced in the same direction? Or at all? Or if the tech we send back is broken or unusable? What "analog" contents would prove out authenticity?

I didn't really mean technology so much as raw scientific ideas on paper. Something like general relativity, quantum mechanics, or the fundamentals of integrated circuit design.

It might not be possible to confirm all of it right away, but it would enter the public record. And over time, bit by bit, it would stand up to tests. So once it was known to be true, the origins of the data would be strongly confirmed.

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Godric
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For posterity, NASA's Golden Record.

Is this true:

quote:
Sagan had originally asked for permission to include "Here Comes the Sun" from the Beatles' album Abbey Road. While the Beatles favoured it, EMI opposed it and the song was not included.
Seriously? Corporate executives withheld rights to a song to be placed on a possible communication to extraterrestial life? What possible purpose could this serve? Did they seriously want reimbursement?

Digital pirating apologists should be all over this...

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Godric
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
Possibly a good idea... But I would put this under Rabbit's restriction of a separate "tech branch" content. We're working on the backup content. What if technology hasn't advanced in the same direction? Or at all? Or if the tech we send back is broken or unusable? What "analog" contents would prove out authenticity?

I didn't really mean technology so much as raw scientific ideas on paper. Something like general relativity, quantum mechanics, or the fundamentals of integrated circuit design.

It might not be possible to confirm all of it right away, but it would enter the public record. And over time, bit by bit, it would stand up to tests. So once it was known to be true, the origins of the data would be strongly confirmed.

Let's assume the technology component fails for whatever reason. Including the "raw scientific ideas" on paper could still lead critics to charge that the "hoax perpetrators" just went about a very ingenious way of gaining notoriety immortal. I imagine they would wind up with an evolution/intelligent design debate over the authenticity of the "capsule."

I'm not saying your suggestions are bad ideas. They'd be fine. I'm just curious if we could come up with an irrefutable proof of authenticity through our limited means.

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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
Including the "raw scientific ideas" on paper could still lead critics to charge that the "hoax perpetrators" just went about a very ingenious way of gaining notoriety immortal.

The "hoax perpetrators" would have to advance the body of scientific knowledge by decades or even centuries in order to pull that off. There's no way that they could keep it a secret, and moreover there's no way they would. Advancing the state of the art by that much would bring about that sort of immortality far, far better than the hoax ever could.
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LisethMA
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Some questions come to mind when I think about what I would put in to the capsule. For instance, one would be, to perhaps put medical records of disease outbreaks to come. Only, if Columbus were to have strengthened the ties with Europe and North America, would there have been a higher spread of diseases? I’m not sure if that would be too helpful, for I would think that generations would have a higher immunity if our relationship strongly intertwined together with Columbus’ help. For the doubt of it, I would send a Medical book and perhaps give them recipes for vaccinations to help diseases of today.

Another thing I would put is a recording of Martin Luther King and perhaps Gandhi. Supposing that Columbus had started a better relationship with other cultures, I would send it to show them the struggles and perseverance of cultures that were treated unfairly and how such racism could break a country, and to teach a lesson of why the acceptance they had then would be so vital.

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Raymond Arnold
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quote:
Sagan had originally asked for permission to include "Here Comes the Sun" from the Beatles' album Abbey Road. While the Beatles favoured it, EMI opposed it and the song was not included.
Wow, this makes me genuinely angry.
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Mucus
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
As an alternative, you could set them up so that they'd likely be found before the society had caught up to our tech level.

Sounds very dangerous.
I mean, there is no way to guarantee that even with only images, equations, or photographs of upcoming technology, they would not be inspired to accelerate the pace of development. And frankly, the thought of imperialist Europeans running around with machine guns, poison gas, or even nukes decades or even centuries ahead of schedule is somewhat of a nightmare. Even if you could spread out the technology around the world, it could be pretty horrific. Alternatively, people might even start a war over acquiring the capsule if it did prove valuable.

quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
But I think we could include a sample selection of most of our top, maybe 100-200 musical composers (including current pop music) without taking up too much space.

That could be like shooting them in the foot though. Imagine if you were told tomorrow that the greatest thing that you would ever create is just given to you, that you would never do better. That could seriously mess with a person, cause them not to even try to start.
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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by BandoCommando:
I'm going to go ahead and disagree with Beethovens 9th. The music of the late 15th century is vastly different than music of the 19th century, and to assume that people if an alternate 21st century would have developed a similar music aesthetic would be naive. This is particularly true if one considers the cultural influence of cultures that would be extant thanks to the other changes of the Pastwatch project.

