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There is this interesting old documentary with a similar premise called Connections by James Burke: (first episode) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnwpsp_veet

There is this interesting old documentary with a similar premise called Connections by James Burke: (first episode) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnwpsp_veetle-connections-s01e01-the-trigger-effect_tech http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnwpsp_veetle-connections-s... It uses the 1965 New York power outage as starting point for the discussion on how modern society relies on technology and the consequences of a breakdown. It then goes through the technology tree from the humble plow all the way up to aerospace and how seemingly unrelated things cause us to end up in our current technological state (like how a excess of linnen lead to cheaper paper and widespread literacy). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series)

TremendousJudge 9y ago
Connections is absolutely brilliant. It's definitely one of my favorite TV shows, ever. Definitely worth checking out
dredmorbius 9y ago
The opening scene, and Swissair flight number, gave me chills re-watching it recently. Coincindence, but one hell of a doozey. Great series as well.
pjmlp 9y ago
I don't recall anymore the name, but once I read SciFi book where mankid was back into the middle-age kind of society, with computers and electricity sources relegated to some sort of temples. It was kind of interesting.
arnioxux 9y ago
I have fond childhood memories of the 2003 blackout in NYC[1]. Few cars were driving around because traffic lights were off and intersections became all-way stops. It was around ~90 degrees so food was going to spoil very quickly unrefrigerated. The surprising thing that happened next was that people started up impromptu block parties with people pitching in ice cream and all the meat they had in their fridges for BBQs in the streets! Being city folks, you don't really trust your neighbors let alone talk to them. But I got to meet a lot of them that day and it turns out people aren't that scary and are very willing to help one another in times of need. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003
- irrational 9y ago
  But once all that food was eaten and the power never came back on...
- beobab 9y ago
  "it turns out people aren't that scary" This is wonderful to hear. People are just people. Normally they have weird quirks, and some of them sound odd to your ears and look different to the people you normally hang around with, but they are all human beings. They all have hopes, dreams and fears of their own. I remember realising as a teenager that everyone was in the same boat as me, and it was life changing.

TremendousJudge 9y ago

Connections is absolutely brilliant. It's definitely one of my favorite TV shows, ever. Definitely worth checking out

dredmorbius 9y ago

The opening scene, and Swissair flight number, gave me chills re-watching it recently. Coincindence, but one hell of a doozey. Great series as well.

pjmlp 9y ago

I don't recall anymore the name, but once I read SciFi book where mankid was back into the middle-age kind of society, with computers and electricity sources relegated to some sort of temples. It was kind of interesting.

arnioxux 9y ago

I have fond childhood memories of the 2003 blackout in NYC[1]. Few cars were driving around because traffic lights were off and intersections became all-way stops. It was around ~90 degrees so food was going to spoil very quickly unrefrigerated. The surprising thing that happened next was that people started up impromptu block parties with people pitching in ice cream and all the meat they had in their fridges for BBQs in the streets! Being city folks, you don't really trust your neighbors let alone talk to them. But I got to meet a lot of them that day and it turns out people aren't that scary and are very willing to help one another in times of need. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003

irrational 9y ago
But once all that food was eaten and the power never came back on...
beobab 9y ago
"it turns out people aren't that scary" This is wonderful to hear. People are just people. Normally they have weird quirks, and some of them sound odd to your ears and look different to the people you normally hang around with, but they are all human beings. They all have hopes, dreams and fears of their own. I remember realising as a teenager that everyone was in the same boat as me, and it was life changing.