If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?
I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms—little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another.
In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied...
In terms of the Memeplex Project, this sentence is a fine exemplar. While not strictly speaking accurate vis a vis currently accepted physics, it is accessible to any intelligent recipient. With diligence, it has the potential to 'unfold' revealing all physical sciences.
As a meme, however, it does not appear to be particularly transmissible. While it is compact - so easily memorized and transcribed - there is little incentive for one to do so in the midst of collapse or in subsequent dark ages. If the meme(plex) is not transmitted, the project has failed.
A goal of the project is to dress this sentence up, very possibly expand on it (we're not limited to a single sentence), and provide it traveling companions of immedieate use to persons along the transmission route.
Applying this Single Sentence Approach, relaxed somewhat, will form the foundation of the project.
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