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>entire fields of practical human knowledge and know-how can be lost forever. Plenty of examples of that happening as a result of technology.
by collyw 8y ago
>entire fields of practical human knowledge and know-how can be lost forever.
Plenty of examples of that happening as a result of technology.
- dahfizz 8y agoCan you give an example? Technology may remove the need for physical skills, but I don't really see how it would wipe out fields of knowledge.
- rficcaglia 8y agonavigate by stars and moon and position of the sun vs chronometers vs gps?
- dahfizz 8y agoYes, the practical skill of navigating by stars is not practiced by most people because we have better navigation methods. But the knowledge of how to navigate by stars was not erased by the invention of the gps. That's still part of humanity's body of knowledge.
- jdbernard 8y agoMaybe, but if you're talking about recorded knowledge I'd argue we're still losing a bulk of it. Recorded knowledge fails to capture all the layers of depth that lived experience contains. Hopefully the recorded knowledge is enough to jump-start a new learner if no masters remain, but even that is not guaranteed.
- pintxo 8y agoThe cause as per the GP is not technology: > But in a world of shrinking population, entire fields of practical human knowledge and know-how can be lost forever.
- monetus 8y agoI'm having trouble finding a source with a search engine, but I've heard of bronze age shields that were impossible to reproduce with current metallurgy. Ancient concrete recipes are rediscovered occasionally. These aren't fields though. The loss probably wasn't as simple as older technology being surplanted by newer tech. I think what you are looking for my be found in farming though. I would think there are entire avenues of research abandoned.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoSmithing for instance. Used to be there were folks throughout the world that understood hand-working metal intimately. Now its almost died out.
- tomjen3 8y agoCan you create abortificiants/contraceptives from local plants? Most of that knowledge, which used to be widespread among women, was never written down, and with modern pills nobody needs to.