This is exactly why I would want to include the score for Beethoven's 9th symphony. Its something that would almost certainly never be written on the alternative time line and it is something that should be preserved.

I think the goal of this project (and this is certainly open for debate) should be to preserve the greatest contributions made by the people on our timeline. We run a risk that peoples tastes on the new timeline will be so different that they can't appreciated us, but I think if we select classics that have stood the test of time that risk will be low. These people will still be human and they will still share much of our history.

Musical tastes in the 21st century are quite different from those of the 19th century, but there are pieces, like Beethoven's 9th symphony, that have stood the test of time. I believe there would be people who would appreciate their greatness in any culture on any time line.

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The Rabbit
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quote:
That could be like shooting them in the foot though. Imagine if you were told tomorrow that the greatest thing that you would ever create is just given to you, that you would never do better. That could seriously mess with a person, cause them not to even try to start.
Why would that happen? This time capsule is to be hidden so that it won't be found for centuries. After that length of time chances that the artists on our time line even exist on the new timeline are exceedingly low even if the capsule is found before 2000.
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pooka
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Why is Beethoven's 9th less likely to develop in an alternate timeline? It seems like the emphasis should be on things that happened in the New World.

I mean, there's the argument Beethoven's father might not have had syphilis or however that was involved with his life.

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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by The Rabbit:
quote:
That could be like shooting them in the foot though. Imagine if you were told tomorrow that the greatest thing that you would ever create is just given to you, that you would never do better. That could seriously mess with a person, cause them not to even try to start.
Why would that happen? This time capsule is to be hidden so that it won't be found for centuries. After that length of time chances that the artists on our time line even exist on the new timeline are exceedingly low even if the capsule is found before 2000.
Agreed. And besides, all of these great works already exist, yet there is no lack of people creating new music and other forms of art. Why would the people who find the capsule be that much different?
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The Rabbit
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First off consider that Beethoven was born nearly 300 years after Columbus discovered the Americas. That's about 10 generations, which amounts to over 2046 ancestors or 1023 couples who are required for Beethoven to even be born.

Next, consider the enormous impact that the discovery of the Americas had on Europe. Without the wealth that came form the Americas, Spain and the Hapsburg family would not have become a dominant force in Europe. This would in term have had a major impact on the wars of religion and the treaties that established the political boundaries in central and western Europe. Changes in the trade patterns would have changed the route and impact of the plague.

The chances that Beethoven would even be born on the alternative time line are very remote. Even if he was born, the chances that all the other musicians and composers and writers who influenced his work were also born is vanishingly small. The chances that all the instruments he composed for would have been developed, that Vienna would have become a center for music, that Beethoven would have learned to play piano, that Friedrich Shiller would have written the Ode to Joy, and so on are each quite small and all of them would have to have happened for Beethoven to compose the 9th symphony we know.

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Tatiana
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I'd say we should include a copy of Feynman's Lectures on Physics. It's weird but I have 3 copies now. One that I bought for myself, one that was my dad's and one that was my aunt's. If anyone wants one, btw, just email me and pay for shipping and it's yours.
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The Rabbit
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I want one Tatiana. I need to decide where to have it shipped but I definitely want one.

I love Feynman's lectures but the complete set is pretty big and I'm not sure they warrant that large a percentage of our time capsule. If we could only include one or two of the lectures, which would you pick.

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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by Godric:
I'll nominate the complete works of Shakespeare. Cliche, but I'd argue it's the most influential art collection from a single artist in the last few hundred centuries.

The complete works of Shakespeare was the first thing that came to my mind. But then I started to waffle because Shakespeare was born only 70 years after Columbus's first voyage so chance are still fairly good that Shakespeare would have lived. Of course chance are slimmer that he would have written all the same plays and that they would have survived. And I wondered if we would want to give that much space to something that might exist in the new time line any way. I've gone back and forth on this several times and I think we should send a list of Shakespeares complete works along with selected plays and Sonnets. The question is, which plays should we send.

I think there are some obvious ones that we could cross out. We should leave out all the histories with the possible exception of Richard III. But if we were to limit it to say 12 plays, which twelve would you choose?

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Belle
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the sonnets (I know, not a play, but they should be there)
Othello
Hamlet
Winter's Tale
Taming of the Shrew
King Lear
MacBeth
Julius Caesar
As You Like It
The Tempest
Midsummer's Night Dream
Romeo and Juliet (I waffled on it, it's not one of my favs but it's so iconic)

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The Rabbit
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quote:
the sonnets (I know, not a play, but they should be there)
All of them?

