Wednesday 20 October 2010

What Happens if the Entire Internet Goes Down? - David Eagleman




What Happens if the Entire Internet Goes Down? - David Eagleman







Neuroscientist David Eagleman asks, "What happens when the Net goes down?" He advocates for a back-up plan modeled after the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The facility would be powered by renewable energy and contain information on how to rebuild the network.

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Neuroscientist and fiction writer David Eagleman presents "Six Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization." Civilizations always think they're immortal, Eagleman says, but they nearly always perish, leaving "nothing but ruins and scattered genetics." It takes luck and new technology to survive. We may be particularly lucky to have Internet technology to help manage the six requirements of a durable civilization.

But if the Net is so crucial, what happens if the Net goes down? It may have to go down a few times before we learn how to defend it properly, before we catch on that civilization depends on it for survival. - The Long Now Foundation

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and a fiction writer. During the day, he directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action and the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law at Baylor College of Medicine. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw.

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