How does the Time Capsule work?
Unfortunately we don’t have the technology yet to to take your physical body into the future. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for that. But, we do have the technology to take your mind there (and, hopefully, to bring it back again!). What I want you to do is to create an electronic time capsule which will carry your thoughts and ideas from your present day self to your future self, the one living 10 years in the future. Here’s how the time capsule works.
The idea of a time capsule is to preserve a record of today for people to look at years from now. You might have read about some time capsules that were created when we reached the year 2000. Time capsules often contain pictures and artifacts, such as clothing, jewelry, coins, and music. They also tend to include letters and written statements.
Sample Time Capsule
One good example of a time capsule is the one the New York Times Magazine created to celebrate the 2000 millennium. This time capsule contains information on the most important historical events from the last 1000 years as well as sounds and pictures. You can read about this time capsule by going to:https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/millennium/
How does a Time Capsule work for our class?
You’re going to create your own electronic time capsule for this class. You get to decide most of what to write, though I’m going to direct you in a few specific ways. Your basic goal, though, is to write enough significant content to make it worth opening your time capsule in the future.
You get to decide what to place into your time machine: You can write anything you like (but since it’s a pretty small time capsule, we can’t fit anything in there except words, though words are actually quite big, if you think about it). The only real requirement is that you write enough to make it worth receiving your time capsule back 10 years from now. If you don’t write much or don’t say anything interesting, you future self is going to be very ticked off with your present self. So don’t let yourself down!
I will not read your time capsule in any detail, so you can include some personal information if you like. I want to respect your privacy.
You will send your time capsule to me via email. I will store your email for 10 years (luckily, email messages don’t take up a lot of space). I will then send your time capsule message back to you by email. If that email comes back to me as undeliverable, I’ll try to send your time capsule to you by an alternate email address or by regular postal mail. This process isn’t perfect, but it has worked for most students I have had, and I have been doing this time capsule activity for many years now (I have lots of emails waiting to be delivered at specific dates in the future). If all else fails, send me an email in 10 years and ask to get your time capsule back. I will keep all the time capsules on file until each one is successfully delivered, so write me back when you receive yours. You can always get my current email address from my web page (which will probably be at IUP or search for me on the web).
Because you have to write quite a bit for this task, I suggest that you work in Microsoft Word. Save your file temporarily onto the network drive using this filename: YourlastnameTimeCapsule (In my case I would save the file as PagnucciTimeCapsule). When you finish the work, copy all of your writinig into an email and send it to me. Do NOT send me the Microsoft Word file because we can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be able to open that file in 10 years time (knowing Microsoft, it probably won’t even be something we can open next year). Once you email me your time capsule, delete it from your own email and from your network drive. Don’t save a version of the file anywhere. (This is a vital step).
If you like this assignment, it will take some time and effort to create a good time capsule. I hope I’ve saved enough class time for you to do this project to your satisfaction. For most people, it is best to just work on completing your time capsule now while you have plenty of time (yes, I realize if you had a time machine you would always have plenty of time). But if you run out of time, that’s ok. Should you need extra time, simply email your work to yourself. Finish up the time capsule when you get a bit of free time. Then email it to Dr. Pagnucci. You MUST email your Time Capsule by the last day of this semester’s final exams to receive credit for doing this assignment (and, more importantly, to make sure I remember to file your Time Capsule away in a safe place for future delivery).
Your Time Capsule’s Contents
The interesting part of creating a time capsule is deciding what should go into it. The fun part is opening that time capsule back up many years from now and seeing what you put in. Often, you might not even remember that you created the time capsule until the day to open it arrives. I’m going to give you a few guidelines for how to make your digital Time Capsule. Follow these guidelines as best you can, but it’s ok to deviate from them as long as you fill up your time capsule’s vaults with lots of interesting writing. These guidelines are designed to help you create an interesting time capsule that you’ll enjoy reading 10 years from now. As you write, you might find it useful to include section headings for each part. Most time capsules are several pages long by the time they are finished.
Time Capsule Contents
Let me stress, again, that I will NOT read the major contents of your time capusulel. (You have to trust me on this, but most of you probably know how busy I am anyway, too busy to snoop. I have too much stuff to read as it is!) This means you can feel free to include personal information in your time capsule. Don’t reveal anything top secret, but put in information that matters to you. It is your personal information that will be of the most interesting to you when you receive your time capsule in 10 years. So don’t short change yourself. If you don’t put enough personally valuable information into your time capsule, your future self will be highly disappointed when you receive it, believe me!
On the Issue of Trust
Again, let me stress that as your teacher that I will respect your privacy and guard your time capsule carefully. This is a valuable assignment, I believe, one that has a lot of future value for people. But the entire assignment only works if you can trust me. Since I realize that and want this assignment to be a success for your class and for future classes, I view your trust in the assignment as sacred and will do everything I can to honor that trust.
Primary Items to Include in Your Time Capsule
The first few items below are critical and everyone should include them. Make sure you write up these parts so that your Time Capsule will be functional!
You should aim to spend about 10 minutes writing this initial part of your time capsule.
The Date
Record the date you finish writing up your time capsule.
