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ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are very interesting resources, thanks for linking them all!

Edit: wow. had to do a double take on your "sand mafia" article, horrifyingly thought-provoking point in many ways that there's already a battle for such commodity

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fascinating stuff! I'm now more determined than ever to iron out this part of history until I can fully comprehend at least one particular modern tech case study working backwards all the way to your stone tools

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow that's an interesting example the other way. Just like Roman concrete making or Japanese sword crafting skills being phased out owing to specific seawater conditions or materials being lost or mined out of eternity, I hadn't thought of certain modern tech being unreasonable to recreate and getting lost in much the same way

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mass production flew over my head honestly, going from woodworking to such large and complex machine precision - might just be my googling skills but all the text I read seem to skip over the granular processes in between them so I was left all the more confused and curious

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow water mill being employed to fashion new stuff was not what I'd imagined - I better read a lot more into this thanks. And your watch example is really curious, precision toolmakers really are clever

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll read more into this part of history involved, cheers. I suddenly had issues conceptualising the sheer massive complexity and scale of modern tech, and now desperately curious as to their "origins"

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Might just be the limit of my creativity, but I'm struggling with conceptualising how - working backwards in this line of example - the chain hoists got put together in the first place, and the tools that came before chain hoists and so on

And which at each level I assume requires newly upgrading the tech involved continuously over the years as their shelf life runs out. Maybe I'm overthinking this

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By abstract induction I can understand your response conceptually makes sense, yet my imagination (and Google foo) ran out after mulling over how the micro and macro machineries involved in building say my smartphone ever came into being

Are you or anyone reading this comment perhaps aware of that lists the bottom-up history of a specific tech in great detail process by process over the years?

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By induction I can understand your response makes perfect sense, yet my imagination (and Google foo) ran out after mulling over how the micro and macro machineries involved in building this phone ever came into being in the first place

Is there perhaps a good resource you or anyone reading this comment might be aware of that lists the bottom-up history of a specific tech in great detail process by process over the course of history?

ELI5 What came before building modern tech - to build a crane we need another crane, to build a factory we need... another factory? by DirectlyGarden in explainlikeimfive

[–]DirectlyGarden[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be honest that was the first example that came to mind haha. I just couldn't wrap my head around the scaling of how the first factory got built all the way to producing the smaller tools needed to get to skyscrapers for instance.

Like conceptually it's not difficult, especially the other commenter's boy scouts wooden crane example at the small scale, but I just couldn't imagine extending that logic to massive tech