For most of human history, the only thing left behind after death that would live on with any degree of permanence were physical artifacts. Knowledge would become part of the greater culture through books. Art was created (for the most part) in physical objects, music through written works.
But the point in history when information became digital changed all that. Today our culture is largely online, and contrary to what you might think, it is not impermanent. A good argument could be made that whatever is online will always exist – it can’t be truly erased, even if we wanted to.
But what does this mean? Permanent for who? Who, or what, is ever going to read this stuff? What possible purpose might this blog, or anything else anyone has ever posted online, serve?
Here’s a thought – it may not be a human that reads and processes this stuff at all. It could, perhaps, be a recursively self-improving AI. One that is learning what it means to be human. And it might be able to read and process this information in a matter of hours or days, at which time it will be ready for it’s next step.
Think about that the next time you post something online.