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> In a modern analogy, the prehistoric human may be likened to a young farmer still plowing his fields with his great-grandfather's rusty old tractor, replacing
by mellavora 5y ago
> In a modern analogy, the prehistoric human may be likened to a young farmer still plowing his fields with his great-grandfather's rusty old tractor, replacing parts now and then, but preserving the good old machine as is, because it symbolizes his family's bond with the land.
Or maybe, instead of a symbol of a family bond with the land, the old tractor is something the owner can repair themself, not something controlled by the manufacturer. And maybe it is higher quality than what is available today. And it gets the job done.
- daniel-cussen 5y agoIn Soviet Russia, you HAD to repair it yourself! Mandatory! The factory never wanted to see your face again, so the manual was also very much blueprint, schematics and machining instructions for the repairs. It was higher quality than is available today, actually, and Belorussia still has a tractor factory. And they weren't the greatest efficiency but really great effectiveness: they did get the job done. And they worked for ever, just don't quit. Cubans remark the Soviet air conditioners and appliances don't crap out, period. Maybe the efficiency of American tractors is suited to their tests, I think it is, and the tests are always on a perfectly configured tractor on good terrain without counting the time and effort and error recovery of configuring it. In general the big scam of computerization is that it saves time, it mostly doesn't, doctors and policemen end up spending much more time on digital forms than on paper. Farmers can't be that different.