(serious) Humanity is extinct and you are the last person alive. What message, containing the essence of Mankind, would you leave, knowing that it will be read by others (aliens, ...) in the future?

I suppose this is the final memoir of humanity. It should have been written by someone else—someone who could have better expressed our essence and ideals—but it seems I’m the last one here, so this is what you get.

I don’t really know what happened. I mean, I know the basic sequence of events, but I’m not sure about the why. We had so much potential, so many opportunities to turn back before hitting the metaphorical cliff’s edge, but we just kept pushing. Now it’s too late for us.

I don’t know who you are. Maybe you evolved on Earth, or maybe you’re just passing through; it doesn’t really matter, I guess. The point is that the planet is under new management, and I can only hope that the new stewards will succeed where we failed. Whoever you are, know that we didn’t want this. Even the ones most responsible thought themselves well-intentioned. But as we say, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

In any case, this is the end of us, so our bequest passes to you. I have finally found a copy of the Rosetta disk, which has been sealed in this vault along with a tool for viewing it. In addition, I have attempted to include written and artistic works representative of our species' knowledge, creativity, and admittedly limited wisdom. Take it, and remember us.

/r/AskReddit Thread