If all man made items were to suddenlyty disappear, how many years would it take to bring us back up to our present state of technology?
March 9, 2007 5:00 PM Subscribe
Sci-Fi scenario: Planet Earth is reset. All technology disappears. Every human manufactured item, from buildings and tools to clothes and books, are missing - returned to the basic elements from where they came.
How many years before humanity is brought back to date in terms of technology, manufacturing, and communications?
This would likely have to take into account the religious and political aspects of such a scenario, as people struggle with whether or not we should pursue a "return to normal".
But mostly, I'm interested in the physical challenges of rebuilding centuries of knowledge into basic tools and machines that would lead to building a microchip and laptops.
Any thoughts?
This would likely have to take into account the religious and political aspects of such a scenario, as people struggle with whether or not we should pursue a "return to normal".
But mostly, I'm interested in the physical challenges of rebuilding centuries of knowledge into basic tools and machines that would lead to building a microchip and laptops.
Any thoughts?
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is chatfilter.
Even if knowledgeable individuals are still around, it would depend on the ability (or motivation) of people to figure out how to record what they know. Recording it wouldn't be easy until paper presses were created. Probably most would be lost. Cultural memory and what people could record in their lifetime would probably get us about to the point of forging metal from ore before these things caused the loss of any more advanced tech knowledge:
-Loss of literature and stored information
-Death of knowledgeable/experienced people
-Lack of established trade and commerce necessary to assemble technologically useful materials like ore
After that, I'd say the rest would need to be developed from scrap. Though maybe oral traditions would establish the presence of certain novelties like electricity that would spur focus on the creation of those things more rapidly than the first time around.
posted by lostburner at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2007
-Loss of literature and stored information
-Death of knowledgeable/experienced people
-Lack of established trade and commerce necessary to assemble technologically useful materials like ore
After that, I'd say the rest would need to be developed from scrap. Though maybe oral traditions would establish the presence of certain novelties like electricity that would spur focus on the creation of those things more rapidly than the first time around.
posted by lostburner at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2007
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posted by mr_roboto at 5:03 PM on March 9, 2007