3 ms·

>these sorts of things are at the top end of production chains could you expand on this?

• the__alchemist 4y ago
  As a civilization, we build things in tiers. Tools to build other tools to build other tools. (And it's a bit circular too) And materials. So, you might have at the bottom things like extracting ore, fossil fuels, plant matter etc. Then you might turn that into crude grades of iron, separate various hydrocarbon chains out. Then you might refine that into steel of a certain grade, or industrial lubricant. Machines you build with that are used to make other machines. Maybe one of those mills a part, that's used in another machine. Etc. Some things, like jet engine turbine blades, are at the end of very long chains. Also, it's a complex engineering problem because lots of different systems need to be made to work together, reliably, under high temperatures, pressures etc. Different specialists need to agree on how to make their components work together. So, I can't just get together with my buddies, get some funding, and disrupt the industry. (For that and other reasons). Or maybe you could, but it would be tougher than doing so in most other industries.