[ExI] File survival and the transparency of the future

[Anders Sandberg]

I just investigated the user area of my laptop, looking at my oldest files.

The median and mean dates of the files were 2007, around the time I got 
the laptop.  The oldest file claimed to be from 1980, which is unlikely 
since it is a truetype file. However, I do have a bunch of truetype 
files with dates in the early 90s that I know I used way back. From 1995 
there is a stellar catalog I laboriously copied by hand and now exist in 
a few different locations. From 1998 and onward there are not just old 
font files but also ancient DLLs and a few of my own pictures. Moving on 
I find more picture files from various sources and by 2000 a few old mp3s.

Assuming this is typical, it seems that what really tends to hang around 
are system files or things aligned with them, followed by collections of 
static files that either has some small value in themselves or easily 
slot into collections.

I also found a few files from 2048. One was a text about risks of 
blackouts in complex power networks, one was a cabalistic-combinatoric 
diagram by Athanasisus Kircher from the 17th century, and one was a 
Chinese character. Make of that what you will.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University