1/3 - The Modern Legacy
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the ephemeral nature of our existence. Who were you a year, two, five ago? (seriously, this information would very much aid in my investigation.) In the same vein, how are we to know what our forefathers and foremothers and foraunts and foruncles thought of the world they lived in? The only record I have of my great grandfather is a war diary, almost indecipherable from age and wear. However, what if I were to have access to a well-preserved digital account of his life, complete with pictures and videos? This may be the way that our ancestors remember us.
Mena Trott, a blogger and co-founder of Six Apart, is of a like mind. In her TED talk, entitled “How Blogs are Building a Friendlier World”, Trott talks about the modern legacy. Besides connecting people in the present day, she claims that blogging can also connect people of the future to those of the past. In her words: “I know that one day, my children will be wondering, or my grandchildren, or my great-grandchildren [...] who I was.”. Those children, instead of being limited to perhaps one photograph and a census with minimal information, may have access to an archive of photos, opinions, and thoughts of their ancestors. Trott thinks this an amazing evolution in how we humans record our history.
I very much agree. Had we read the blogs of ancient kings and philosophers, the loss of knowledge from generation to generation would be minimized. So many stories are lost to time. Another way to think about it is this: there are estimated to be about 100 billion people who have ever died* (and counting!) Yet how many can each of us name? For each that we can name, are we able to say that we truly know any of them?
Blogs are a game-changer in this regard. Each of us has the ability to impart a bit of ourselves into the endless chasm of the Internet - to leave our mark until the end of time for anyone to find. We can all make the history books because they are no longer books - to be lost and mistranslated and occasionally burned. In short, the Internet has granted our personal stories, no matter how pointless or strange or perfectly ordinary, an immortal life.
So drink from the fountain of youth, and write a blog.
- A.M. Ham
*Source: "Population of the Dead", I Love Charts, http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/image/441255703.
