The idea that information survives within a black hole was pivotal in one of my favourite Sci Fi novels (the books were based on the oscillating 'big bang' < - > 'big crush' idea).
Basically the books explored the idea that sentient entities have "immortal" souls - their sentience and self awareness persists beyond corporeal death, imprinted on the very fabric of the universe. At the end, within the final collapse of the universe, the sum total of their knowledge etc. becomes a singleton intelligence that determines the pattern of the universe that will follow...
