In this Guardian article technofossil is a one word, but it feels like in need of two. There is a very high level of arrogance combined with uncertainty around technology these days. Once day all humans are going to displaced by AI and robots, the next day a contrary opinion about the AI will get dumb to the point of self-destruction because the average intelligence it depends on is getting lowered by the day. Between these wide swings, people in technology are getting by day to day.
Some are much more concerned than others but such is always the case not matter what the issue at hand. But at no point is there talk of fossils we will create and perpetuate and how chicken bones and plastic grocery bags are not hitting the high notes for the persistent markers of a civilization. It may be quite fitting though that our collective hubris about so-called achievements dies a forgotten death and the all that remains are relics of our reckless and mindless consumer culture
Computer chips, though numerous, are tiny, and silicon is highly reactive with oxygen, making them unlikely to be significant as future fossils. But the wiring in electronic devices may well catch the eye, as the minerals that form from copper are bright and beautifully coloured, from azurite to malachite to bornite. Solar panels may also achieve immortality thanks to their distinctive shape and the sheer volume being produced.
Their exploration of future fossils has led Gabbott and Zalasiewicz to draw some conclusions. One is that understanding how human detritus could become fossils points towards how best to stop waste piling up in the environment.
“In the making of fossils, it’s the first few years, decades, centuries and millennia which are really crucial,” says Zalasiewicz. “This overlaps with the time in which we have the capacity to do something about it.”
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