Abstract

All past civilizations came to an end for various reasons. We should not assume we are different. Besides the possibility of internal decline, there are threats such as the possibility of nuclear war or a sizable asteroid hitting the earth. While community knowledge of social insects is in their genes, ours is in print computers, etc. Loss of access to this knowledge would be catastrophic for future generations. What might be available would be of little help. In the Dark Ages, monasteries were the guardians of knowledge. We have no equivalent. What is needed is a durable, easily accessible survival manual; it would help restore science as a part our culture and be passed down as an inheritance to future generations.