# The two-thousand-year time capsule

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-two-thousand-year-time-capsule/103253>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 12, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-two-thousand-year-time-capsule/103253 "2002-04-12T16:05:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-two-thousand-year-time-capsule/103253/1 "2002-04-12T16:05:55Z")

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OK - I was watching one of those post-apocolyptic movie last night (with Rutger Hauer - the king of post-apocolyptic films). It made me start thinking this way…

What would the world be like in the waaay-out future? Star Trek? Blade Runner? Fifth Element?

So - here’s the challenge - assume we want to build a time capsule, it’ll be argon-filled, glass & stainless steel encased with a big screw top. To keep it to some reasonable size I’ll suggest a cylinder that’s a meter in diameter and a meter tall. It’ll be opened in two-thousand years. We’ll shoot it into orbit to keep it safe and have a programed return to a soft landing.

OK - we don’t know if the future is super-high tech, filled with Eloi and Morlocks, or a barren wasteland with occasional alien visitors.

You have been chosen to add one item. What do you put in?

My choice:

1. A “Rosetta Stone” - Gold plates etched with identical text in the top-ten languages of today. I’ll suggest the book of Genesis - it’s lasted over two thousand years so far - I’ll guess it’ll be around in another two-thousand years.

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**Author:** ![RenMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@RenMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenMan)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-two-thousand-year-time-capsule/103253/2 "2002-04-12T17:16:52Z")

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a cell phone. With recharger kit.

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-two-thousand-year-time-capsule/103253/3 "2002-04-12T17:35:58Z")

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Orville Redenbacher’s Roasted Corn flavored microwave popcorn (artificially flavored).

It, more than anything, exemplifies postmodernism to me.

Unfortunately, I only saw it once, at a local K-Mart. I don’t know if my friends believe it’s real.

Daniel