Tuesday 2 February 2010

The Eschaton As Data Loss






















Given the fact that our lives are largely controlled by databases these days, whether they be administered by governments, banks or retailers; it stands to reason that the loss or degradation of this data could be quite catastrophic.

As Tom Simonite and Michael Le Page wrote recently:

"We are generating more information than ever before, and storing it in ever more transient media. Much of what it is being lost is hardly essential - future generations will probably manage fine without all the family photos and videos you lost when your hard drive died - but some is. In 2008, for instance, it emerged that the US had "forgotten" how to make a secret ingredient of some nuclear warheads."

The article this comment comes from illustrates such a cataclysmic event and examines the ways in which various physical media will decay over the next few centuries, or decades in some cases...

What's interesting is the contextualisation of this scenario as an apocalypse theory... a literal end of the world experience; all the more alarming given the fact that we've only existed on databases as long as databases have existed, which is not very long at all!

Exponential acceleration of digital information storage and sharing technologies has meant that pre-digital media now seems at the least antiquated, and in many cases redundant, in today's society. Case in point: when was the last time you shared a cooking recipe with someone that didn't involve the web or email?

This in itself leaves us with a peculiar dilemma... if knowledge is power, and so much of our knowledge is now stored on hard drives, will the total loss of data mean the end of the human race as we know it?

Sure it wouldn't kill us immediately; but it might lead to a startling tipping point where we realise that all the digital support systems in which we house our collective consciousness are suddenly unable to support us. Such a realisation would mean us having to re-learn lost methods of communication... quickly.

This may also amount to a kind of creeping generative amnesia... where our memories and experiences disappear soon after we've committed them to the ether, leaving us to repeat age old mistakes and share not-so-new learning in a series of looped 'Eureka' moments. A human race eternally doomed to intellectual Groundhog Day.

This then is the end of the world as forgotten knowledge, the Eschaton as data loss... perhaps not so scary for the average individual but potentially disastrous for the species as a whole.

There may of course be alternatives to hard data storage in the future. But, until then, we'd better get used to continually re-housing our data before entropy has its way.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting thesis. You're suggesting that mankind, starved of information, would rapidly start to devolve.

    It's certainly possible. However, I find the idea of catastrophic universal data-loss implausible. Increasingly, with the rise of cloud computing, digital content isn't stored on hard drives, it's scattered around multiple servers - even a site like NME.COM pings its data between around seven servers around the world, every few minutes.

    To destroy such evanescent data would require a true global cataclysm. Sun-spot activity? Some kind of electro-magnetic disturbance in the earth's core? It's not beyond the realms of possibility.

    But even there, you're under-estimating the durability of dead-tree media. Books have existed for over five centuries, and they've proved remarkable durable in the face of the internet. Think of the all the books housed in underground vaults, texts that will survive nuclear holocaust, asteroid impact, the lot.

    Then you've got the extra-terrestrial human data that conceivably could last for the entire life of the universe. Poems, diagrams and songs sent out on probes like Voyager, not to mention the radio and TV waves that mankind has pumped out into the depths of space for the past century.

    That's all information, and conceivably it could be decoded and understood by some alien civilisation at some impossibly distant point in time.

    So, while I think you're right in suggesting that data loss could trigger a catastrophic alteration in human civilisation, potentially even affecting our evolutionary path, I just can't see such a digital apocalypse happening.

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  2. In the event of a global catastrophe where all data is corrupted or erased, the conservation of 'dead-tree media' would no doubt be key to humanity's recovery. However, given the volume and range of data that is now stored electronically, it is conceivable that vital blueprints, plans, codes etc. would be lost or rendered inaccessible that may mean the difference between us keeping or losing control of defence systems and weapons of mass destruction. In this scenario, there could be any number of nuclear, chemical and biological reasons for the triggering of catastrophe.

    I take your point that localised data storage on hard drives may now be slightly outdated given the scope of cloud computing technology. However, all matter in the universe is subject to a finite lifespan even if its potential longevity is comparable to that of the universe itself. What's striking is our dependence on information storage in theory... and how easily our lives could be transformed in the event that the security of the storage media becomes compromised.

    Our evolution, in its most recent phase, has so far depended on the use of tools; from the flint arrow head to the Large Hadron Collider. As we continue to reach for the stars, it is worth remembering that, without these tools, our position as the head species on this planet may not be tenable for very long.

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  3. "Our position as the head species on this planet may not be tenable for very long."

    You may have a point there. I mean, just look at ITV's 'Take Me Out'.

    Frankly, I can't wait for the dolphins to take over.

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  4. Very interesting and informative article indeed. I have to admit that I always follow all news about this, so it was quite interesting to read this your post about this subject. Reading this your entry I have even noticed some new information which I haven’t known before. Thanks a lot for sharing this interesting post and I will be waiting for other great news from you in the nearest future.

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