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It really is. We've become insanely dependent on the internet, massive electrical grids and GPS. GPS is especially interesting because the USAF didn't even wan
by ryanmercer 7y ago
It really is. We've become insanely dependent on the internet, massive electrical grids and GPS.
GPS is especially interesting because the USAF didn't even want it and it almost never happened yet ever shipping company, every cargo ship, every semi, ever FedEx and UPS truck, many pieces of large farm vehicles and most of us use GPS daily. The larger farming operations even use GPS to harvest as GPS is far more accurate than a human being trying to make optimal rows and optimal rows end up in huge time & fuel savings as each acre goes by.
And take the internet... all of those delivery/freight companies use the internet to manage their shipments all across the world and to adjust routes on the fly, and most commerce is conducted via the internet either via websites or servers.
Then power. If you don't have power you don't have water pressure, you can't pump gasoline, you can't make gasoline, you can't use the internet, etc. If you even just manage to take down one region (like happened in Canada in 1989 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm ) for even a day you have a massive disruption.
It can honestly be terrifying if you let your mind obsess about it, just how fragile our technological civilization is. More and more I want to live as simply as possible but man, it's hard, we rely so much on gadgets and SAAS and the general convenience of an electricity/GPS/internet driven society.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoI'd much prefer if things were more self-contained and self-reliant rather than so deeply interconnected; I don't yearn much for simple (pre-industrial) life. But given the reality we have, it makes it extremely important to protect our civilization from shocks and reinforce the most fragile aspects of it. That's why I often speak up against revolutionary changes, for good or bad. I'm for more gradual changes, and strongly against those that risk breaking civilization, because that would be game over for everyone.
- epiphanitus 7y agoI wholeheartedly agree. Society has it's fair share of flaws (and they absolutely should be fixed!) but all of the alternatives are way worse.
- tomatotomato37 7y agoGPS is also used heavily in banking and fiancee for timing purposes, so any storm big enough to jam the network could essentially halt the entire economy for however long the storm lasts. The lucky thing though is that the satellites themselves are hardened against storms, so restoring service would be as "simple" as resynchronizing the entire constellation versus launching a new one
- epiphanitus 7y ago> GPS is also used heavily in banking and fiancee for timing purposes Fascinating. Is this to measure the lag time between ordering and executing a trade?
- Angostura 7y agoI highly recommend James Burke's Connections (the original series if this kind of thing interests you) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XetplHcM7aQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XetplHcM7aQ