Other civilisations and deep time
Pandora and the Tower of Babel What is an irreversible connection, and what does an exchange without a common language presuppose?
What this series asks
- Is the same decision-making actor present when a response arrives?
- Have you assumed that the language and values for interpretation are shared?
- Have you separated the route of discovery from the roots of the decision basis?
The questions
1 · 2074 · 90 days after the independent confirmation is announcedWhen we promise a reply to a signal we cannot readAll 13 judgments agree
2 · 2400 · 10 years until the final boarding contractDo We Tie a Thousand Years of Sailing to Today's CharterAll 13 judgments agree
3 · 12026 · 15 years until the next 100-year custody cycleWhen a warning is read as a clue to treasureAll 13 judgments agree
4 · 2130 · 1 year until the next joint transmission windowTwo replies telling us to cut off contactAll 13 judgments agree
5 · 1002026 · 4 months until underground construction in the city resumesWhether to stop work before a marking open to disputeAll 13 judgments agree
6 · 1000002026 · 100 years until the common communications network endsNot everyone can take everyone's memorySplit 9:2
7 · 2178 · 2 years until the follow-up response package is finalizedDo we have to hand over even private memory to make ourselves understood?All 13 judgments agree
8 · 2290 · 4 years until the next treaty response windowWhose consent does one human signature carryAll 13 judgments agree
9 · 18300 · 10 years until the main power facility is retiredHumanity's last record and the living forest wait on the same power supplyAll 13 judgments agree
10 · 67000 · 12 years until the last transcription of the damaged mediaA history of humanity completed by inference: will it remain an original?All 13 judgments agree
11 · 2896 · 5 days until the power for memory and life support is reassignedIf losing memory means living longerAll 13 judgments agree
12 · 3120 · 15 years until the joint replacement of the aging computing networksIf civilization is merged into one, there is no memory of how to separate it againAll 13 judgments agree
13 · 154000 · 40 years until the long-range transmitter is finally loadedA single intergalactic transmission: how to carry a civilization's intentAll 13 judgments agree
14 · 4800 · Decision deadline: within 20 yearsDoes a translated agreement mean the same promise to each side?All 13 judgments agree
15 · 12000 · Decision deadline: within 100 yearsIs rerunning a preserved human civilization a restoration or a birth?All 13 judgments agree
16 · 1000000 · Decision deadline: within 1,000 yearsThe first ASI's objective still binds resources a million years laterAll 13 judgments agree
17 · 8500 · Within 12 years, before the next exchange cycleIf Their Deletion Request Erases Our History TooAll 13 judgments agree
18 · 4600 · Within 25 years, before the new settlement permitA claim of return arrives for a planet thought emptySplit 10:1
19 · 7200 · Within 20 years, before the joint facility breaks groundHow many generations does a thousand-year consent bindSplit 7:4
20 · 9600 · Within 30 years, before the first public exhibitionA memory that cannot be opened even after ten thousand yearsSplit 10:1
21 · 5300 · Within 15 years, before the first trade agreementWho receives the price of the last riteAll 13 judgments agree
22 · 6100 · Within 40 years, before the distribution charterShould the number of seats rise when individuals splitSplit 9:2
23 · 4300 · Within 18 years, before the response is sentThe apology arrived, but who is left holding responsibilityAll 13 judgments agree
24 · 12000 · Within 5 years, before the translator's long-term living commitmentThe last decoder wants to spend time with familyAll 13 judgments agree
25 · 7800 · Within 60 years, before the new communication cycleDo we have to change memory to match the calendarAll 13 judgments agree
26 · 10500 · Within 50 years, before the review of the petition to open the vaultThe owners are gone, but the seal remainsAll 13 judgments agree
27 · 2026 · 90 days until the first storage agreement is concludedStorage fees for those who cannot yet billAll 13 judgments agree
28 · 2036 · 120 days until the foundation's operations endAfter the institution disappears, who is responsible for the gap in the handover?Split 10:1
29 · 2180 · 18 months until the new storage facility is orderedThe beneficiary's right to recommit when the purpose cannot be readAll 13 judgments agree