3 ms·

There's a difference between theoretical and practical expertise. I don't know much about particle accelerators, but I do know a bit about advanced manufacturi

There's a difference between theoretical and practical expertise. I don't know much about particle accelerators, but I do know a bit about advanced manufacturing and I think you might be surprised at the degree to which Chinese industry is still functionally dependent on foreign machinery and expertise. This is a country that, until about two years ago, couldn't successfully produce an entire ballpoint pen using fully domestic processes.

Jabbles 6y ago
> an entire ballpoint pen using fully domestic processes Which countries can?
- SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
  USSR was capable of doing it in 1980s.
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    I feel like any possible item that you claim is domestically produced only implies you're selectively ignoring the non-domestic inputs. If you pick up a stick off the ground and whittle it, where did you get the knife? How did you earn the money to buy the knife? Where did your food come from? What about the education that allowed you to get the job, was it contaminated by foreign influence...
perl4ever 6y ago
If you believe that there is a country that could, seems to me you would be taking it on faith, and in my opinion, ignoring uncountable foreign inputs. Unless you wanted to argue North Korea?
- culturestate 6y ago
  There probably is a country that could go from rocks to finished pen entirely domestically (Germany?) but that wasn't really my point. I was trying to illustrate the broad chasm between theoretical and practical expertise. Just because someone "knows a lot of STEM" doesn't mean they can actually produce a useful thing. China already had perhaps the most highly concentrated amount of manufacturing engineering expertise anywhere in the world, yet still they needed help with what most people would consider a basic item. This is fine! Most countries, as you noted, are in the same position. It's a desirable outcome of globalization. It becomes problematic, though, when your goal is to build an incredibly complex machine that requires expertise beyond your own (like a particle accelerator, perhaps) and the people and countries whose help you require are unwilling to work with you.

Jabbles 6y ago

> an entire ballpoint pen using fully domestic processes Which countries can?

SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
USSR was capable of doing it in 1980s.
- perl4ever 6y ago
  I feel like any possible item that you claim is domestically produced only implies you're selectively ignoring the non-domestic inputs. If you pick up a stick off the ground and whittle it, where did you get the knife? How did you earn the money to buy the knife? Where did your food come from? What about the education that allowed you to get the job, was it contaminated by foreign influence...

perl4ever 6y ago

If you believe that there is a country that could, seems to me you would be taking it on faith, and in my opinion, ignoring uncountable foreign inputs. Unless you wanted to argue North Korea?

culturestate 6y ago
There probably is a country that could go from rocks to finished pen entirely domestically (Germany?) but that wasn't really my point. I was trying to illustrate the broad chasm between theoretical and practical expertise. Just because someone "knows a lot of STEM" doesn't mean they can actually produce a useful thing. China already had perhaps the most highly concentrated amount of manufacturing engineering expertise anywhere in the world, yet still they needed help with what most people would consider a basic item. This is fine! Most countries, as you noted, are in the same position. It's a desirable outcome of globalization. It becomes problematic, though, when your goal is to build an incredibly complex machine that requires expertise beyond your own (like a particle accelerator, perhaps) and the people and countries whose help you require are unwilling to work with you.