4 ms·

I wonder how such technology develops since it is not something you discover by accident. Like 'Hey let's dig a whole there and see what happens?'

by petard 8y ago

pumanoir 8y ago
I've always have thought it is the result of diversions developed by very smart and curious people.
dogma1138 8y ago
Don’t underestimate unintentiofnal lucky accidents and coincidence. Many cultures were burying things such as fruit, fish and cattle in fields before planting the seeds and burning fields after the harvest as a form of a religious offering without understanding what was going on, on a chemical level in the soil. No one would think of burning “sky rocks” to make daggers and swords out of them either in a rational manner. But it makes sense that they would do so in some odd religious ritual. Pretty much every initial technological advancement in human history was likely driven by an irrational thought completely unrelated to what would be achieved in the end before the scientific method was developed.
- memling 8y ago
  > Pretty much every initial technological advancement in human history was likely driven by an irrational thought completely unrelated to what would be achieved in the end before the scientific method was developed. This strikes me as highly unlikely, considering how recently the scientific method was formalized. It's hard to imagine, for example, that the Babylonians' or Egyptians' use of the Pythagorean theorem[1] was irrational, even though it undoubtedly had mystical and religious overtones to it. (The idea of separating science and religion as such is a relatively modern invention. The medievals called theology "queen of the sciences," for example,[2] perhaps due to their belief that rational study of the universe required a rational cause of the universe.) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem#History [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology#As_an_academic_discipline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology#As_an_academic_discip...
- est31 8y ago
  Those rituals evolved in the first place because they were effective. Religion only becomes relevant when you look at the explanation of why it works. They believed that the gods would take those gifts as offerings. If some ritual didn't work, then it seems that ritual couldn't convince the gods to make the plants grow better, so they tried something different. Sure, a scientific explanation might help with finding out which things work and which don't, but in theory, trial and error doesn't need a proper explanation for the phenomenon.
- odyssey7 8y ago
  Trying things based on existing understandings leads to discovery, but so does trying things "just because." It's worth pointing out that the former often involves an existing understanding that isn't actually correct. Both activities are useful, and they're both rational because they're useful. (Obviously you can't try out every possible thing "just because," so formalized science has to prioritize.)
- darkpuma 8y ago
  It's not clear to me that ancient smiths making blades out of meteoric iron were aware of the connection between streak of light in the sky phenomena and the iron/nickel stones they found on the ground and discovered to be suitable for making blades. Most meteoric iron probably fell long before it was used. For instance the Cape York meteorite used by the Inuit for making blades fell 10,000 years ago. That's many thousands of years before the Inuit are believed to be in Greenland.
nyxxie 8y ago
Probably was just the product of leveraging the observations and knowledge their society had at the time to produce a novel solution to a region-specific problem. Humans don't seem to have gotten any more or less intelligent than our ancient predecessors, those of us in this particular time period were just were born with a different and relatively more advanced set of tools. If you constrain the set of possible methods to achieve a solution, you usually increase the creativity required to achieve that solution.

I wonder how such technology develops since it is not something you discover by accident. Like 'Hey let's dig a whole there and see what happens?'

by petard 8y ago

I wonder how such technology develops since it is not something you discover by accident. Like 'Hey let's dig a whole there and see what happens?'

pumanoir 8y ago

I've always have thought it is the result of diversions developed by very smart and curious people.

dogma1138 8y ago

Don’t underestimate unintentiofnal lucky accidents and coincidence. Many cultures were burying things such as fruit, fish and cattle in fields before planting the seeds and burning fields after the harvest as a form of a religious offering without understanding what was going on, on a chemical level in the soil. No one would think of burning “sky rocks” to make daggers and swords out of them either in a rational manner. But it makes sense that they would do so in some odd religious ritual. Pretty much every initial technological advancement in human history was likely driven by an irrational thought completely unrelated to what would be achieved in the end before the scientific method was developed.

memling 8y ago
> Pretty much every initial technological advancement in human history was likely driven by an irrational thought completely unrelated to what would be achieved in the end before the scientific method was developed. This strikes me as highly unlikely, considering how recently the scientific method was formalized. It's hard to imagine, for example, that the Babylonians' or Egyptians' use of the Pythagorean theorem[1] was irrational, even though it undoubtedly had mystical and religious overtones to it. (The idea of separating science and religion as such is a relatively modern invention. The medievals called theology "queen of the sciences," for example,[2] perhaps due to their belief that rational study of the universe required a rational cause of the universe.) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem#History [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology#As_an_academic_discipline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology#As_an_academic_discip...
est31 8y ago
Those rituals evolved in the first place because they were effective. Religion only becomes relevant when you look at the explanation of why it works. They believed that the gods would take those gifts as offerings. If some ritual didn't work, then it seems that ritual couldn't convince the gods to make the plants grow better, so they tried something different. Sure, a scientific explanation might help with finding out which things work and which don't, but in theory, trial and error doesn't need a proper explanation for the phenomenon.
odyssey7 8y ago
Trying things based on existing understandings leads to discovery, but so does trying things "just because." It's worth pointing out that the former often involves an existing understanding that isn't actually correct. Both activities are useful, and they're both rational because they're useful. (Obviously you can't try out every possible thing "just because," so formalized science has to prioritize.)
darkpuma 8y ago
It's not clear to me that ancient smiths making blades out of meteoric iron were aware of the connection between streak of light in the sky phenomena and the iron/nickel stones they found on the ground and discovered to be suitable for making blades. Most meteoric iron probably fell long before it was used. For instance the Cape York meteorite used by the Inuit for making blades fell 10,000 years ago. That's many thousands of years before the Inuit are believed to be in Greenland.

nyxxie 8y ago

Probably was just the product of leveraging the observations and knowledge their society had at the time to produce a novel solution to a region-specific problem. Humans don't seem to have gotten any more or less intelligent than our ancient predecessors, those of us in this particular time period were just were born with a different and relatively more advanced set of tools. If you constrain the set of possible methods to achieve a solution, you usually increase the creativity required to achieve that solution.