DESIGN FICTION: Alone with the Ancients
DESIGN FICTION: ALONE WITH THE ANCIENTS
Cambridge, 2036
The history boom just got boomier.
Of all the trends of the 2030s, perhaps the least expected is the sudden rise in interest of History. The rise itself surprising, the depth of interest and the activities associated with it are more surprising still.
Of course, people have always had an interest in their past and the twentieth century showed quite clearly that there was a healthy appetite for monetising that interest. In 2020, an airport bestseller on World War II, a trip to Rome or an evening documentary on the Vietnam War were commonplace. But your armchair historian generally didn't read the sources, they didn't engage in excavations. When they visited museums they were presented with 'the greatest hits', not the esoteric.
University of Cambridge is the latest in a string of institutions and museums to open up the historical back-catalog. The long-tail of original sources; the dry-stuff. And make that back-catalog available not only to the PhDs but to the public. And easily.
In 5 clicks on the university app, I managed to book a 30 minute reading time with Orosius: Historiae adversus paganos, an 11th century Saxon text. All for the princely sum of £25.
Arriving at the library, I simply walked up to the security gates and passed through (presumably facial recognition) and then was directed to a dark, storied reading room with a place marked out for me. The book had been transported in its case (more on this later) and was opened on Book III as I had requested.
When I sat down, the app talked me through the text - first giving context, then reading the page in Latin and finally a translation into English. A tap of a button and a precision robotic arm turned the page and the reading continued.
This is the stuff of dreams for me, a journalist, who regrettably did not study history in university. But it has always been an underlying, dormant passion of mine. To witness and experience this ancient text, on my own, in a quiet, sacred atmosphere was beyond what I could have imagined. It was spiritual. Words do not capture the experience; cannot do justice to this communion with our past.
Back in the Reading Room, when the session was over, the glass case was transported away, as if by magic, on a series of unobtrusive, ancient looking (but I'm reassured, very new) tracks. To be replaced with a series of official government communications from 1917 for the next pre-booked reader.
The Experience is a dramatic departure for the armchair historian. Put simply, it has democratised the study and relationship that the amateur historian has with their past.
Speaking with Dr. Martha Wilkes who leads the service, I later learned that prior to my session, fewer than 19 individuals had ever read Orosius: Historiae adversus paganos in person; each a scholar at the university. I was fascinated with this and wondered why so few? "History and historical artefacts are governed by a Power Law. Everyone tends to be interested in the same few subjects, the same artefacts. Most artefacts, like most books published, are very rarely read. And because of that, these countless, priceless documents and artefacts are (or were) stored for safe keeping." But that seems to be changing. Martha shared the app data for the three months to date, and the curve is flattened. The long-tail is fatter - more people are interested in the back-catalog.
The technology helps. One reason more people could not view old texts was that it required a librarian to search for, fetch and then guard the artefact while a reader looked on. "We can't let just anyone turn the pages, because soon enough, the pages would disintegrate, worn as they are by the travails of time." The elaborate track-system and robotic arms was the game-changer; referred to by staff as Gringotts after the bank in the original Harry Potter Movies from the turn of the century.
Before leaving, I asked Martha who uses the service and why. "Mostly it's amateur historians. Students too. It's changed how historians view and do history. We're already seeing an explosion in publications as a result of more people having access to these artefacts. The floodgates have opened and with it our knowledge of the past is blooming. We're seeing a lot of the gaps in our knowledge filled in - small details and bits of detective work that were unnoticed or not covered before. That's something wonderful".
What about non-historians? "Well, there's some interest from the general public - mostly from areas that are close to popular interest - specific dinosaur bones, arrows, swords - that kind of thing. One interesting feature is that the archive is now searchable. Previously you would have simply visited a museum and wandered through the exhibition, with things popping out to you as you went. Now you ask the questions. You define what you're interested in seeing. You want to see the axe that beheaded Anne Boleyn? We can point you to that. How about the clothing of someone living 6000 years ago in the south of England, and contrast that with the clothing of someone from 600BC? We can show you these things, on demand."
It makes history more immersive, more conversational, more queryable. More reactive to the curiosities of an individual. There's less wading through what's not currently interesting to you as a person. Of course, we had a lot of that with images and the metaverse ten years ago. But the physical aspect makes a real difference. "The physical aspect is what makes this so exciting. It is what makes it really."
In fact, of the 3,456 sessions that have been booked to date, 412 of them have been for Focused Artefact Mindfulness. A practice of sitting in the presence of an object from our past and meditating on it. That's not an entirely perfect description. Brian Foxe, a well known mindfulness influencer and onetime historian specialising in ancient Egypt, describes it as "being fully mindful in the presence of talismans from our shared, deep past. Breathing in the air and atmosphere of all those lives that went before us, that tie us to this present moment." Surprised at the numbers of people practicing this, I wanted to understand why. Brian Foxe described it as a deep-seated human urge to connect with our ancestors, with the tapestry of life and living that went before us. To connect us to that. And you know, it feels good. You should try it."
I haven't tried it yet, but I did do a bit of research of my own. The literature is equivocal in showing a significant, resilient rise in measures of well-being, life-satisfaction and spiritual connectedness for those who practice Focused Artefact Mindfulness. Those results appear to persist for at least 3 months after a session. More, if the session is done with an artefact from a topic that is 'of personal significance'.
Some have replaced their Sunday religious service with trips to the Reading Room; group rooms are also possible.
Food for thought. And one for the next visit.
This is part of a planned series of 100 Design Fictions focusing on Biophilic Futures.