Many unpleasant byproducts of today's design industry last thousands of years; but what things do we want to last that long? Who besides the Long Now and Yucca Mountain designs things to last 10,000 years?
Unorganized thoughts: History, really deep history, is fantastically interesting to think about.
The heart of the problem is that, outside certain generalities (people are going to need to irrigate the area serviced by Hoover Dam for as long as there are people there who can't get their water from other sources), we can't know what uses the future will have for the things we build.
The pyramids remain as monuments to the power of the culture which constructed them, which is kind of/sort of what the Egyptians were hoping for. People still use Roman roads and plumbing.
I wonder if what we need is more ephemerality in our objects, and not less? Maybe the future won't want to look at our monuments.
Alternatively: monuments are great!
Unorganized thoughts: History, really deep history, is fantastically interesting to think about.
The heart of the problem is that, outside certain generalities (people are going to need to irrigate the area serviced by Hoover Dam for as long as there are people there who can't get their water from other sources), we can't know what uses the future will have for the things we build.
The pyramids remain as monuments to the power of the culture which constructed them, which is kind of/sort of what the Egyptians were hoping for. People still use Roman roads and plumbing.
I wonder if what we need is more ephemerality in our objects, and not less? Maybe the future won't want to look at our monuments.
Alternatively: monuments are great!
