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Clickspring has been recreating the Antikythera[1] and findings[2] went into a research paper.[3] [1] Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML4tw_UzqZE&lis

Clickspring has been recreating the Antikythera[1] and findings[2] went into a research paper.[3] [1] Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML4tw_UzqZE&list=PLZioPDnFPNsHnyxfygxA0to4RXv4_jDU2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML4tw_UzqZE&list=PLZioPDnFPN... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKgdq57uOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKgdq57uOo [3] https://bhi.co.uk/antikytheramechanism/ https://bhi.co.uk/antikytheramechanism/

rfrey 6y ago
For added incentive for those who make the poor call to not check out the videos, he doesn't just recreate the mechanism... He invents or re-invents the tools and techniques required to make it, using only materials and technology known to be available at the time.
- ddingus 6y ago
  And that is super cool. I think we'd very significantly underestimate what our earlier brothers and sisters could actually do. And I also believe, since communication was spotty, and took a long time, that there were pockets of real Mastery in the world. But everyone didn't benefit, just because of the communication and knowledge-sharing difficulties from that time. I think Travelers had an amazing experience. They could go to some parts of the world and literally see the future, and other parts of the world and perhaps feel very connected to the very basics. Meta: I sure wish this Google Voice thing would not randomly capitalized words. Sorry for the typos I just dictated this and hit send
  - posterboy 6y ago
    you can go to, say, India today and see the past. Same difference. Since the Median empire at least, the post was also fairly standard. Vice versa, I am affraid I severely underestimate what pockets of real mastery exist in the world, hidden behind NDAs, paywalls and below the threshold in libraries. I'm normally pretty much satisfied with holding a telecommunication device in my hand. This includes, hypothetically, the modern knowledge of ancient knowledge. So I don't disagree with you.
    - mikepurvis 6y ago
      Having the ability to send letters is one thing, but that's not the same as having the kind of widespread societal/academic support system which circulates knowledge, elevates budding experts, and brings together groups interested in a common area of study.
      - posterboy 6y ago
        Part of it may be that superior knowledge was highly secretive and well guarded. That's why I'm saying it's the same as today. There is no good reason a peasant would be unable to read, except that nobody taught them, which should not take too much time for alphabetics, or that it was written in a foreign, holy language. Heck, Runes were considered to have magical power and ritual incantations were highly formularized--as they are today: a) e.g. in fashion brands, b) e.g. in law code to the extent that it requires professional translators Or closer to the topic, take maths, which has a highly formularized, international, often ambiguous and domain specific writing system. Indeed, it's also a good example of a science where instruction is crucial, and most information is left out in writing because the reader is expected to have it all in working memory. Even better analogy, computing machines: Not only do write with them, but in a sense we encode information in the, well, object, just like a sine and cosine wave diagram (or animation) encodes the motion of a radius in the circle. Only the keenest reverse engineers are able to read out the fundamental principles of its working. But, for analogy, CISC was found unwieldy so the trend is going back to RISC and doing hyperscalarity via networking, to solve heat problems. Anyhow,domain knowledge implies today as it did then where to get stuff, not just how to use it. Specifically for the Iron age this means knowledge of iron mines, geography and geology. Maths and other structural sciences are only peripheral. Given that early Iron was meteoric, one can kind of see how a connection to the skies and gods could be drawn. And we have to wonder about fate, too. Some resources simply deplete. It's not that the knowledge is lost, but its application. Calenders have been further developed, certainly. Currently we predict the future on the end of global climate. Yeah that's sad, but it puts the little bit of heat that I put out as background noise into perspective.
        mikepurvis 6y ago
  - willhslade 6y ago
    You can do this today: hang out with a reindeer herder in Siberia and then pop over to Shanghai. Nothing's changed.
    - sjtindell 6y ago
      I agree. I also have had a strange feeling my last few travels though. There is a pervasive sameness. Even in more traditional parts of India, Mexico. Obviously in places like the US, Western Europe, Canada. Once I step out of the temple, or get off the horse in the remote village, there’s this familiarity. I think an example is what I now think of as “the uniform”: sneakers, jeans, a t shirt with a brand on it. 9 to 5 jobs and democratic governments. Many similar problems, relationships. Obviously there are huge differences in so many fundamental ways, even the ones I mention. But it’s the thread of truth you find in controversial books like The End of History. Globalization is real. The conquest of capitalism and the dream of liberal democracy is far reaching.
      - ddingus 6y ago
        Yes I see this too. For The Travelers back in those times the world could look very different. And not that it doesn't look different now, but you're right there's a lot more of the same things were more homogenized and we know more about other places in the world than they ever could have back then
    - ddingus 6y ago
      I agree, but the experience is a little bit less fantastic just because we know more. We know that the Futures in some places and we can still see the past. That was not true for Traveller way back then
  - tzs 6y ago
    > I think we'd very significantly underestimate what our earlier brothers and sisters could actually do. I think what happens is that we forget that you can make a heck of a lot of even complicated and precise things with simple technology if you have a lot of time, have a lot of money to pay for labor, and don't need to produce more than a handful of the thing. Need 100000 pairs of matched gears with a very precise fit, and you need them next month and cheaply? You need modern techniques. Need one pair, and you've got years to produce it, and plenty of money? All you need is someone with a fine file to hand file the teeth, frequently checking the fit and tweaking it.
dylan604 6y ago
My day's schedule just got put on pause.
wdb 6y ago
Great videos. It's so fascinating that they were able to make such a device back in that time. Still wondering how they have done without the machines we have these days, though. Thanks for posting it

rfrey 6y ago

For added incentive for those who make the poor call to not check out the videos, he doesn't just recreate the mechanism... He invents or re-invents the tools and techniques required to make it, using only materials and technology known to be available at the time.

