Nine days of 9 (part 4): What memories would you save for future races?

I would preserve memories of rainforests and all the exotic animals that lived in them so the future races can know what earth was once like.

For memories, I would consider some portion of our art and music, it doesn't have to be the "best", and the sound of the human voice. This would be simplest in small amounts but fully scalable. These might appear valueless, but to any future race they would be unique and indicate both some part of our biology, the senses we perceive and communicate in, and some part of our value system. Memories of any sort of technology is probably useless to a future race, but will be inherent in whatever artifact is used to convey such information.

The feel of magma inching up through solid crustal rock, crushed beyond comprehension, then violently liberated in an explosion of volatile gasses, dark, glassy ash, and bright glowing sprays of lava.

The shivering of a dandelion puff, trembling beneath a caress of wind, then let fly on a cloud of white.

The sun pouring down like honey on a cool autumn day, setting the falling leaves aglow in shades of flame and amber.

The song of wolves, mournful in the winter night; the song of whales, whistling beneath the waves.

The first cry of an infant's borning, and the last sigh of an ancient's dying.

The giddy effervescence of first love, and the heart-flowing warmth of true love, and the dagger's rend of heartbreak.

The bone-thrumming roar of a Saturn V, rising on a giant pillar of flame and smoke toward the heavens.

The quiet desperation of the victims of Auschwitz, and the crunch of bones in the killing fields of Cambodia, and the blood-soaked sands of Darfur.

Moments not to see us solely at our best, but to see us in our fullness, captured against the backdrop of time and planet. The best, and the worst, and the in-between, so that our existence not be lost, like tears in rain.

I would save all the memories of my son. Currently he is almost 9 weeks old and I've never felt so much love then I do from him. I would want future races to see how much love that we had for each other. I know at times it seems hard for us to see past the hatred, and the violence, but the only thing that matters really is the love that we have and pass on to future generations!

I would save a visual record of the worlds greatest architecture and copies of the best literature, but in a audio format. I would save the image of the sun rising over Lake Michigan from the end of Oak st.

Oh and that photo of the earth from the Apollo craft rounding the moon.

I think that we should pass on the history of the world, but in a visual format (for any language barrier). From discoveries in medicine, to inventions and technology, political and sociological issues.I'd also include photos of our fashions, food, and homes that we lived in.
At the end of every year they always showcase the highlights of the year. It should be something like that but going back to the beginning of time.

I would preserve history through art. Though it may not be a 100% accurate vision of the world, I believe art in all forms speaks to the core of the human condition. Just as we learn of our history today through the remnants of the art of the past, I believe that, whether we like it or not, the future will learn of us through the same means.

This is a toughie - do I go for the deeply personal, the memories of first love, of first achievement (eg parachute jump), first memories of parents, or the stately, the historical - the significant (to me) moments of history?

We already preserve our memories for future races - our photographs, our biographies, our diaries and our writings are memories, messages to our present and future selves.

But if we had the ability to capture direct memories, and non-human ones? I think if I could only capture one memory, it would be something hopeful for humanity - perhaps the thoughts of a liberated Nelson Mandela, or the moment when we knew how to combat smallpox, or polio or something like that.

I'd want future civilisations to know that we're responsible for that layer of plastic in the geological record, that sudden rise in CO2 in the ice cores, and the otherwise inexplicible reason that some species seem to share the bioluminescence genes from jellyfish.

I think the most important thing you could pass on would be the correct end from which to peel a banana.
Amazing for such a simple thing how many people get it wrong, says a lot about how far we've really come...!

I'd make an audio recording of 5-minute snapshots of all of the radio frequencies used by man to transmit data. This would obviously include FM and AM frequencies, but also CB, Ham, and even samples of cellular phone and internet signals that reside in RF. This would be an unabridged slice-of-life look at our speech, music and digital communication. It'd be a look at communication, art, and raw data. What a puzzle to figure out and what a reward for them once they did!

I would save the story of how one lone species amongst billions awoke to the understanding of what we are and where we came from. I would save the stories of how we made many mistakes trying to work out how the world functions, imagined many tales of beginnings and futures, and only late in our existence discovered how to tell which ideas were wrong and which just might be correct. I would save the memory of how we searched the skies in vain for evidence of other conscious beings and realized even our time as a species is limited. And if I were to leave one message that conveys the tenuousness of our existence and a warning to future beings to value the time they have, it would be Beckett's image of humanity, born "astride a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."

I would preserve the memories of what makes us human. You can't imagine something even fighting for your cause if they don't understand the reasoning behind it. The first kiss you have, first day of school, your first child being born, and even the taste of spinach or whatever food you hate. Every little thing including the feel of running through the rain or the forest, the way it feels to overcome a huge trial, the way it feels when something bad happens to you. By conveying this you convey what it feels like to be us and the good that comes along with it, no matter how many malicious events or thoughts there are in the world. It's not always the larger things that can move someone but the smaller things that can truly motivate someone to act.

For future races I would leave the memory of art. It has inspired and carried me through my whole life and passing on that feeling of inspiration, of being completely taken out of your surroundings by simply looking at a spectacular work of art would let others know how we feel and think and have the ability to create things greater than ourselves. Represented in murals, sonnets, symphonies, sculptures, anything and everything that inspires and makes one think.

Memories of shame, realizations of failures great and small, of crushing regret. Of horrific realizations: what have I done? What have we done? We were wrong. Our vision was corrupt. This damage is irreparable. These lives are lost forever.

I could have stopped it; we never stopped to think; we were so sure we were right.

I was weak; I was unsure; I said nothing. I still say nothing, even now.

Capture this.

The Random Engine has spoken:

Today's winner is #13. Melanie. Hurrah!

Please email your details to winner@sciencepunk.com to claim your prize!

My answer depends on when the memories would be examined. Passing on art, and music would be less important then a manual to accessing them if we had direct contact with whatever would come after us. I would want to include some information on what lead to our downfall and then start on a sort of how to guide for both our current state of knowledge and the artifacts we would leave behind. Following the zeroth rule of Xenopsychology (aliens are alien), trying to get what ever comes next to form an emotional connection would probably be next to useless. On the other hand I would expect any sentient species to appreciate a warning not to look down the barrel of a gun while pulling the trigger.