Will the Future Understand the Past

Scientist may have found out how the ancient Egyptians moved large stones across the dessert. They theorize that the ancient Egyptians put the stones on a sled and dragged across the sand and had one man in front of the sled pours water in front of it so that the sled can glide across. Scientist have tested this on small scale and it works well, but there is another thing that helps prove their theory true. There is a hieroglyph made by the ancient Egyptians that depicts this process, and not until now do we think we know what it means. The hieroglyph shows a statue on a sled begin pulled, with a man in front of it pouring water out of a jug.

The ancient Egyptians left all types of messages and for the hope that the future could understand them, but as seen in the recent discovery it is hard to interpret the messages of the past. All ancient civilizations have left messages, and we today struggle to interpret what they mean. So could this happen to our current modern civilization, could our messages today become hard for the future to understand.

Scientists have found a problem when it comes to our nuclear waste storage and its not how we store, but how we label it. How do we label it to make sure that future generations understand it is dangerous. In 1991 Sandia National Laboratories hired 13 linguists, scientists, and anthropologists to create a system of makers that would last 10,000 years. One of the first things they ruled out was the use of a "keep out Sign, or any sign that used written language, because even if English survives 10,000 years into the future, there is no way it will be spoken the same then as it is now. We today know what the radiation symbol means, but in the future will it still have the same meaning and be understood. Even using the skull and crossbones could be troublesome. Most people would agree that the skull and crossbones would be the universal symbol of death, but it can still be misunderstood today. In Latin America the symbol is used to celebrate the day of the dead. The symbol is also used to repentant the stereotypical pirates to many small children today, and many would associate the symbol with treasure.

But whatever symbol or writing is used to communicate to the trespassers to keep out, and they understand the message, they probably will not follow the directions. Many ancient Egyptian tombs had an equivalent to keep out signs, some describing the horrible actions the gods would inflict on the trespasser if they were to continue on. But the archaeologist that found this tombs did not have the same faith as the ancient Egyptians and so they did not believe the warning, took it as superstition and carried on with their venture. So if in 10,000 years from, who knows what the future generations will know, will they believe the warnings of the past, or just shrug it off and continue their exploration of possibly dangerous sites.

Sources
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/solved-how-ancient-egyptians-moved-massive-pyramid-stones-n95171
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/green_room/2009/11/atomic_priesthoods_thorn_landscapes_and_munchian_pictograms.html