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I think that most of our top engineers would not be able to do what Eratosthenes did with a wooden stick and some calculations (calculating the earth circumfere

I think that most of our top engineers would not be able to do what Eratosthenes did with a wooden stick and some calculations (calculating the earth circumference and tilt). Of course we collectively have much better Science today, but at the individual level I don't think we are smarter in any way. And we tend to underestimate the wisdom that is lost after each generation. Why do you think the USA was able to send people on the moon in 1969 but is struggling to do it again now?

bluGill 5y ago
> I think that most of our top engineers would not be able to do what Eratosthenes did with a wooden stick and some calculations (calculating the earth circumference and tilt). Sure they would if you gave them time. Eratosthennes didn't just go do it, he spent some (how much we don't know) thinking about the problem. Engineers today have all the math background needed - they are a little rusty but if you give them a few days they can reconstruct the needed math.
- stephc_int13 5y ago
  Without Googling it? I am not so sure. I know a lot of guys with engineering degrees who clearly could not do that even if they have had access to much more advanced math than Eratosthenes.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Note that I gave them dedicated time to focus. I couldn't do it before lunch (in about an hour as I write this), but give me a few days to run some false starts and I think I could figure it out.
soylentnewsorg 5y ago
And if fish had bear fur, they'd have bear lice. The conversation or claim is not about how smart someone is, while artificially limiting the resources they are allowed to use to come up with a solution. We can model chemical reactions on server farms at a subatomic level. We have learned knowledge and reference materials. An engineer would use all of those things. Whether they'd be able to use a stick and an abacus to calculate circumference and tilt is irrelevant. What is relevant, is we now are able to do it much faster and more precise, using our tools and knowledge, than they did back then with a wooden stick. When materials scientists come up with construction materials, they would use all that is currently at their disposal, and would and do achieve much better results than Roman concrete. >but is struggling to do it again now because no one is struggling. we have a much lower budget now because there is no cold war race to the moon, and the problem now is not "get to the moon at all cost" but is "get to the moon under this specific costs." The reason it's been a long work in progress, is because it's not urgent, and we want it cheap. Different problem, different solution. It's not because we don't know how to use a wooden stick.

bluGill 5y ago

> I think that most of our top engineers would not be able to do what Eratosthenes did with a wooden stick and some calculations (calculating the earth circumference and tilt). Sure they would if you gave them time. Eratosthennes didn't just go do it, he spent some (how much we don't know) thinking about the problem. Engineers today have all the math background needed - they are a little rusty but if you give them a few days they can reconstruct the needed math.

stephc_int13 5y ago
Without Googling it? I am not so sure. I know a lot of guys with engineering degrees who clearly could not do that even if they have had access to much more advanced math than Eratosthenes.
- bluGill 5y ago
  Note that I gave them dedicated time to focus. I couldn't do it before lunch (in about an hour as I write this), but give me a few days to run some false starts and I think I could figure it out.

soylentnewsorg 5y ago

And if fish had bear fur, they'd have bear lice. The conversation or claim is not about how smart someone is, while artificially limiting the resources they are allowed to use to come up with a solution. We can model chemical reactions on server farms at a subatomic level. We have learned knowledge and reference materials. An engineer would use all of those things. Whether they'd be able to use a stick and an abacus to calculate circumference and tilt is irrelevant. What is relevant, is we now are able to do it much faster and more precise, using our tools and knowledge, than they did back then with a wooden stick. When materials scientists come up with construction materials, they would use all that is currently at their disposal, and would and do achieve much better results than Roman concrete. >but is struggling to do it again now because no one is struggling. we have a much lower budget now because there is no cold war race to the moon, and the problem now is not "get to the moon at all cost" but is "get to the moon under this specific costs." The reason it's been a long work in progress, is because it's not urgent, and we want it cheap. Different problem, different solution. It's not because we don't know how to use a wooden stick.