Reminds me of "Nobody knows how to make a pencil": http://alexbarnett.net/blog/archive/2006/11/18/Nobody-knows-how-to-make-a-pencil.aspx http://alexbarnett.net

Reminds me of "Nobody knows how to make a pencil": http://alexbarnett.net/blog/archive/2006/11/18/Nobody-knows-how-to-make-a-pencil.aspx http://alexbarnett.net/blog/archive/2006/11/18/Nobody-knows-... It's the same thing at every human technology. And this in turn reminds me of Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams, where the protagonist finds himself in a simple rustic village. He is unable to reproduce any of the technology from his civilization and settles as a sandwich maker.