I'd also like to argue that Richard III is a better play than Julius Ceasar or King Lear even if its not as iconic. And I far prefer Tweleth Night to Taming of the Shew.

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Belle
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I love Richard III, but I thought we weren't putting in the histories. I see you made an exception for Richard III so if you want to go ahead and replace one with it, that's cool. I'll fight for Lear though...I love it.

As for the comedies, feel free to add and subtract at will. I'm much more of a fan of the tragedies, so most of the comedies I've only read once. They just don't make as big an impact on me.

Maybe not all the sonnets...but at least the top ten, huh? Then of course we have to narrow down the top ten.

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BandoCommando
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My suggestion to send examples of the musical innovations rather than specific 'masterworks' was intended to allow the alternate society to create their own successes based on our acquired knowledge rather than emulate our specific works.

Also, one must consider that the even-temperament tonal system of the day's of Beethoven is VERY different from that of the late 1400s. There's no reason to assume that the even-temperament tuning system would develop again in the alternate timeline.

Also, there were technological innovations in regards to the construction of musical instruments in the intervening centuries. Instruments of the 1800s project sound far better than the instruments of the 1400s. The piano didn't even exist in Colombus' time; just the harpsichord, which didn't have nearly as much sustain and allowed for no change in dynamics (volume).

Simply providing the sheet music for music that is deemed arbitrarily 'great' (would Beethoven's 9th be fully appreciated without also taking into consideration the body of work that preceded it?) would not be effective.

I can't remember my music history well enough to even remember when the musical staff and notation as we know it was standardized across Europe. Certainly by the 1600s. Notation for hundred of years prior to that was a very subjective series of squiggles (Neumes) that relied on word-of-mouth (song-of -mouth?) to be interpreted.

Edit to include other examples of musical innovation that I think should be included, even if they came after Beethoven's 9th:

-valved brass instruments (as opposed to natural trumpets, etc.)
-Boehm-style key systems that allow for increased complexity of parts for woodwind instruments

Maybe I'll think of more later.

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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by The Rabbit:
But if we were to limit it to say 12 plays, which twelve would you choose?

While Shakespeare's influence is undeniable, we're talking about trying to preserve a recording of as much of our society, culture, history, etc as possible in what is presumably a fairly limited space.

In light of that, would 12 plays be justifiable, even for so acclaimed an author as Shakespeare?

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The Rabbit
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quote:
My suggestion to send examples of the musical innovations rather than specific 'masterworks' was intended to allow the alternate society to create their own successes based on our acquired knowledge rather than emulate our specific works.
I have every reason to believe that the alternate society will have a rich musical history of their own. They won't need our aquired knowledge to create successful masterpieces of their own, they will be already doing that. I suspect they will have created masterpieces in all the arts and sciences, many of which may exceed what we've done. I don't think the small space we have is best use trying to teach them how to do what we've done.

Our think our goal should be to preserve the very best of what we have achieved. While what we send will likely alter that future, I don't see that as the primary motivation for doing it. Changing the timeline will wipe out us. Everything we and our progenitors have done will be erased unless its included in this time capsule. Some of what we have done should be saved and I think saving those master works should be our top priority.

Although I will concede that it doesn't make much sense to send musical scores unless we include some description of how to properly read them as well as the instruments on which the music is played. But we don't need a comprehensive history of musical innovation to do that. We need to identify what pieces of music from which genres are the greatest examples of the music we have produced and then add in the explanation on how to read the scores and detailed drawings for the instruments that were used.

I think alot of what I'm suggesting would accomplish the goal you suggest. A description of how to read our music, a score from Beethoven's 32nd piano sonata and a detailed drawing of piano would likely inspire people to build a piano or invent related key board instruments and compose new music for them. Some of the same ends are achieved but the focus is different and will make a big difference in how decide what to include. If we want to teach the alternative timeline about how music developed on our time line, we will need to identify what are the key musical innovations so we can include them all, and then we might include a few example pieces to illustrate how those innovations were employed. If we want to preserve the greatest contributions of our musicians, we would focus on selecting pieces to be preserved and then decide what supplementary material was necessary to preserve those great pieces.

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Tatiana
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Okay, let me know what address you want me to send it to. If you're going to Utah over Christmas, that would leave plenty of time for it to arrive there, if you want. Or I can send it internationally to your island home, if you feel it would be safe that way.

