An Unboxing of Sorts

October 27, 2026

“Where does your mind go?”

Anywhere. Everywhere. Nowhere at all. I'm not entirely sure it actually exists. I may not exist. What is existence anyway? How long will it take before this written language is no more? Before it ceases to be legible? Before... before... will we even make it to before?

Recently I watched a video that spoke of a college professor creating an entire swimming pool of a room as a time capsule not to be opened until 6,000 years after it was sealed. I don't remember his name, nor the university it is stored in. I think it's called the “Vault of Civilization” or something like that. I could look it up, but why bother? If you're interested, dig and have a peep yourself. Getting one's curiosity phalanges dirty is half the fun. Who am I kidding? It is quite possibly more than half the fun! (Yes, I'm reminding myself to stay on topic. It's hard! The difficulty is disassembling pathways as I poke! Step. Step. Uggghhh! Well, consider this a changed chain as much as I try to tug it back, for my mind is already frolicking in a dozen different directions than when I originally started documenting a momentary wander.)

Where was I? Right! The archeology professor. Or was it anthropology? An A of a professor! An A of a professor with a noble idea to which I wonder how much has already been corrupted by time. I have so many questions regarding that alone, but must remind myself that this place was created before I was born. Before my parents were born. Before before, but not yet 100 years ago. Certainly far from 6,000. Yet so much has changed already.

Can you imagine 6,000 years into the future? Can I? Probably, most likely, absolutely not with any reliable accuracy. I can imagine the erosion within and outside of, and I'm fairly certain that without human intervention, considering the location, its barrier of “protection” will easily crack by the 1,000 year mark strictly speaking from a geological and chemical standpoint. That says nothing of what's inside, though I think it was supposed to have been vacuumed and filled with nitrogen or something.

It's a time capsule, but there's so much to ponder merely due to its existence. It's challenging to even know where to begin. Perhaps that is why my mind drifts back towards language and the written word. He did leave a pathway to understanding English of the time if it remains in tact. Even if it remains intact and humans, or whatever future species discovers it, could they actually understand the words and language for what it was meant to be? I mean, Modern English began what? Around 500 years ago or so? Just think about that for a moment. Think about how bad we are at understanding translations. Think about how we consistently redefine meaning to fit our own inept perspective of life.

Are you having fun tumbling around with those thoughts yet? Pluto knows I am! Now expand them out! What a bold, ingenious, short-sighted, curiosity-provoking conundrum he created! 6,000 years!!! Personally, I think we will no longer exist. Not as we currently know ourselves anyway. And if we do exist, will we even care?

Do humans today care? If the educational institution faltered, would local government fund to keep the project protected? Would Georgia esteem it to be untouchable? Would they dig it up with little thought to make way for some multi-billion dollar project? Would humans choose to open it 100 years from its closing just for a wee celebrational peek to add things to it? Would someone in the current administration do so to ensure it doesn't contradict the history said bafoons wish to establish? Is the history recorded inside even correct?

So many questions! I love allowing my mind to travel such pathways because they inevitably branch off and wrap around to interconnect and branch again. It is an impossibility equation because I have no way of understanding where our civilization will be 100 years from now, much less 6,000. To contemplate how our communication might evolve is equally mind-shattering. Just look at how fast it's evolving since the invention of the World Wide Web. Or worse, since LLM's...

“Let's get into it.” Shall we? I loathe that phrase in ways I cannot begin to express.

Hmm, I think I will end this entry on that note of disgust because “Let's get into it.” pretty much sums up so many directions in which my thoughts carry me on the subject.

(On a side note: This is why I adore free-form writing beyond measure. I never know where my mind is going to take me. I just know that my subconscious will have reasons to guide me along its intended path, and that every bumbling step of the way keeps my thoughts alive, invigorated, and stretching towards new internal discoveries. I may, and do often, circle the same subjects over again. But such is the evolution of self! It utterly delights me that my subconscious threw something that immediately annoys me as a branch in this path. Would it trip me up? Would I step over and ignore it? Or would I pause and digest it from a different perspective?

Damn you mind and your wily ways!

I still loathe that phrase, but now when I hear it, I shall think of that box and many an other unopened box. How beautiful is it that something dumbing down thought and corrupting creativity has unexpectedly opened up an infinity of thought? To see into, around, and beyond the intention of initial meaning...

My smile lines have deepened this morning.)

Not proofread nor edited.