Survival of our species/Preserving knowledge

Think of all the knowledge we have gained since the stone-age – all our writing systems, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, science, engineering, social systems and so on. It needs to be pretty well looked after, and able to survive huge catastrophes.

If for example there was a large asteroid strike with 95% of the human population wiped out and the environment degraded for decades, the last thing the remaining people need is to be plunged back into another stone age. A large asteroid or comet strike happens rarely, but the consequences are so dire that we must prepare for it.