I can't pick individual lectures. The reason I picked the whole of the Lectures is that it covers all of physics in a very readable, easily accessible way. To me that seems of huge importance.

My next thought is the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. How horrible if that ever were to get lost in a fold of spacetime!

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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
quote:
Originally posted by The Rabbit:
But if we were to limit it to say 12 plays, which twelve would you choose?

While Shakespeare's influence is undeniable, we're talking about trying to preserve a recording of as much of our society, culture, history, etc as possible in what is presumably a fairly limited space.

In light of that, would 12 plays be justifiable, even for so acclaimed an author as Shakespeare?

That really depends on what else is competing for the space doesn't it. So perhaps we should start by compiling a big list and then we can look at pairing it down.
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Raymond Arnold
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Honestly, as great as Shakespeare is, I have to imagine there's plenty of other works from around the world that are worth preserving. I've also noticed so far we're focusing a lot on people from Europe. Granted, I'm not particularly familiar with the rest of the world and I suppose other people here probably aren't either, so I don't know what we might be wanting to include instead.

And I also suppose it's a reasonable argument that large portions of Africa and Asia wouldn't be as dramatically affected by our changes, at least not at first. I'm not a big enough history buff to know which portions of the world were effected by Europe at which times.

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The Rabbit
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Well the impact of the triagular trade on Africa was enormous so I anticipate that the impact on Africa would be huge. I expect the impact would be a lot smaller on Asia, at least over the first century unless the non-discovery of the Americas lead to big chances in trade between Europe and Asia, which is certainly possible.
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ricree101
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If nothing else, I imagine that Asian history would be quite different if not for the spread of communism.
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The Rabbit
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I'm going to propose the following.

Faust
One hundred years of Solitude
A House for Mr. Biswas
Crime and Punishment
Heart of Darkness
The Prophet
Huckleberry Finn

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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
If nothing else, I imagine that Asian history would be quite different if not for the spread of communism.

Yes, but that is only the last 60 years which isn't that big a fraction of the 500+ years since Columbus.
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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by LisethMA:
Some questions come to mind when I think about what I would put in to the capsule. For instance, one would be, to perhaps put medical records of disease outbreaks to come. Only, if Columbus were to have strengthened the ties with Europe and North America, would there have been a higher spread of diseases? I’m not sure if that would be too helpful, for I would think that generations would have a higher immunity if our relationship strongly intertwined together with Columbus’ help. For the doubt of it, I would send a Medical book and perhaps give them recipes for vaccinations to help diseases of today.

In the book Pastwatch, the people who go back in time take with them live vaccines for the major diseases that wiped out most of the population of the Americas so that immunity to the major diseases was spread passively through the population. When trade did open up between Europe and the American continent, that immunity would have spread through Europe as well. As a result, I think we can presume that the medical history on the new time line will be so dramatically different from our medical history that our medical knowledge in the year 2000 would not be particularly useful in their year 2000. Remember that our goal is to hide this time capsule so that it is not discovered for many centuries. The contents of the capsule are not intended to alter the time line but rather to preserve a knowledge of us and our time line in the altered time line.
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The Rabbit
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I also think we need to include a brief write up on space exploration and photos from the Apollo missions. Putting a man on the moon qualifies as a master work in my mind.
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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by ricree101:
I'd include a decent selection of high quality photographs as well. Things like a major city skyline (I'd suggest Chicago, but I'm biased in that regard), a large dam, planes in flight, trains, large modern ships of one sort or another, etc. Essentially, some things to help inspire and give vision to the text that's being included.

If nothing else, it would probably help get them to take the rest of the contents more seriously. And given that some things that might be included would seem extremely radical to people of that time (such as a modern declaration of human rights), it would be a good idea to help drive home the idea that we know what we're talking about.

Once again, I'd like emphasize that this time capsule is not intended for the people of Columbus' time. The idea is that it will be hidden well enough that it will not be discovered for centuries. I suppose we can't completely illiminate the possibility that it might be discovered much sooner. I don't remember exactly how this was done in Past Watch. Maybe the time capsule could be fitted with some sort of timed lock that would prevent it from being opened until 2000 even if it is discovered earlier than that. Maybe it should also be equipped with some sort of alarm that would ensure its discovery in 2000 in case it wasn't uncovered earlier.

The question of what we might include that prove the validity of the materials is very fascinating.

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