Contact Information
This part is really important. I’ll start with your email address, so if that changes, you might want to let me know. I’m going to send your time capsule back to you in 10 years time, hopefully by email. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to use your mailing address, so please give me an address that is not likely to change (perhaps your parents’ address). I’ll do the best I can to get your time capsule back to you.
- Your full name
- All the email addresses you use
- A permanent mailing address
Self-description
Write a paragraph or two describing yourself at this point in time. Include things like:
- your weight and height
- the type of clothing you wear
- the type of job you have
- etc.
Also say something about your personality: are you a nice person, cheerful, outgoing, quiet, or what? How would your friends describe you?
Dissertation Plan
A graduate student’s time capsule just wouldn’t be complete without a dusty doctoral tome. Discuss your best current idea for your dissertation. Then write up a short time line for carrying that dissertation through to completion. It’s my sincerest hope that in 10 years time your dissertation really will be sitting proudly on your bookshelf.
Secondary Items to Include in Your Time Capsule
The rest of the items below are interesting to include in your time capsule. There are lots of items to give you plenty of options, but there are probably more items than you will have time to write. So, skim over the list, then pick a few that interest you the most and have fun writing! Remember, the more detailed writing you do now, the more interesting reading you’ll get to do 10 years from now.
You should aim to spend about 15-45 minutes writing this last part of your time capsule.
Your Family
Our families drive a lot of us crazy. But still, there are few people as important to us. Write a little about your spouse, children, parents, grandparents, or any other relatives who matter to you. Record:
- what your relatives look like
- things they often say
- things they often do
- things that annoy you about them
- things you love about them
You might even write about some of the relatives you do not like—maybe things will have improved in 10 year’s time!
Your Friends
Spend a little time talking about the people who matter to you.
- Do you have a significant other?
- Who are you friends?
- What do you like about these people?
- Why are they important to you?
Record their full names, what they look like, and perhaps their addresses. Some friends will stay with you forever, but, sadly, in 10-years-time you might not even remember some of these people. So make a record of them now.
Your Interests
Write about the things you really like and try to explain why you like them so much:
- What do you like to do in your free time?
- What are your favorite television shows?
- What are your favorite movies?
- What kind of music do you listen to and how do you listen?
- What hobbies do you have?
- Do you exercise?
- What are your favorite foods and restaurants?
- What are your favorite books?
- What are your favorite sports teams?
Record what you like now, so later you can see how your tastes changed over time.
The Era You Live in Now
Record some information about the year you are living in now. This will help remind you about the historical time period when you created this time capsule. Include any information you think is important such as:
- the current president or leader of your country
- the state of your country’s economy as well as the state of the world economy
- major events happening in the news
- major issues and problems effecting the world
- the names of famous athletes and celebrities of the current time period
- What problems in the world most worry you?
- What scandals are in the headlines and what do you think of them?
- What are you doing to make the world a better place?
Your Hopes and Dreams
Think a bit about your future and then record some of your goals and aspirations:
- What kind of job do you hope to have in the future?
- How much money do you hope to be earning?
- Do you plan to get married or have children in the future? Is there someone special in your life now who you hope to still have in your life 10 years from now?
- What do you hope the world will be like in 10 year’s time?
I sincerely hope that lots of your dreams come true for you.
Things to Treasure
Include a couple of items in your time capsule that really matter to you. These might include:
- a quote or saying you want to always remember
- a description of one or two of your possessions which are most important to you
- the one thing that makes life worth living
- your favorite place to visit
- anything else that is extremely important to you
Seal Up Your Time Capsule and Email It Off!
Send your time capsule on email to Dr. Pagnucci:
To: pagnucci@iup.edu
Subject: Time Capsule-Launch in December 2027
Body: Paste your Time Capsule message into the body of your email. Do NOTsend your time capsule as an attachment since that will be harder to keep track of and access 10 years from now.
Delete Your Time Capsule
Once I receive your time capsule, I will send you a quick email confirming that I received it from you and that I have safely stored the time capsule away. This confirmation will be your verification that you successfully completed the assignment.
Once you get your confirmation, delete your own copy of the time machine. I know that will be hard since you will have poured a lot of your thoughts and feelings into your time capsule. But, the key to any time capsule is that it cannot be opened ahead of time. If you keep your time capsule on your computer, it will only be a temptation. More importantly, time capsules are valuable because there is always a chance that you might not get them back. You are putting things away for the future, and we are never sure what the future will hold—it’s part of the fun.
The Power of Memory
So why do this activity as your final exam for English 846: Narrative Inquiry? It’s a chance for you to think about what is important to you now and about how to preserve those things for you. It’s also a way to communicate those values to yourself in 10 years time. We don’t get a lot of chances to teach ourselves things, but a time capsule can do this. And, in the future, it will be a way to research who you were in the past. This time capsule will become an artifact 10 years from now that will help you look back to this time in your life.
Besides all that, most of my students over the years have said this is a fun assignment to do. That’s probably reason enough.
You should know that when you open your time capsule in 10 years’ time, it might make you a little sad as well as happy. Some of the things you recorded that mattered to you will be gone. Others you will suddenly remember and wonder how you could ever have forgotten them. If you write this assignment correctly, this time capsule will really matter to you, and you will want to get it back in 10 years’ time.
Ciao,
Gian Pagnucci