Unearthing the Ancient Treasures
Believed to have been owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar, a collection of ancient texts has resurfaced from the depths of Pompeii. These precious scrolls, carbonized by the heat of volcanic debris, remained hidden for centuries until an archeologist stumbled upon them in the mid-eighteenth century.
A Tale of Destruction and Fragility
Unfortunately, many of these delicate scrolls were irreparably damaged during early attempts to unroll them. However, some fragments survived the test of time and were found to contain philosophical texts written in Greek. Remarkably, hundreds of scrolls still remain unopened and unreadable, waiting for their secrets to be unlocked.
A Breakthrough: Technology Meets Ancient Knowledge
Just last year, Dr. Brent Seales and his team from the University of Kentucky made a significant breakthrough. Utilizing high-resolution CT scans, they managed to unroll the intricate texts. However, a new challenge presented itself – the black carbon ink on the scripts made them indecipherable from the papyrus itself.
The Vesuvius Challenge
In a quest to decipher the scrolls, Dr. Seales launched the “Vesuvius Challenge.” This ambitious endeavor offered a grand prize of $1 million to a team that could recover four passages of 140 characters from a Herculaneum scroll. The race was on to unravel the mysteries of ancient wisdom.
Decoding with the Help of Artificial Intelligence
Amidst this intellectual pursuit, a team of brilliant individuals emerged. PhD student Youssef Nader in Berlin, SpaceX intern and student Luke Farritor, and Swiss robotics student Julian Schillinger united their expertise to tackle the Vesuvius Challenge. They built an AI model that employed pattern recognition to decipher the ancient lettering.
Unlocking the Secrets of Pleasure
Their tireless efforts have paid off, resulting in the decoding of approximately 5% of the first scroll. These passages, believed to have been written by the philosopher Philodemus, shed light on the concept of pleasure – deemed the highest good in Epicurean philosophy.
“As too in the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant,” the author writes, raising the question of whether it is easier for us to do without things that are plentiful. The author promises that “such questions will be considered frequently.”