The real problem seems to me to be whether humans could ever catch up to where we are after being knocked down so low. Some people have suggested that if civilization collapses humanity won’t be able to start a new industrial revolution due to depleted deposits of oil and surface minerals.
On the other hand, these future humans would probably be able to learn things like science much more quickly because of all the information we have lying around everywhere.
Our information storage media has a surprisingly short shelf life. Optical disks of most types degrade within decades; magnetic media is more variable but even more fragile on average (see here and the linked pages). There are such things as archival disks, and a few really hardcore projects like HD-Rosetta, but they’re rare. And then there’s encryption and protocol confusion to take into account.
A couple centuries after a civilization-ending event, I’d estimate that most of the accessible information left would be on paper, and not a lot of that.
On the other hand, these future humans would probably be able to learn things like science much more quickly because of all the information we have lying around everywhere.
Our information storage media has a surprisingly short shelf life. Optical disks of most types degrade within decades; magnetic media is more variable but even more fragile on average (see here and the linked pages). There are such things as archival disks, and a few really hardcore projects like HD-Rosetta, but they’re rare. And then there’s encryption and protocol confusion to take into account.
A couple centuries after a civilization-ending event, I’d estimate that most of the accessible information left would be on paper, and not a lot of that.
I don’t know. Those objects make certain kinds of superstitions seem much more plausible.