ddingus 6y ago
And that is super cool. I think we'd very significantly underestimate what our earlier brothers and sisters could actually do. And I also believe, since communication was spotty, and took a long time, that there were pockets of real Mastery in the world. But everyone didn't benefit, just because of the communication and knowledge-sharing difficulties from that time. I think Travelers had an amazing experience. They could go to some parts of the world and literally see the future, and other parts of the world and perhaps feel very connected to the very basics. Meta: I sure wish this Google Voice thing would not randomly capitalized words. Sorry for the typos I just dictated this and hit send
- posterboy 6y ago
  you can go to, say, India today and see the past. Same difference. Since the Median empire at least, the post was also fairly standard. Vice versa, I am affraid I severely underestimate what pockets of real mastery exist in the world, hidden behind NDAs, paywalls and below the threshold in libraries. I'm normally pretty much satisfied with holding a telecommunication device in my hand. This includes, hypothetically, the modern knowledge of ancient knowledge. So I don't disagree with you.
  - mikepurvis 6y ago
    Having the ability to send letters is one thing, but that's not the same as having the kind of widespread societal/academic support system which circulates knowledge, elevates budding experts, and brings together groups interested in a common area of study.
    - posterboy 6y ago
      Part of it may be that superior knowledge was highly secretive and well guarded. That's why I'm saying it's the same as today. There is no good reason a peasant would be unable to read, except that nobody taught them, which should not take too much time for alphabetics, or that it was written in a foreign, holy language. Heck, Runes were considered to have magical power and ritual incantations were highly formularized--as they are today: a) e.g. in fashion brands, b) e.g. in law code to the extent that it requires professional translators Or closer to the topic, take maths, which has a highly formularized, international, often ambiguous and domain specific writing system. Indeed, it's also a good example of a science where instruction is crucial, and most information is left out in writing because the reader is expected to have it all in working memory. Even better analogy, computing machines: Not only do write with them, but in a sense we encode information in the, well, object, just like a sine and cosine wave diagram (or animation) encodes the motion of a radius in the circle. Only the keenest reverse engineers are able to read out the fundamental principles of its working. But, for analogy, CISC was found unwieldy so the trend is going back to RISC and doing hyperscalarity via networking, to solve heat problems. Anyhow,domain knowledge implies today as it did then where to get stuff, not just how to use it. Specifically for the Iron age this means knowledge of iron mines, geography and geology. Maths and other structural sciences are only peripheral. Given that early Iron was meteoric, one can kind of see how a connection to the skies and gods could be drawn. And we have to wonder about fate, too. Some resources simply deplete. It's not that the knowledge is lost, but its application. Calenders have been further developed, certainly. Currently we predict the future on the end of global climate. Yeah that's sad, but it puts the little bit of heat that I put out as background noise into perspective.
      - mikepurvis 6y ago
- willhslade 6y ago
  You can do this today: hang out with a reindeer herder in Siberia and then pop over to Shanghai. Nothing's changed.
  - sjtindell 6y ago
    I agree. I also have had a strange feeling my last few travels though. There is a pervasive sameness. Even in more traditional parts of India, Mexico. Obviously in places like the US, Western Europe, Canada. Once I step out of the temple, or get off the horse in the remote village, there’s this familiarity. I think an example is what I now think of as “the uniform”: sneakers, jeans, a t shirt with a brand on it. 9 to 5 jobs and democratic governments. Many similar problems, relationships. Obviously there are huge differences in so many fundamental ways, even the ones I mention. But it’s the thread of truth you find in controversial books like The End of History. Globalization is real. The conquest of capitalism and the dream of liberal democracy is far reaching.
    - ddingus 6y ago
      Yes I see this too. For The Travelers back in those times the world could look very different. And not that it doesn't look different now, but you're right there's a lot more of the same things were more homogenized and we know more about other places in the world than they ever could have back then
  - ddingus 6y ago
    I agree, but the experience is a little bit less fantastic just because we know more. We know that the Futures in some places and we can still see the past. That was not true for Traveller way back then
- tzs 6y ago
  > I think we'd very significantly underestimate what our earlier brothers and sisters could actually do. I think what happens is that we forget that you can make a heck of a lot of even complicated and precise things with simple technology if you have a lot of time, have a lot of money to pay for labor, and don't need to produce more than a handful of the thing. Need 100000 pairs of matched gears with a very precise fit, and you need them next month and cheaply? You need modern techniques. Need one pair, and you've got years to produce it, and plenty of money? All you need is someone with a fine file to hand file the teeth, frequently checking the fit and tweaking it.

dylan604 6y ago

My day's schedule just got put on pause.

wdb 6y ago

Great videos. It's so fascinating that they were able to make such a device back in that time. Still wondering how they have done without the machines we have these days, though. Thanks for posting it